71. Epilogue
Epilogue
Charlotte
“Happy birthday, baby!” Jake murmurs into my ear as he grinds up against me in my bed, our bed. We’ve been living together officially for the past six months, and at Christmas, we got engaged! Honestly? I couldn’t be happier.
Rolling over to face him, I’m met with chocolate-brown eyes full of love and adoration, and I’m sure he sees the same thing when he looks into mine because—boy—do I feel it.
It’s been nearly a year since my world was turned upside down, and although I haven’t recovered all my memories, I’ve focused on making brand new ones with my man.
The season finished a few days ago, with the guys missing the playoffs by a couple of points.
They started off the season on a winning streak and then they were plagued by injuries and couldn’t keep it up.
It’s bittersweet. I know how much Jake wanted it, but at the same time, it means I get the whole off-season with him.
There’s a knock at the door and Jake jumps out of bed to answer, pulling on a pair of sweatpants as he goes. Bella burrows under the covers and firmly claims Jake’s place. I hope he wasn’t planning to get back in bed.
After hearing the front door close, footsteps come closer to the bedroom, and in saunters Jake in all his shirtless glory.
He should never be allowed to wear T-shirts again.
He’s got an iced coffee in one hand and a cupcake with a candle in it in the other, and like a video montage playing in my mind, I see seven years’ worth of memories of him doing this for me.
“Make a wish, Lotts.” Closing my eyes, I make my wish: For Jake to always love me as much as I love him, and for us to be together forever. I blow out the candle and take a sip of my white mocha—heaven in a cup.
“Thank you, J, I love you. Now come and get back in bed with me. All I want to do is spend the day snuggled up next to you.”
The smile on his face makes his dimples pop as he leans down to kiss me on the lips. It’s chaste and leaves me longing for more.
“No can do baby, we’ve got places to be.” Wait, what?
“Where are we going? I didn’t realize we had plans.”
“It’s called a surprise, Lottie, you’ve heard of that right?” His eyebrow raises in question.
“Of course I have,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“You still have a bit of time, enjoy your coffee and then get dressed. I’m going to take Bella for a quick walk.” Hearing her name, Bella’s head pokes out from under the covers.
“Come on, Bella, lets go,” he calls, and she leaps off the bed to trot after him.
Checking my phone, I have messages from all the girls. It’s my first birthday without my parents, so everyone is checking in to make sure I’m doing ok. And sure, it’s hard and different, but with the amount of love I’m lucky to be surrounded by, this day will be much more bearable.
Once Jake’s back, we jump into his car. I still have no idea where we’re going, so I look out the window for clues, but I come up empty.
Pulling up to an unfamiliar building, we get out to a chorus of "Happy Birthdays,” and it’s then I see all my friends. Even Wren and Sawyer are here, and I rush over to my best friend, where I’m swept up in a hug and sink into her embrace. God, I’ve missed her.
“Happy birthday, babe. There was no way I was missing this.” She rocks me from side to side.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” I say as I wipe the tears forming from my eyes.
“Can we go inside now? I need to pee,” a very heavily pregnant Kayla shouts. Turns out, she was further along than we thought when we discovered she was having a baby at Disneyland.
We walk into the unfamiliar building, and we’re ushered into a room full of cooking stations. Huh?
“Welcome to Lottie’s Great Birthday Bake Off,” Jake announces.
What the?
“So, baby, what’s going to happen is we’re all going to split off into pairs and attempt to make you a red velvet birthday cake, and you get to judge who's best.”
My hand covers my mouth, and my eyes sparkle in excitement. “Oh my god, this is so exciting. Who’s pairing up with who?”
“So, we have me and Louis, Mom and Codey, Alyssa, Theo and Soph, and Wren and Sawyer. Seth had to work so he’ll be here later on. Kayla will be walking around judging with you.”
Kayla links arms with me, her other hand resting on her belly. She whispers in my ear, “I can’t wait to mess with these guys.”
I bark out a laugh, she’s always the troublemaker.
Everyone takes their positions and the timer is set; the guys have two hours to make something that resembles a red velvet cake, and then there will be a blind taste test to decide the winner. Can’t have any bias here.
With a three, two, one, they’re off, and me and Kayla let everyone get into it before we start walking around.
Some are definitely looking more at ease than others. “Who’s your money on?” Kayla asks.
“Probably Hannah and Codey if I had to pick. They’re both controlled and methodical, you know?”
“I see that, I’d probably go for the same. I don’t hold out much hope for Theo and Alyssa, he’s already got flour in his hair.” Kayla points at him and his now dark blonde hair is indeed covered in flour. Sophia has flour smeared across her cheeks too.
“Let’s go and check in.” We get up and start to walk toward the first table, which happens to be Jake and Louis.
“Are you sure you’re supposed to use that much sugar?” Kayla asks, a manicured nail pointing to the bowl.
“Cherie, we know what we’re doing. We’re experts.” Louis winks at her, making her giggle.
“Experts? Yeah, don’t give up your day job, fellas.”
Moving on to the next table, we come to Wren and Sawyer, who surprisingly seem to be working well together.
“How’s it going, guys?”
“Good, I think. I’m weighing the ingredients and Sawyer’s mixing. So, so far so good,” she says with a little smile, and I notice Sawyer smiling back at her in a way I’ve not had a chance to witness before.
“Sounds great, you could be in with a chance of winning,” I encourage as we leave to check on Theo, Alyssa and their little helper.
“Theo, you’re meant to get it in the bowl and not in your hair,” Kayla shakes her head in amusement.
“Alyssa threw it at me; it’s not like I did it on purpose.” He rolls his eyes as Alyssa shrugs.
“He wasn’t listening to me, so I made him. Isn’t that right, Soph?” Sophia giggles and nods her head.
“Well, I’m not sure your mixture is meant to look like that.” Kayla pulls a horrified face as Alyssa looks down at the mixture.
“What do you mean? It looks fine…doesn’t it?”
“Sure, sure.” Kayla nods while grimacing.
“Come on, chaos monster, let’s move it.” I push her toward Hannah and Codey, who are busy making the cream cheese frosting for the top.
“Looking good over here.” My mouth waters as the smell of cake baking fills the air.
“Thank you, we’re a pretty good team,” Hannah says serenely while Codey grunts his agreement. Always such a big talker.
“Good luck, guys,” we say as we go back to our seats so Kayla can rest and we can observe what’s going on.
When it’s time for the cakes to be plated up, I’m ushered out of the room so I won’t know which cake belongs to who, although I’m pretty sure I’ll have a strong idea.
Wren comes out to get us and it’s time to judge. Some are definitely better than others, but it’s clear to see everyone has tried their best, and it really does warm my heart that my friends were all willing to do this for me.
To be fair, they all taste exactly the same, so I’m now judging purely on presentation alone. As I thought, the winners are Hannah and Codey.
I sidle up to Jake and wrap my arms round him. “Thank you so much for today, J, this has been absolutely perfect.”
“I’d do anything for you, baby, you know that. Now, it’s time for some dinner and then I’m taking you home for dessert.” He waggles his eyebrows.
Dinner at Hannah’s is perfect. After Seth arrived from work, Jake ordered in from my favorite Mexican restaurant, and we now have a feast on the table. I'm pretty sure he’s ordered the whole restaurant, and we’re all digging in.
Kayla groans from the opposite end of the table. “Are you ok, babe?” I call across to her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just need to walk about for a sec.” As she stands up, the crotch of her jeans turns a darker shade of blue.
“Oh shit.”
“Oh fuck.”
“Uhm, I think my waters just broke?”
Louis looks like he’s about to pass out “Merde!”