Epilogue New Year’s Eve 2035
All My Life by K-Ci and JoJo
Asher
“Happy birthday, dear Daddy, Happy birthday to you!” Cash and Hailey sing while she bounces Hollie on her hip.
I blow out the candles on the double chocolate cake we baked earlier today, as is tradition for us now, but I have no need to make a wish. Everything I could ever want was granted to me ten years ago when I accidentally spilled that drink on Hailey’s dress.
I give Cash a kiss on the top of his head and grab Hollie from Hailey’s hands.
“You didn’t close your eyes,” Hailey whispers against my ear while passing me the baby. “Your wish won’t come true.”
I smile at our sleepy baby before looking at my beautiful wife. “I told you last year and the year before, and the year before that . . . ” I kiss Hollie’s forehead, and she cuddles against my chest, closing her pretty grey eyes that match her mama’s.
“My unspoken wishes have come true, and all I want is for a lifetime with all of you.”
Hailey rolls her eyes, as sassy as ever. “Keep your voice low then. She’s about to go to sleep. I can’t believe she’s still up.”
I don’t have to look at the clock to know it’s midnight.
Just like she promised, Hailey has been keeping the kids up to wish me a happy birthday right as the clock strikes midnight every year.
She wants me to know how much she loves spending another year with me and that she won’t ever let me forget.
Like I could.
“Come on, Cash. Let’s go night night,” she says, offering him her pinky and walking away as I wave our son goodnight.
I stay in the living room, swaying to K-Ci and JoJo playing in the background as fireworks explode in the distance.
We wanted another baby, and even though it took a couple years, Hollie finally came, and she’s absolutely perfect.
If it was up to me, Hailey would always be pregnant.
She disagrees with me, though, and since it’s her body, she gets the final call.
Hollie’s heavy breathing interrupts my thoughts, and after laying her down in her pink crib in her dark, starry sky bedroom, I walk back out to the living room, where Hailey waits for me.
Her hair is up in a top bun, her pretty bangs styled the familiar way I love, a glass of wine in hand.
I join her, propping her legs on top of my lap as soon as I sit across from her on the soft couch.
She takes a sip of the dark liquid, sliding her tongue over the rim of the glass, and my dick stands in attention immediately. One simple move, and I want her. I always want her.
It seems like if our bodies are not intertwined, I can’t breathe properly, can’t think straight.
The one place where I know I belong is with her—inside her heart, by her side, and between her legs.
“So, thirty one, huh?” I shrug at her question, and she continues in amusement, “Such an old man.”
I smirk, testing the water and seeing if she’s in the same mindset. When she returns my smile, I know she is. “I heard the thirties are the new twenties.”
“Actually better.” Hailey sinks deeper into the couch, her eyes closing as a smile paints her face. Gosh—breathtaking. “Do you miss it?”
The question takes me by surprise. “Miss what?”
I know exactly what she means, but I want to make sure I answer correctly. I’m a maritime instructor now—you can’t keep me out of the water for long—and it’s been years since my last rescue mission. I’m happy though. Can’t she see that?
The storm behind her cloudy eyes tells a story I wasn’t expecting to hear today. Does she really think I regret anything in my life? She sighs. “Your job.”
“I have a job.”
“You know what I mean. Ocean cowboying, rescuing people, the whole thing.” There’s true worry in her face, the same I saw in her the day I decided next to her was my place.
Hailey has always been a woman of words.
Showing her with actions has never been enough, and I’m not sure why I thought now would be a good time.
We vowed to always communicate, to tell each other everything, but somewhere along the way, I forgot to tell her she’s my purpose. My happiness. My all.
I sit forward, holding her hands, willing her to look at me. “I told you once in a letter why I wanted to do that job, right?”
She nods but stays quiet, letting me continue. “For a long time, the only thing I could hope for, wish for, even pray for was a job where I felt like I was helping. I didn’t even think there was a possibility of anything else for me.”
My eyes travel over her, making sure she not only hears me, but she feels every single one of my words as I continue, “I couldn’t even dream of being loved the way you love me. I couldn’t even dream of finding what you and I have, because Hales, I never knew it existed.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes—not because she’s sad, though. No, it’s something else I can’t quite name.
“I don’t know how to express that our life is beyond my wildest dreams. I wouldn’t trade you, Cash, or Hollie for the world. Ever.” I tilt my head to the side, and she mimics my movements.
“I thought my purpose in life was to rescue others, to help in the most daunting circumstances, but I realized every single day that led me to the decision to enlist was with one purpose and one purpose only.”
The words dance in the air like the instrumental music in movie scenes—powerful for whatever the moment is meant to convey.
Can she hear the silence between each word?
Can she understand the meaning?
Do my words translate what my heart is feeling?
“To meet you.”
She gasps.
“Don’t act surprised now. You know it was always you.”
“Yeah, and it was always you too, but that doesn’t mean I’m your whole life’s purpose, babe.” She’s so serious, as if what she’s hearing is completely delusional and irrational. As if it’s not true.
I pull her to me, her ass landing on my lap and her hands shifting up to hold my face.
I look at her.
No, I stare.
I stare until she shivers. I stare until there’s no doubt in her mind I mean it wholeheartedly.
“You are. You were, even before we met. Our souls were so connected, I didn’t feel alive until lightning crashed into my eyes that night ten years ago.”
I kiss her forehead, because if I kiss her lips, I won’t be able to finish the sentiment. I need to touch her. To kiss her. To have her.
“You asked me why I was so quiet that night, and the truth is, I couldn’t find words. Somehow, my whole body knew we were meant to be more.”
My gaze drops to her lips and quickly flits back to her eyes. “My life not only gained purpose, but my soul and my heart did too. My body belongs to you. My heart belongs to you.”
I kiss her lips this time—not deep, not passionate, just a flash reminder that my lips are hers too. “Everything I have is yours. I don’t need anything else but the three of you.”
“That’s not healthy.”
I shrug. “Didn’t you say once that I was insane for expecting different outcomes while doing the same thing?”
She nods, narrowing her eyes, knowing exactly which direction this is going. “I’m not well. I’m hopelessly and irrevocably in love with you, and truly, nothing much matters. Jobs will come and go, but you and I will remain.”
“Asher,” she whispers, her words so soft, they could dance on their tiptoes.
“Until we’re old and gray.” And then, she kisses me. She shows me how much she knows damn well I mean it and how much she loves me back.
She smiles against my lips. “The stars aligned, huh?”
“They did. Just for you and me.”
Not ready to say goodbye? Read Asher’s POV at the wedding and the moment he realized how he felt about Hailey in the bonus epilogue here! Or go to
Curious about Livie, Hailey’s best friend? Read her story here! It’s a Rom Com!