Epilogue
“And so, with everything moving so fast lately, I haven’t really had the chance to say thank you. So, thank you.” Kyle smiled at the screen of faces.
“Such an awesome result,” Zac said.
“I can’t believe someone could be so vindictive,” Tom said.
“Not everyone is as sweet-natured as you,” Franklin teased.
“Apparently not. So she’s doing okay?”
Kyle nodded. “Loving working there. And it’s funny but since she’s become senior resident, somehow her shifts have become all the ones she’s wanted.”
“So strange.”
“And Mitch, I know we’ve said this before, but I don’t think we could ever thank you enough for saying something to Liam Darcy. He’s the GOAT. You are too.”
Mitch shook his head. “Don’t let Britta hear that. She already thinks I think that, just because I passed my youth leader qualification so quickly.”
“Noted. We won’t tell Britta.”
“So, I’m hearing a lot of this ‘we’ business,” Chris said. “What’s going on? Are we getting invites to the wedding?”
“Sorry guys.” Kyle waggled the fourth finger of his left hand, where a brand-new platinum ring sat proudly. “We decided not to wait, and got married quietly, at our church with just the pastors and our parents.”
“No way!”
“Wow. Congrats, man.”
“So happy for you.”
Ryan nodded, smiling, arms crossed. “Now that’s what we’re talking about.”
He chuckled. “Right? It seemed dumb to wait, so we’re living the dream in this awesome house I just bought.” He picked up the laptop and showed them the interior of the living area, already boasting framed pictures of Bella’s artwork from school, and a trimmed Christmas tree ready for three weeks.
Someone whistled.
“Sweet pad, man.”
“And it’s going good?” Ryan asked.
He nodded. “It’s had its moments of adjustments, but yeah. Keep praying for us.”
“Always.”
“Newlywed fun.”
And yes, there’d been lots of fun. Thank goodness for Minnie being willing to take Bella overnight. And for his mom and dad, who’d been more than happy to spend time with Bella too.
“And where is the mom living?”
“We decided to give ourselves a chance to find out what life is like without her. At least for the next little while. The apartment downstairs is leased to a medical student Gen knows. She works night shifts, so we never see or hear her, so it’s like she’s not there.”
“That’s great.”
Sure was. God was so good.
He loved being a dad. Loved coming home from road trips to his family. He couldn’t wait until their family expanded, but Gen had said they should wait, as Bella’s upcoming Christmas present of a puppy promised to be adjustment enough.
But it was okay to cruise along now everything had settled down.
Gen’s work was going well. He was scoring goals.
Bella was enjoying her new school and friends.
His parents and her mom were inching closer to finding Jesus.
And even with that he’d come to realize afresh that he didn’t need to be pounding their heads with the good news.
Just sow seed, water occasionally, and let God bring about the growth.
The Holy Spirit didn’t need him to be a helper.
But he needed the Holy Spirit to help him.
“So, how is everything going with you, Doug?” Drew asked.
Doug scratched his bristled jaw and shook his head. “Much the same.”
Huh. The lack of commentary about poor JT’s wife made a change. Maybe they’d have a conversation for once where they wouldn’t hear about—
“Yeah, what’s happening with Elsa?” Tom asked.
Apparently not.
There was a moment when it seemed everyone was waiting for Doug to step in, but he was looking away, which left Jai to explain about the recent death of JT’s mother-in-law.
“Wow, that must be so hard for Elsa,” Mike said.
Jai nodded. “It’s even more stress for poor Elsa who is still struggling with her visa.”
“You okay there, Doug?” Luc asked.
“Yep. Sorry, gotta scram. Something’s come up.”
Doug’s screen disappeared.
“That was weird,” Drew said.
Sure was.
Kyle glanced at the computer time. Winced. “Shoot, I need to go. We’ve got a fundraiser on tonight and I need to scoot.”
“Well, good to hear your awesome news. Congrats again.”
“Proud of you,” Ryan said.
“Thanks for all your encouragement.”
Ryan nodded, and the others saluted or waved goodbye, and he ended the call.
Now to make his new wife proud by being the ultimate plus-one.
* * *
Gen studied the small white stick as Kyle’s voice drifted up the stairs.
Smiled. Well, this would make life even more interesting.
Already her new role as senior resident in the ED had possessed its highs and lows.
Dr. Visek had been fired, which meant she’d taken on supervising his intern along with hers.
Adding this complication to the mix would be fun.
But maybe there was wisdom in just getting on with it now.
