Epilogue
EPILOGUE
LIVVY
Five and a Half Years Later
I smiled when I found the letter inside my planner with my lesson plans. Byron. We always exchanged notes on our anniversary. Kind of a connection to the past, I supposed. I’d left his envelope in his gym bag this morning.
Since I had a half hour until my students arrived, I carefully opened the seal and pulled out the sheet inside.
Dear Livvy,
I can’t believe it’s been five years since we said I Do. Every day with you—and now with you, our son and daughter—my life just gets better. Thank you for giving me the family I never had. In you, your parents and brothers and our kids, I have everything.
Was there ever a man happier than me? Or luckier? I still can’t believe you got my name at random for that project. I still can’t believe that fate managed to get two people across the world together, two people who were meant for one another. And I know, without any doubt, that you were meant for me.
Happy anniversary, baby. I won’t get too specific since you might be around a classroom of children, but I can’t wait until you get home tonight. I arranged for the kids to go to Mom and Dad’s, and it’s just you and me…a candlelit dinner then our bed…and dessert. I plan to be in you more than not all weekend.
Something to think about for the rest of the day.
I can’t wait to see you.
And I can’t wait to see your naked, mouthwatering body spread out for me.
Yours and only ever yours, with all my love,
Byron
That was my husband. Quite to the point. So much for not being explicit. Though I supposed he could have gone into more detail. The words there were more than enough to have warmth pooling low in my belly. My core clenched at the thought of what we might do. Anything and everything. There wasn’t much off-limits in our marriage, as long as it was just Byron and me.
Blushing, I folded the paper and put it away in my purse.
I wondered if he’d read my letter yet.
Thoughts of my husband filled my mind while I taught the rest of the day. He was waiting for me, leaning against his truck when I left the building a few hours later. The normally dusty sides were sparkling, telling me he’d washed it before coming to get me. Normally, it was covered with mud from the construction sites where he and his crew built tiny houses in the country for people looking to get back to nature. His crew… They were his guys from overseas. One by one, they’d trickled over. Byron thought he didn’t have a family before me, but his friends proved differently. They loved to tease him that he’d gotten shot just to get home to me. None of them ad been injured in that firefight.
Byron pulled me into his arm when I got close enough and brushed his lips over mine. We kept it very PG since we were still on school property and who knew what eyes were watching.
“Seriously?” he asked. “For real?”
That answered my question. He’d definitely read my letter.
“I got it confirmed.” Since the twins came a year after we’d married, we’d been trying for more kids, and it just hadn’t been happening. There’d been so much disappointment, and I’d wanted to know for sure this time, rather than getting him hopeful only to have it not be.
“Yes!” he hooted, then lifted me up and swung me around. We laughed together when he set me on my feet. “Let’s go home and celebrate.”
“Let’s,” I agreed. We had so much to acknowledge, so many blessings. But to tell the truth, every moment with Byron’s love and kisses was something to honor. He’d given me a life I’d never thought I’d have. More happiness than anyone could imagine.
I would never regret getting his name for my class project and taking the chance on being myself with him. I’d turned out to be everything he wanted, and he was definitely everything I’d ever dreamed of in a husband. Who would have guessed that simply writing a letter would lead to happily ever after? But it had. And my life with my soldier pen pal only got better every day.