Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER: LAUREN
L auren swayed back and forth, back and forth, her movements as slow and gentle as possible. In her arms, little Anna blinked her big brown eyes, her long lashes splaying across her round cheeks. Then her tiny rosebud mouth opened in an impossibly big yawn. Again, her eyes fluttered closed and this time, they stayed shut. Anna’s tiny chest rose and fell. She was asleep.
Still, Lauren rocked her for a few more minutes, savoring the feeling of a tiny baby, her baby, in her arms. Little Anna was a warm, soft weight. Even in sleep, her small hands opened and closed and she puckered her tiny mouth.
Finally, Lauren set the sleeping girl into her crib. Anna didn’t stir, although she shifted into her favorite sleeping position — both arms above her head, legs together in her pajama sack. Lauren bent over the crib to kiss her daughter goodnight, then checked the baby monitor and sneaked back down the stairs into the living room. Louis and Nico were on the couch, reading. Lauren settled in between them.
“How are my favorite boys?” Lauren spoke French — over the last year of living in Paris, her skills had improved until she could actually hold most conversations in French. She still stumbled over a word or two now and then, but she was much more confident and her accent was far better.
“Good!” Louis leaned into Lauren’s side and she put her arm around him. “Papa said I could finish my book before bedtime.”
“You’d better get reading, then.” Lauren squeezed him affectionately. Her relationship with Louis was another part of her life that had blossomed. In the last year, they’d grown closer until Louis had asked, a little shyly, if he could call her Mom. High on pregnancy hormones at the time, Lauren had barely managed to answer that of course he could without bursting into tears.
“How’s Anna?” Nico asked.
“She was as good as gold, as always.” Nico and Lauren had fallen into a good routine of trading off baby care, but Lauren almost always handled bedtime. She loved rocking and nursing Anna to sleep, then settling her into bed. It was one of her favorite times of the day.
“I miss her already.” Nico winked, but Lauren knew he was partially serious. Anna had been born three months ago, and after a month Nico had gone back to teaching while Lauren finished her maternity leave. Nico often missed Anna while he was away all day.
Lauren took his experience as a glimpse into the future. Next semester, she was going to pick up her course load again. Along with Céline, she’d worked out a schedule that would allow her and Nico to alternate teaching and taking care of Anna, with Rose stepping in to take a few shifts each week. Lauren was excited to return to teaching — she loved her role and had grown into professorship faster and better than she’d imagined. But it would be hard to be away from Anna, even for a few hours.
As promised, Louis finished his book while Lauren and Nico read. Then they both took him upstairs and tucked him in. Louis had begun insisting that he was too old for bedtime stories, but he still liked to be tucked in before sleep and, whenever possible, to get hugs from both Lauren and Nico.
“That’s it, both the kids are sleeping.” Nico smiled at Lauren as they slipped out of Louis’s bedroom and closed the door behind them. “I had something a little special planned for this evening.”
“Ice cream and a movie?” Lauren suggested. When she’d first moved in, three months into her pregnancy, she and Nico had spent most of their time when Louis was sleeping or at his grandmother’s home enjoying romantic dates and talking long into the night. Now, as new parents, they were both tired and enjoyed a little downtime when the kids were sleeping. It was different, but just as good.
“Something a little more special.” Nico took Lauren’s hand and led her downstairs. “Wait here for a moment.”
“Okay.” Lauren sat on the couch and stifled a yawn. As excited as she was for whatever Nico had planned, she couldn’t hide that she was more than a little sleepy. Nico was gone for a while, and eventually Lauren picked up her book. She was working her way through a novel in French, which was a challenge for her language skills. Since she was raising bilingual kids, though, she knew she needed to keep working at her French.
Then Nico emerged from the kitchen. He looked slightly nervous in a way Lauren found adorable, and she smiled at him as he took her hand and helped her to her feet.
“Follow me. Your romantic evening awaits.”
Sure enough, when they entered the dining room, Nico had cleared away the remnants of dinner and set the table with a gorgeous white table cloth, tall, tapered candles, a bouquet of roses, and an array of Lauren’s favorite desserts. Her mouth dropped open as she took in the sight.
