“I wanted to help a friend out.”
“Well, next time you get that feeling, call me, and I’ll talk you out of it.” She points at me. “He gets under my skin,” she tells me.
“He definitely is under something,” I murmur.
Walking to the stack of boxes, she picks one up and follows Jensen out. I think of her and Gabe, and I hope at the end of all this, they haven’t killed each other.
I look around the room, wandering to the fireplace when I notice Crystal put up new pictures. There is one of us two and another of the three of us.
I grab the matches on the mantel, taking a match out and strike it. Grabbing the letter out of my back pocket, I light it on fire. I see the red flames start to eat up the white envelope, the flames burning orange. I set it down in the fireplace and watch the letter turn to ash.
I turn around, walking to the pile of boxes. When I pick up a box and make my way out to my future, I have a spring in my step and a smile on my face.
Epilogue One
Jensen
Six months later
“Dude, you need to chill the fuck out. You’re going to wear a hole in the rug,” Brody says.
“What if she says no?” I look at him, my heart hammering in my chest.
“She isn’t going to say no.” Brody gets up. “She’s put up with you for this long, so it’s safe to say she is in for the long haul. Plus, she looks at you like you hang the moon. She sighs when you kiss her, and she is genuinely happy to see you each time.” He walks out of my office.
I walk to my desk, opening the drawer and taking out the brown leather ring case. “Here goes nothing.” I put it in my pocket and make my way home.
I walk into the house, and the smell of dinner fills the air. Making my way into the room, I see something that still gets me every single time. Hailey and Mila together. The routine is that Hailey picks Mila up from school, then they do homework together till dinnertime. Then Mila fills Hailey in about everything, and we mean everything, about her day at school.
So it’s no surprise that I find Hailey cutting bread while she listens to Mila’s story.
“And then someone farted, and they threw up all over the mat.” She uses her hands to gesture the act of vomiting.
“Maybe she was sick before?” Hailey looks up, making Milk shake her head. I look around the vast room, taking in the changes since Hailey moved in. The big dark room has light now. The pictures of us scattered around the house. The throw pillows on the big couch and the covers that go with them. Also, the fridge is covered with Mila’s schoolwork she brings home, piles and piles of paper. I shake my head. “Hey, girls.” I smile, walking to my daughter, and kiss her head, then go around the island to my woman, mine.
Hailey sets the knife down and turns around to greet me with a smile plastered on her face. Her hands go around my neck. “Hi, handsome.” My hands bring her close to me while her lips touch mine.
“Dinner’s almost done.” She turns back around to finish cutting the bread. “I made a pasta bake.” She cooks every single night except Saturday; that is our pizza night.
“Great, I’m going to go wash up.” I walk to our bedroom, taking in the changes there also. The brown cover is gone, replaced with a light gray one, and more throw pillows that always get tossed on the floor. Pictures of us are everywhere; my girl never misses a picture moment. But my favorite picture of us is the one that Mila took. It is the two of us on the beach, her sitting in front of me, both of us just looking at the water. It’s our thing. I take the ring out of my pocket, thinking about how am I going to do this. Putting it in the drawer by my bed, I take a shower before she starts calling for me.
By the time I walk back out, the table is set for the three of us. Mila sits in her chair to my right, and Hailey sits on my left.
“Hailey,” Mila shouts, “Poppa is clean.”
We sit at the table, telling each other about our day. I hear the vomit story again. Bath time and bedtime go by at a snail’s pace. It feels like forever until Mila finally falls asleep. I find Hailey wrapping Christmas presents in our room.
“You know that the gifts will cover most of the tree right?” I ask her.
“I know, but it’s our first Christmas sharing a home, and my family is going to be here. So I want it perfect.” She smiles at me.
“Come with me.” I grab her hand and walk to the back door leading to the ocean.
“Where are we going?” she asks surprised when I start walking toward the beach. “Jensen, we won’t hear Mila.” She stops in her tracks, not moving another step.
