Epilogue
Callie
Five Years Later
A lot has happened in the five years since Mason got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.
We got married six months later and had the most beautiful ceremony on his parent’s farm. My bouquet was a mixture of blush-colored roses and white spider mums. Sage green, blush, and taupe were our wedding colors. Everything went perfectly. The weather was just right. I’ve got so many amazing memories from that day.
We had a small wedding that included family and close friends. Holden, Jessalyn, and their two kids were there; Jo Ellen was there; Emily and her boyfriend were there; Josh, Elizabeth, and their three kids, and both of our parents were there. Both sets of our grandparents were there, as well, but only stayed for the wedding.
Once the ceremony was over, we celebrated late into the night with everyone. We danced the night away to all our favorite love songs. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect wedding day.
About a year later we welcomed Dominic, our four-year-old son. Parenthood added some struggles that I wasn’t anticipating but we made it through and two years later added our little girl, Caroline, to our family. Two weeks ago, we completed our family of six with our twins—Amelia and Preston.
We are sitting out back on our patio watching the sunset. I look over at Mason who’s got the twins in his arms. Caroline is sitting on my lap while Dominic plays Legos about a foot away. Never would I have believed this would be my life. Married to my high school sweetheart, have four children, and my dream home on land where we can raise our sweet babies. It feels so surreal.
As I gaze out over the field that sits behind our house, I think back to the day we found this land and bought it. Not knowing how soon it would be filled with little feet running through the house we’d have custom-built. I remember all the meetings we had with contractors and architects making sure every piece of this house was exactly as we wanted it. I had Pinterest boards for every room planned out and the result is something I only thought was possible in magazines.
Our first plan was to build a traditional farmhouse but then I saw a barndominium and fell in love. So, we found a plan that worked for us. It’s a five-bedroom, three-bath layout with an open concept and a huge, attached garage. Dominic and Caroline each have their own room and Amelia and Preston’s nursery is set up, but they are still in our bedroom for now.
A year after the house was completed and we had moved in we had a barn built for a few animals that we had purchased and had kept at Mason’s parent’s house. Bringing the two horses and four goats home to our little farm was a full-circle moment for me.
“What’s going on in that beautiful mind of yours, Cal?” Mason says quietly, trying not to bother the babies while they sleep.
“Just thinking about how grateful I am to be where we are today. After everything we went through, we’re exactly where I always imagined we would be.”
“I remember when we used to talk about our future when we were teens. It was always the same thing. Farm, a few kids, and a lot of land.”
“Yes, always. And look at us now. A small farm, a few kids, and a lot of land. Those fifteen years apart definitely hurt but I think it was good for both of us. You definitely would not have caught me saying that then, though.” I say while laughing.
Mason laughs a little louder than he meant making Amelia jump. He shushes her until she’s back to sleep before looking up at me. “I agree. I wouldn’t want to do it again, but I believe you are right about it being good for us.”
We sit there in silence for a few more minutes before gathering the kids and starting their nighttime routine. Mason gets Dominic and Caroline bathed and into their pajamas while I feed Amelia and Preston and get them ready for bed. We’ve gotten into this smooth routine since bringing them home and it’s been working really well. Once all four kids are tucked in and read to, we meet in the kitchen for our nightly bowl of ice cream and Oreos. It's not the healthiest but it’s something that we both look forward to in the highs and lows of the days with four kids.
I can’t wait to see where the next six years take us and even the next fifty.
Tomorrow everyone is coming over to celebrate and meet the twins. My pregnancy with them was rough and I wasn’t feeling a baby shower, so we decided to throw a small get-together after they were born and I was feeling better. No one has met them in person yet, aside from our parents, because we wanted to have a couple of weeks to let Dominic and Caroline adjust and just soak up everything life is providing us with right now.
Dominic and Caroline are in their beds asleep, and the babies are lying next to us in their bassinet. I haven’t reached the stage yet where I’m comfortable with them being in their room by themselves, especially when Mase and I are downstairs.
We are opening all the decor we’ve purchased over the last few weeks, and everything is coming together so well. We decided on a nautical theme since they seemed to enjoy being in the water when I was pregnant with them.
As I’m laying out the banner that says “welcome home” in light blue and cream letters Mason is putting the tablecloth on the dining room table. It’s a white background with starfish, coral, and shells in different shades of light blue. That tablecloth is what set my mind on the theme of this get-together. I was browsing online one night and came across it and knew right away it was what I needed for this.
“Mase, can you grab the other end of this, so it doesn’t get tangled and help me hang it? Here’s a thumbtack for your end.” I say, holding out my hand.
“Yep, give me one second. I just have to lay down this last placemat and I’ll be there.” Mason answers as he flattens out the placemat and lays it at the head of the table.
“I’d like this centered under the clock and we can move the table if we need to, to make it all line up.” Knowing that we shouldn’t have to move the table since I was very adamant about it being centered with the clock on the wall when we bought it.
“Alright, I think this is centered. Let’s go ahead and hang it and then we can readjust if we need.” Mason says, pushing the thumb tack into the wall.
He steps back and eyes the banner for a few seconds before confirming it’s centered.
Preston begins whimpering and waking up, so I go over to change and feed him while Mason finishes setting everything up. I sit in the recliner watching him as he sets the trays for the food on the bar and grabs the wooden name signs we had custom-made. He leans them up against the wall on the buffet that’s sitting in front of the window, below the banner.
“Is that everything?” he asks, coming over to check on us.
“Yeah, that sign was the last thing. It looks perfect.”
This is everything I could have prayed for, and then some.