Epilogue
MELODY
Six months later
Six months had passed since Summer’s attempted takedown.
Life had settled into something beautifully normal.
Austin and I were officially public, completely in love, and navigating the chaos of blending our lives together with surprising ease.
He lived with me. Rather, we lived together in my townhouse but we were seriously considering moving out of the city.
His family was scattered around the Great Neck area, which was way out of my price range, but obviously Austin had the money.
And it would be nice to be near some of the family and what I hoped would be my future nieces and nephews.
Today, we were on a mission to find the perfect birthday present for Conrad. I didn’t want to claim favorites, but he was certainly at the top of that list.
“What about this?” Austin held up a massive construction truck that looked like it required an engineering degree to assemble.
“I think that might be just a little old for him,” I said, examining a set of wooden blocks that looked both educational and fun.
“But look at it,” Austin insisted, making the truck beep. “It has working lights and sounds. Kids love that stuff.”
“Austin, put it down before you break it.”
He set the truck down and immediately picked up a remote-controlled dinosaur. “Okay, but what about this? Dinosaurs are cool at every age.”
I watched him move through the boutique toy store like a kid himself, touching everything, pressing every button and wreaking absolute havoc for the poor staff who kept having to reorganize displays after he passed through.
The woman behind the counter looked like she was debating whether to kick us out or just follow him around with a shopping cart.
“Babe,” I said, trying not to laugh. “You need to calm down.”
“I’m just exploring the options.”
“You’re worse than a toddler.”
He grinned at me, completely unrepentant, and picked up a set of musical instruments clearly designed for toddlers. He shook a maraca experimentally, then started creating a rhythm with the tambourine.
“Sir?” The sales associate approached cautiously. “If you’d like, I can set those aside for you.”
“I’ll buy them,” Austin said immediately. “And the truck. And the dinosaur. And those blocks Melody was looking at.”
“Austin!” I grabbed his arm. “You can’t buy out the entire store.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s ridiculous! Conrad already has everything he could possibly want. Isaac and Mina are going to hate us if we show up with a mountain of toys.”
He considered this. “Fair point. But he’s going to love all of it.”
“We should get him one special thing, not fifty things he’ll forget about in a week.
” I steered him away from the instruments and toward a display of more curated gifts.
“Less is more, Austin. If we show up with a ton of stuff, none of it will feel special. But if we show up with one really cool thing? That’s what he’ll remember. ”
Austin looked at me like he was considering my words. Then he moved in close, his hand settling on my waist. “I love the way your mind works.”
“Because I’m stopping you from spending a small fortune on a child’s birthday?”
“Because you’re thoughtful. Because you understand what actually matters.” He paused, his eyes going soft in that way that made my heart skip. “You’re going to make an incredible mom someday.”
My heart soared. We’d talked about kids in abstract terms—someday, eventually, when the time was right. But the way he said it now, with such certainty, had my heart skipping several beats.
“Someday?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Someday soon, ideally,” he said, his thumb tracing circles on my hip.
“Austin.” My voice came out breathless. “Are you serious?”
He just smirked at me, that infuriatingly sexy smirk that drove me crazy. “I’ll show you how serious I am later.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I turned neon pink right there in the middle of the toy store. The sales associate was definitely pretending not to listen while absolutely listening.
“Okay,” I said hurriedly, grabbing the first appropriate toy I could find. It was a beautiful wooden train set with hand-painted details. “This one. We’re getting this one. Let’s go.”
Austin laughed but followed me to the counter, where we paid for the train set.
Back at home, I opened a container with a variety of wrapping paper options. I selected a blue one and grabbed the tape and scissors.
“I’ll help,” Austin offered.
I inwardly grimaced. I had seen the way Austin wrapped the last gift we bought for a niece’s birthday. I was a bit of a perfectionist and he was the other end of the spectrum.
I cut the perfect square that would eliminate any bunching and excess paper.
“It needs to look fun to unwrap,” Austin countered, deliberately making the paper a bit messy. “Kids don’t care about perfect corners. They care about ripping into stuff.”
“But it should still look nice for the photos.”
We spent ten minutes fixing each other’s work.
I stepped back and looked at our collaborative effort—perfectly imperfect, a little messy but clearly wrapped with love. “You know what? You’re right. It’s perfect.”
“We make a good team,” he said, pulling me in for a kiss.
“The best team.”
An hour later, we arrived at Isaac and Mina’s house, which looked like a tornado of toddlers had swept through. Balloons everywhere, streamers hanging from the ceiling, and what sounded like about twenty small children screaming with joy in the backyard.
“Brace yourself,” Austin muttered as we walked in.
Isaac met us at the door, looking exhausted but happy. “Austin, Melody, welcome. We need more adult supervision before someone ends up on the roof.”
“Is that likely?” I asked.
“With this crew? Anything’s possible.”
We made our way through the chaos, saying hello to family members. Cash was there, looking surprisingly comfortable with a toddler on his hip. When he saw us, he gestured toward the garage where several dads had congregated with beers.