“I brought the monitor.” I show her. “Now, come on.”
We walk down to the sand, and I take in the water. “It’s calm tonight,” I mention when she sits on the sand, pulling me down by my hand.
“It’s getting colder,” she mentions as my thoughts are mumbled, and I don’t know how to make the first move. I turn to look at her, her hair blowing in the wind. She looks at me, leaning in to give me a kiss. “Love you,” she whispers, and I know, I know this is it.
I get up, and she follows my movement. I stand in front of her and then get down on one knee. “Jensen,” she whispers.
“I love you,” I tell her. “My life was a disaster, like a hurricane came through it, came through me. Left me in ruins. The only good thing I had was Mila.” I smile, moving her hair from her face. “But I slowly got up, thought I built everything back, but I didn’t. I built the walls, I built the roof, but the foundation, the foundation wasn’t there.”
“What?” she questions softly.
“When you build a house, it all starts with the foundation. You need a strong foundation to keep everything up.”
“Okay.” Her hands go to my face.
“So I built this house for me and Mila. Except my foundation was weak. I had none till you.”
“Honey.” She blinks away tears while smiling.
“You came in and made us stronger; you made us secure. With you, the wind won’t knock our house down. The storm will pass over us. I want to dry your eyes when you cry. I want to smile when you smile. I want to be the one by your side when you have bad days and good days. I want to be by your side even when you want to kick my ass. I want to watch the water with you every day. I want to be the foundation of your world.”
“Jensen, you are.” She sniffles as she leans forward to kiss me. “You are that and so much more.”
“I want to do all that with you as my wife.” She gasps.
“Be my wife.” I blink away the tears that are now forming. “Please.” I reach into my pocket, taking out the box and opening it to show her the simple ring I picked out the day she moved in.
I take her finger and slip the ring on as she looks down at the square diamond ring with a diamond eternity band.
“Say something.”
She looks at the ring and then back up. “Yes.” Her head moves up and down as the tears flow. “A million times yes.”
She gets on her knees, burying her face in my chest as she cries. I hold her until she tilts her head back, the marks of tears all down her cheeks, and her smile bright. “Are you gonna kiss me or not?” I laugh as my mouth claims hers, the wind picking up.
“I think a storm is coming,” she says when the sand starts flying up. “Let’s go inside.” I reach for her hand, not caring about the storm, not caring because I have my foundation. With her, I have everything. With her, I have my perfect love story.
Epilogue Two
Hailey
A beautiful sunny day five months later.
“What do you mean I can’t go in there?” I hear Jensen’s voice boom from outside our bedroom door, my eyes closed as Darla finishes my makeup. “That’s my bedroom.”
“Jensen Walker,” I hear Heidi say. “Don’t make me take out Grandma Delores’s whip.”
“Mom, my girls are in there, and I want to see them. Mila, open the door for me. Hailey …” I hear Mila giggle from the bed. I open one eye to
see my girl sitting in the middle of our bed, reading a book. The puffy dress she is wearing swallows her. My mother has her tucked by her side as she reads to her.
“Poppa is getting angry,” Mila tells my mother while she looks up giggling.
Seeing my mother look at Mila with such love makes my heart burst. The day after we got engaged, my family arrived, bearing gifts. With the engagement ring on, I waited to see who would notice it first.
Mom and Dad both came in with their hands filled with gifts, “Are those presents for me?” Mila asked, jumping up and down, clapping her hands.
My father placed them by the tree and then held out his arms for her. She ran to him, and he picked her up. “Santa told me you were a very good girl.”
“I was. I help set the table every night,” Mila told him.
Nanny then walked into the house. “What a wonderful house, Jensen,” she told him as soon as she sat down, “but the car ride was brutal.”
“Do you want some tea?” I asked from beside Jensen, his arm around my shoulders.