Already Dr. Singh was floating her name for the permanent role that was opening up next year.
It would be a lot easier to take a break after her residency was finished and take care of this.
Then when they’d had a sufficient number she’d get her tubes tied—or Kyle could get the snip—because obviously she was super fertile.
She smiled. It must’ve happened on their honeymoon on Vancouver Island.
That’s what too much time in their harbor-view suite not looking at the view could do.
Kyle had booked the Fairmont Empress for when he’d had a weekend off.
That had allowed them to take the seaplane trip forty minutes northwest for a short honeymoon of utter bliss.
He’d promised a longer vacation—with or without Bella—once the season was done.
But it was either put a rush on the wedding, or live apart until April at the earliest, when the season was over. And they’d already lived apart for too long. So while so many things had been a rush lately, that had been a no-brainer.
As would be his response when she showed him the white stick.
She glanced at the clock. He’d been on the call for way too long now. She needed his attention. So she wrapped her silk robe around her special dress and exited the room.
“Mom, can you help me with my English question please?” Bella called from her bedroom.
Oh. She hadn’t expected to be doing homework when she’d sauntered out like this. “Um, didn’t your father help you with your homework earlier?”
“Yeah, he helped me with my math.” Bella patted Betsy, who was also stretched out on Bella’s bed. “He’s really good at that, isn’t he?”
Gen nodded. “He’s always been good at math.”
Like how one plus one made three.
She smiled, remembering the stick in her bathroom.
“Um, honey, I need to talk to your father about something. Can it wait? Nanna and Poppy will be here any minute and I need to finish getting ready.”
“Yeah, I suppose. I just wanted to get ahead of things so I could be finished first in the class.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Gen clutched her near. “You don’t always have to be first, and you know it’s okay to take a breath and just be. I love you and your father loves you, and most importantly, God loves you just the way you are.”
“I know,” Bella said blithely. “It’s just that if I’m gonna be a surgeon one day I need to make sure I get good marks.”
“I understand.” Only too well. “But remember you only need to do the best you can, and you can always trust God with your future, okay? You don’t have to worry or stress. God holds the future in His hands. Right?”
“Right.”
She kissed her cheek and returned to her room and found Kyle hurriedly changing his clothes. She sat on the bed and watched him, raising her eyebrows suggestively when he stripped off his T-shirt.
“Don’t look at me like that unless you want to get there even later.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if my face talks without my permission.”
He chuckled and moved toward her but she waved him away. “Come on. Hurry up. I might be a lot more relaxed about a lot of things, but I still like to be on time.”
“Have schedule, must stick to it.”
“Most of the time, anyway.” She smiled.
A few minutes later he was changed, and she was awed at how her husband had managed to look so good so quickly while she’d needed hours with the hairstylist so her hair could look like she hadn’t tried.
But that was always the way, wasn’t it? Men getting away with things while women had to work twice as hard while dancing backward in heels.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, kissing her neck as she hooked in her earrings.
“Will there be dancing? I’m not super great on my feet sometimes, especially wearing heels like this.” She thrust out a foot, now clad in fancy high heels.
“Hmm.” He eyed her foot, his eyebrows rising as a smile followed.
She shook her head. “Come on. Stop flirting. We need to go.”
“Yes, my lady.”
A knock came from below, and they said goodbye to Bella then Kyle rushed down while she took the stairs more slowly.
Her mother-in-law’s eyes widened. “Oh my, Genevieve. You look breathtaking.”
“Hello, Philippa. Hi David.” Several kissed cheeks and thanks later they were finally released and she settled into the passenger seat.
Kyle glanced at her. “Mom was right. Breathtaking is the word.”
She smiled, imagining how much more breath might’ve been taken were she to have shared her news. Good thing it was his parents looking after Bella. Mom might look at her and guess correctly in one go.
“So, Liam Darcy is definitely going to be there tonight?” she checked.
“That’s the word on the street.” He glanced at her while they waited for a red light. “Mom still can’t get over the fact that you ‘know’ him, and he’s a fan of yours.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “How can he be when we’ve never met?”
“His social media suggests he’s a fan.”
She chuckled. That seemed surreal. “Well, I’m happy if she’s happy. Not that I’m trying to impress your mom.”
“You know, I think that’s the thing that most impresses her. That’s what Dad said to me, anyway. Mom is so used to people kowtowing to her that she respects when you don’t.”
“So you’re saying I need to be mean? Treat them mean and keep them keen?”