“Austin, you want to escape for a bit? We’re hiding from the chaos.”
Six months ago, Austin would have jumped at that opportunity. But now, he just shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. I want to see the kids first.”
Cash raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed. I squeezed Austin’s hand. He squeezed back, and we headed into the backyard where the party was in full swing.
Conrad was running around with a pack of other kids, his dark hair wild and his face covered in what I hoped was just frosting. When he saw Austin, he shrieked with delight and ran over.
“Uncle Austin! Uncle Austin!”
“Hey, buddy!” Austin scooped him up, and my ovaries basically exploded watching the man I loved swing a giggling toddler around. “Happy birthday!”
The party continued in a blur of activities.
Mina and Isaac had rented a bounce house and several carnival games.
There was a pinata that resulted in a near riot, and more sugar than should be legal.
Through it all, Austin was right in the middle of it, playing with Conrad and the other kids, helping Mina wrangle the chaos, and looking more at home than I’d ever seen him.
When it came time for presents, Conrad tore into ours with enthusiasm. The train set was a huge hit, and watching Austin help him set up the tracks while Conrad bounced around excitedly made my chest tight with emotion.
I so wanted to watch him playing with our own son.
As the sun started to set and guests began filtering out, we said our goodbyes. Mina hugged me tight and whispered, “He’s good with kids. Just saying.”
“I know,” I whispered back. “Trust me, I know.”
In the car on the way back to my place, Austin reached over and took my hand. “That was fun.”
“You were amazing with Conrad.”
“Yeah?” He glanced at me. “I was thinking maybe we should practice. I want to make sure I get it on the first try.”
I laughed. “What?”
“Making babies.” He said it so casually, like he was suggesting we try a new restaurant.
My heart stopped. “Austin, don’t tease.”
“I’m serious. I know we’ve talked about it being ‘someday,’ but I’m ready for someday to be now. Or soon. Or whenever you’re ready.” He pulled up to a red light and turned to look at me fully. “I want this with you, Melody. The whole thing. Marriage, kids, the chaos, all of it.”
“I want that too,” I said. “But I want to do things in order. Marriage first, then babies.”
He smiled slowly. “You want to marry me?”
“Obviously.”
“Good to know.” The light turned green and he started driving again. “I hear you loud and clear. We’ll do it right.”
Something about his tone made me suspicious, but before I could question him further, we were pulling up in front of the townhouse.
“Home sweet home,” he said, coming around to open my door.
I grabbed my purse and headed toward the entrance, fumbling for my keys.
“What are you so happy about?” I asked, unlocking the door.
“You’ll see.”
I pushed the door open and froze.
The entire entryway was lined with candles—dozens of them, creating a soft golden glow. Rose petals formed a path from the door to the living room.
“Austin,” I breathed. “What is this?”
“Turn around.”
I turned to find him down on one knee, a small velvet box in his hands, his eyes bright with love and hope and nervousness.
“Melody Stephens,” he started, and his voice shook slightly. “Six months ago, you walked into a YouTube studio to face down someone who wanted to destroy me. You chose to fight for me when you could have walked away. You chose to trust me when you had every reason not to. You chose us.”
Tears were already streaming down my face.
“You’ve made me braver,” he continued. “You’ve made me better. You’ve shown me what love really looks like. I love that it’s messy and imperfect. I love the beautiful reality of true love. And I don’t want to spend another day without you being mine in every possible way.”
He opened the box, revealing a stunning ring that caught the candlelight and sparkled like stars.
“Will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of my life making you laugh, supporting your dreams, and building a home with you? Will you let me be the father of your children and the person who grows old beside you?”
I could barely see him through my tears. “Yes,” I choked out. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”
He slid the ring onto my finger and then he was standing, pulling me into his arms, kissing me like his life depended on it.
“I love you,” he said between kisses. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” I pulled back to look at the ring, then at him, then at the candles and rose petals. “How long have you been planning this?”
“Since the Hamptons,” he admitted. “I knew then. I just had to find the perfect moment.”
“This is perfect,” I said, looking around at the intimate, private proposal.
“That’s what I was going for.” He kissed me again, soft and sweet. “Just you and me, baby girl. The way it’s always been. The way it’s always going to be.”
“When do you want to get married?” I asked.
“Tomorrow?” He sounded like he was only half joking.
“How about we plan an actual wedding? With our families and friends and all the people who’ve supported us?”
“As long as I get to marry you, I don’t care if it’s in a courthouse or a cathedral.”
“How about somewhere in between?”
“Perfect.” He kissed me again. I melted into him. This was real. We were real.
“Come on,” Austin said, pulling me toward the bedroom where more candles waited. “Let me show you how serious I am about that baby-making practice.”
I laughed, following him down the rose-petal path. “After the wedding, remember?”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t practice the technique.”
“You’re impossible.”
“You love it.”
“I really do.”