“I would love some,” Nanny said. I walked to the kitchen while my mother and father sat down with Mila. Blake was the only one not able to make it since he was on shift.
I placed the cup of tea on the coffee table in front of them and then finally heard a squeal. “Oh my god, is that an engagement ring. Joanne?” Nanny called my mother who looked away from Mila.
I stood up, finally everyone’s eyes on me, the smile not leaving my face even if I tried. I smiled so much my cheeks hurt. I looked down at the ring. “Yes. I agreed to marry him,” I told them, their hands flying into the air as they shouted their joy.
“Does this mean that I get to have a grandpop?” Mila asked my father who got tears in his eyes.
“It sure does.” He picked her up as he hugged her. “And I have the best looking granddaughter on the play ground.”
“Oh dear.” I rolled my eyes; she had him wrapped around her finger from the first time they met. She would go for walks with him on the beach holding his hand. She would sit on his lap all the time; when my mother would FaceTime, she would come in and take over the conversation. So that started our first Christmas together, and this year, we were going up to their house.
“He’ll get over it, sweetheart.” My mother leans down to kiss Mila’s head. My family is down for the week. You see, today is my wedding day.
“Okay, you’re done,” Darla tells me. I stand from the chair and go look at myself in the bathroom mirror. My blond hair is tied at the base of my neck in a messy bun with my bangs swept to the side. My makeup is light. “Now, let’s get you in that dress,” she says from beside me as the butterflies fill my stomach.
My mother comes into the big bathroom while I step into my lace wedding dress. Putting my arms through, I slip the straps to sit on my shoulders. Darla moves to give my mother room to tie the back. She zips the dress up to my waist and then ties the lace right behind my neck, leaving my back bare. I turn to see myself in the mirror as my mother wipes tears from her eyes. “You look stunning.” She grabs me by the waist, pulling me to her. When they saw the ring and knew that Jensen proposed, all my mother did was cry; tears of happiness, she said. You see, Jensen includes my family in everything. Before he even entertained the idea of asking me to marry him, he asked my father and then my mother. My guy is a good one.
“No crying,” Darla shouts as my mother nods. Mila comes into the room wearing her cream-colored flower girl dress with a sage belt tied around her waist with a huge bow.
“You look like a princess,” I tell her as I stoop down to her level. “I have something for you. Mom, can you bring me the blue box on the dresser?” My mother comes back into the room with the blue box and white ribbon. I take the box in my hand, looking at the beautiful girl in front of me who not only holds a piece of my heart, but who I would also give my life for.
“We are going to wait outside,” my mother says. Turning around, she and Darla empty the room, leaving just me and my girl. Yes, mine; she didn’t come from me, but she is mine.
“I wanted to ask you something.” I smile at her smile as she eyes the box. “Open it.”
She grabs the box from me eagerly, untying the bow and letting it fall to the floor. She lifts the lid, taking in the silver chain. “This is called an infinity sign.” Her fingers trace the silver eight. “You see how it goes around and around with no ending?” She nods. “I want you to know that this is how much I love you.” She smiles at me.
“I love you too.” She smiles brightly.
“I wanted to ask you if you would wear it today as a thank you for letting me love you and your dad.” She doesn’t say anything; she just takes the necklace out and turns around for me to clasp it around her neck.
“Is this like a ring?” she asks turning around. “Like the ring Poppa gave you? He wants to be with you forever.”
“Yes, this is just like that.” The tears come, and there is no way to stop them.
“I want to be with you forever too,” she whispers, coming into my outstretched arms. I kiss her head as I silently thank God for giving her to me. The knock on the door breaks our hug, and Crystal comes into the room.
“You two look like princesses.” I see her in her off-the-shoulder sage lace maid of honor dress stopping at her knees.
“Hailey wants to marry me forever,” Mila tells her. “Look at my infinity.”
