Epilogue
Ava looked at the bedroom with her hands on her hips. The furniture had been put exactly where she had asked, but it still looked odd to her. She pursed her lips and tilted her head.
“Cole!”
“Yeah, babe?”
“I think we need to move the bed.”
His footsteps were heavy on the wooden floor as he came up the stairs. His arms circled her waist, and he rested his chin on her shoulder.
“Again?”
She sighed. “Yes. It looks weird. Do you think it looks weird?”
“No. But I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it the last fifteen times we moved it.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s only been four.”
“Feels like fifteen.”
“Help me anyway.”
They walked over to the bed and shifted it to where she wanted it, only for her to change her mind and move it back to the first spot the movers had put it in earlier that morning.
Cole and Ava had purchased a house together, and they had just gotten the keys yesterday.
They didn’t waste any time getting out of their rental house and into their own.
It was a celebration of sorts after Ava gained custody of Ruby when Tonya and Frank signed away their parental rights.
They came around to see Ruby for the holidays, but most of the time they were too drunk to notice.
It had been painful for Ruby to accept that she wasn’t their priority, but she was seeing a counselor regularly who had helped her come to terms with her parents having an illness that made it hard for them to care for her.
Ava attended sessions as well at the urging of Cole to reconcile some of her feelings from her past. It also helped her in taking care of Ruby and knowing how to best handle situations that could come up.
“Again?” Ruby asked from the doorway.
“Yep,” Cole said. “What Ava wants, Ava gets.”
Ruby giggled. “Want to see my room?”
“Of course,” Ava said.
The three of them walked down the hallway to one of the three bedrooms on the second floor. Ruby stepped inside and opened her arms wide as if presenting it. Ava and Cole had helped get her furniture in place, but they hadn’t seen any of the decorations she put up.
“Wow, this looks great, Ruby. Good work,” Cole said.
“This is really cute, Ruby. I love it,” Ava said.
Ruby smiled proudly.
A cell phone rang, and Ruby ran over to her nightstand, picking up the small phone.
“Hello?” She smiled excitedly and waved her and Cole away. “Hi Emma!”
Cole snorted and took Ava’s hand, pulling her out of Ruby’s room. “We’ve been dismissed.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “She’s practically a teenager with that attitude. And is she talking to Emma? As in Miles and Kelly’s daughter Emma? Did she get a phone too?”
“Seems that way,” Miles said. He tugged her hand until they were back in their bedroom. “Is there anything else we need to move?”
Ava looked around the room and shook her head. “No. I think this is good for now. I might change my mind in a week, but I want to see how we like this before we move it again.”
“Thank God.”
Ava turned to look at him with a smirk on her face. But it immediately cleared, and her eyes widened. Cole was on one knee holding a small velvet box.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
Cole chuckled. “I’m doing something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Ava Rose, you’ve been my everything for as long as I can remember. There isn’t a single day that goes by that I’m not thankful to have you by my side. Will you do me the greatest honor of being my wife?”
Tears poured down Ava’s cheeks as she nodded emphatically. Then she dropped to her knees in front of Cole, grabbed his face, and kissed him.
“Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.”
“Did she say yes?” Ruby asked.
Ava looked to the door and saw Ruby peeking at them from around the corner. “Yes!”
Ruby ran into the room and threw her arms around them. “I knew it!”
“I did too!” another voice shouted.
Ava looked up just in time to see Emma running into the room and tossing her arms around them too. “Emma?”
Only a few seconds later, they were engulfed by more arms. Ava squealed and squeezed Kelly and Miles to her.
“You’re here!” Ava shouted.
“I am!” Kelly shouted back.
They jumped up and down together.
“I’m engaged!” Ava shouted again.
“So am I!” Kelly shouted back.
The two women stopped jumping and stared at each other wide-eyed with their arms clasping each other.
“Double wedding?” they said at the same time. “Double wedding!”