“Wow, Nico. When you said you had plans for the evening, I really didn’t expect this. Is it a special occasion?”
“I hope so.” Nico pulled out a chair for Lauren to sit. “And every day is a special occasion with you.”
“That’s so cheesy.” Lauren grinned. “But so sweet.”
“That’s me. Have a cream puff.” He held out the plate to her, and Lauren accepted the dessert, setting it on her plate.
“Thanks.”
“You know, Lauren, the day you came into my life, everything changed. I wasn’t ready for that — I was used to my quiet life with my work and my son. I wasn’t sure how to be in a relationship, especially with someone as wonderful as you. But you were always patient with me. You opened my world to a thousand new adventures, from time in the countryside to parenting a daughter to the magic of a simple kiss before bed. Now, I can’t imagine my life without you in it — or without our son and daughter.”
“Oh, Nico.” Lauren pressed a hand to her heart. “You changed my life, too. I can’t imagine where I’d be without you, or without Louis and Anna. You opened up a new world for me just as much as I did for you. A world of being a professor, of speaking French, of being a mother… and of being with you. I never knew I could love someone as much as I love you.”
“Who’s cheesy now?” Nico smiled at her warmly. “I feel the same way. I never knew I could love someone as much as I love you, either. And that’s why I set up this little evening.” He gestured at the flowers, the candles, the desserts. “I want you to know how much I love you.”
“I do know. You tell me every day.”
“And I want to tell you I love you every day for a long time to come. When I first starting thinking about this, almost a year ago, I imagined taking you someplace romantic — a cliff at sunset, the top of the Eiffel Tower on a spring day, the street where we first met. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that those special moments aren’t the ones I treasure most. My best memories are with you and our children, right here in the home we’ve created together, or on the simple adventures we have every day. And that’s when I knew I wanted to ask you right here, with our children sleeping upstairs, in the kitchen where we’ve made so many memories.”
Lauren’s heart had started to race. She had an idea of what Nico was building to, but she could hardly believe it.
“Ask me what?” Her voice was just above a whisper.
Nico stood from his chair and took Lauren’s hands in one of his. Then, slowly, he got down on one knee. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket and removed a small box. He flipped it open expertly, as though he’d practiced the motion many times, and Lauren saw a gorgeous diamond ring nestled in the satin interior of the box. Around the diamond were four small blue stones.
“This ring has been in my family for generations. It symbolizes the enduring love we have for each other. But I made a small adjustment. These blue stones are blue chalcedony — the state gemstone of Nebraska. I wanted the ring to symbolize not only your life in France, but also your life in Nebraska and your history.”
Lauren was smiling so wide she worried her cheeks would cramp, but tears were rolling down her cheeks too. This moment was everything she’d ever dared to dream of: a perfect union of her past in the United States with her grandfather, and her future in France with Nico and their children.
“So, my dearest Lauren, would you make me the happiest man on earth and do me the honor of becoming not only the mother of my children and the love of my life, but also my wife?”
“Yes! Of course!”
And then Nico was on his feet. He swept Lauren into his arms and held her tightly. Lauren held him back. Her heart felt so full it could overflow.
When Lauren had decided to come to Paris, she’d wanted an adventure and time in the city she’d loved before. She’d even hoped for a little romance. Yet she had never expected to fall in love, to find a family, or to feel as at home as she did right now. France wasn’t a foreign country anymore — it was where her whole heart lived.
Nico tilted away so he could capture Lauren’s mouth in a kiss. The same rush of butterflies and love swept through her, as always happened when their lips touched. Nico kissed her gently until Lauren’s knees were weak, then set her back on her feet and took her hand. Carefully, he slid the beautiful ring onto Lauren’s finger, then raised her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her fingers.
“I love you,” he said, his voice low and deep.
“I love you, too.”
In that moment, Lauren saw her future: raising kids with Nico, reading and going on adventures, romantic evenings while the kids were in bed, and weekend getaways. And so much love that she would never feel alone again.
Lauren could never have wished for anything more than her little French family.
The End