She smiles at Mila. “Obviously, she wants to marry you. You’re the coolest five-year-old I’ve ever met.” Mila nods her head. “Now, go see Grandma Joanne so she can give you your basket of flowers.” She skips out of the room. “That kid has more grandmothers than I could explain.” She looks at me as we laugh. “You look amazing.” She finally looks at me, coming to me and holding my hand in hers. “There isn’t someone else that I would pick for you. There isn’t another person on this earth who fits you better than he does.” She blinks away tears. “I mean after he stopped being a grade A asshole.” We laugh as I pull her to hug me.
“I’ve never felt like this,” I tell her. “My heart is overflowing with love. I loved before”—I take a breath—“or I thought I loved, but this it’s different.” She doesn’t have a chance to say anything because there is a knock on the door and my mother and father open the door.
My mother smiles. “If we don’t get you out there right now, I think Jensen is going to get a bulldozer and make a hole in that wall.” I smile and silently laugh because he probably would.
“Okay, let’s go get me married.” I grab my bouquet of white and green wildflowers.
I walk out to the back where I see the altar on the beach for the first time. White chairs line the aisle, all of them filled with everyone we know. I take in all the love that is on that beach. Mila comes out to me. “I got my flowers to throw down.”
“Okay, let’s do this,” I tell everyone as I spot Nanny and Grandma Delores sitting side by side. The music starts as I look up and see Jensen walk to the altar at the end of the aisle, flowers all around it. He stands there in his beige linen suit, white shirt with no tie. His hands crossed in front of him as Gabe and Brody stand to his side, wearing the same thing but with just vests and no jackets.
Darla walks down the aisle first, with Crystal following her. I look at my parents, who hold hands. “If you don’t mind, I want to walk down the aisle with Mila.” I reach for her hand, smiling. They nod their head as they walk each other down the aisle. When “Bless the Broken Road” starts playing, I squeeze Mila’s hand before we start down the aisle. My eyes find Blake’s as I look at him and his family. His wife’s eyes brim with tears as I subtly nod at her. I start my walk down the aisle, my eyes never leaving Jensen’s as he wipes away his tears. I pass the rows of chairs that include our family, aunts, uncles, and all of my friends.
When I get to the altar, Jensen grabs my face, kissing me softly. “We haven’t gotten to that part, son,” the officiant says while everyone laughs. Mila walks over to sit with my moth
er and father, climbing on my father’s lap.
In the middle of the beach, with the water calm as soft waves hit the sand, we promise to love, honor, and cherish each other. I promise Jensen and Mila that I will love them forever. When he slips the eternity band on my finger, my heart fills even more than I thought was possible and a soft sob escapes me. I slip his simple gold band on his finger, and he pulls me to him, not caring if it’s the time or not. I kiss him, wrapping my arms around him, as our family and friends all clap and holler behind us. “I love you,” I tell him when he releases my lips.
He turns to face everyone, his hand grabbing mine as he lifts them in the air. “She’s mine, people.” The crowd goes wild as I laugh with my whole heart.
Some nine months later.
I walk on the beach, my feet sinking in the sand, and a notepad in my hand. I sit down in the middle of the empty beach as the sun rises in the distance, the water slowly coming to life. As the waves crash faster and faster, I pull the pen out and start my letter.
Dear Eric,
It feels like it’s been forever since I last thought of you.
I hope you are looking down and know I’m happy. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my life.
I have a husband who I would not only die with, but I would die for. I have a beautiful daughter named Mila. My name now on her birth certificate as her mother.
I wanted to tell you that I forgive you. I forgive you for everything. I have to forgive you because of you, I got my everything. I got my perfect life.
Hailey Walker
I stop writing as I rub my swollen stomach while my son kicks to let me know that today he will be meeting me. I look at the water, a lone bird chirping in the distance. Coming closer and closer, he soars into the sky, and it almost looks like he’s watching me. I get up, the lightness overtaking me as I walk back to my house, to my family.
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