Epilogue II
Layla
Five Years later….
“Idon’t get a hint?” I asked, reaching up to finger the soft, velvety cloth covering my eyes.
“Where would be the fun in that?” Kellan replied, laughter in his voice.
I did love a good surprise. We’d left our house and gotten into the truck and had been driving for the last fifteen minutes. Judging by his speed, we appeared to stick to the side roads. Finally, we stopped, and he turned off the truck.
“Stay put until I open your door. No peeking yet.”
I was grinning, listening for clues as to where we could be.
He opened my door and guided me out of the truck. We were walking slowly on what felt like grass.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll see. Keep your blindfold where it is.”
We went up one step, then another. I could hear a door being opened. We took two more steps. “I’ll keep the blindfold on, but I hope you know you’re wearing it tonight.”
Silence was the response. Then the sound of a cleared throat in the distance. What the hell? When the blindfold was removed, I saw we were in our own house with everyone we knew in front of us.
“Surprise!” they all yelled.
My hand went to my mouth; I was completely stunned. My eyes met those of Kellan’s amused ones.
He stuffed the blindfold in his pocket, giving me a wink. “For later indeed,” he whispered and gave me a quick kiss.
I was certain my face was bright red given that little embarrassing remark shared in front of both sets of parents, but I didn’t care. Because as the big banner hanging over the entryway said, it was my five-year cancer-free party. Nothing could ever take away what this day represented.
“I can’t believe you drove me around the block only to bring me back to our own house.”
Kellan grinned. “It was a few blocks. I had to give time for everyone to get here and set up.”
Russ came up and gave me a hug first. Of course, he couldn’t let my comment slide. “Hey, big sis. Great to know how you’ll be spending your evening.”
I just laughed. “How was I supposed to know there was an audience? And by the way, you should try it sometime. You are newlyweds now.”
Now it was his turn to blush. He’d married Alicia last year, a woman he’d met at a teacher’s workshop two years ago.
She was lovely, and I’d never seen him so happy.
I hugged her next. Then it was both sets of parents and Kellan’s sister, Keira.
Patty and her husband. Brandon, his girlfriend, his father and mother.
And a bunch of my hospital coworkers had even made it.
I loved that the party was in our home because if ever there was a house designed for entertaining, this was it.
Kellan had done an amazing job on the renovations, with the gourmet kitchen, the fabulous balconies on the second and third floors, and my favorite: a cedar walk-in closet with a seating area.
It wasn’t lost on me that he’d made every one of my dreams come true. Down to the damn closet.
As the last of the guests left the party, Kellan walked his sister out to her car like the gentleman he was. Upon his return, he found me in the lounger on the top balcony outside of our bedroom.
“Tired, gorgeous?” he asked, settling behind me to pull me close.
“It’s a good tired. The very best. I can’t believe you pulled off such a surprise. Thank you.”
He kissed my temple. “Five years cancer free deserves a celebration.”
Yes, it did. “I’m kind of surprised nobody was staying with us tonight.” After all, some had made the trip from Oregon and others from two hours up north.
He chuckled. “I think after the comment about the blindfold, people may have been reluctant to share the house with us ever again.”
I entwined my hands with his. As I flipped over our combined wrists, I smiled at the matching pink ribbons.
My hair might have grown down to my shoulders, my implants might look damn good if I did say so myself, and my body may have recovered, but I’d never forget what I’d been through.
More importantly, I wouldn’t forget what the people who loved me had endured.
Especially Kellan. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone the way I loved my husband.
But here we were five years later, and our love was stronger than ever.
I flashed him a smile. “People not staying with us tonight is probably for the best. Because I have a surprise of my own.”
Kellan
“Does your surprise have anything to do with the blindfold because I like where this is heading.” My wife remained, and would always be, the sexiest woman on the planet.
She laughed, turning around so she was straddling my legs and facing me. “It could.”
“I’m intrigued.” I dropped my mouth to hers, taking her lips in a sweet kiss.
She moved closer, trailing toward my ear as she whispered, “I had my IUD removed.”
I leaned back, searching her gaze. “Does that mean—?”
She was nodding. “It does. I got the all clear to start trying.”
I hugged her close, swallowing hard with the emotion in my throat. We could’ve tried earlier for a baby, but Layla had wanted to ensure she hit her five-year mark first. I’d encouraged the wait since we were in no hurry, but now that the moment was here, I was literally speechless.
She leaned back to cup my face. “Unless you changed your mind about wanting kids right now?”
“No. I definitely haven’t changed my mind.
” I took her hands and kissed each of them.
I briefly recalled the time I’d almost lost her.
The time it had hurt to breathe. To know we’d made it here to this moment was unreal.
I’d never stop feeling grateful. There were no limits to my love for this woman and I would never take one day with her for granted.
“I know there’s no guarantee it’ll work naturally, but the doctor said we have a good chance. And since we’re traveling to Iceland next week to celebrate, I figured that’ll give us plenty of time to try.”
I swept the hair back from her face and behind her ear. “If it doesn’t work, we always have other options.” She had frozen eggs as a backup, and even if in vitro wasn’t successful, we could always adopt. As long as she was in my life, everything else was just icing on the cake. “I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too. So very much.”
I stood up, pulling her up and into my embrace. “Now let’s go put that blindfold to good use, Mrs. McNeal.”