“Wow, this is beautiful,” I say as we settle onto the blanket. She pulls me between her legs, and I lean into her embrace. “You really outdid yourself, Kay.”
“You remember when we used to come up here back when we were in college and just enjoy the peace together?” she asks. I nod.
“Of course. Those are some of my fondest memories. You’ve made me feel so loved since day one, and I’ll forever be grateful for that,” I reply. I hold up my hand to the sky to admire the ring. “I’m so giddy right now. You really did your big one with this ring. Trust and believe, though, I will be getting you one as soon as we get back to the city.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she chuckles. We fall silent for a while before she speaks again. “Zee, I don’t want to wait any longer to marry you.” I look up at her. “You can say no if you want, but what if…”
“Yes,” I say, not even needing to hear her to finish the sentence. I turn around in her arms, draping my legs around her hips as I straddle her. She remained silent as I took her face into my hands and kissed her. “Kay, I don’t care if we go to the courthouse tomorrow and elope. All I care about is that I get to be with you.”
“Really?” she asks, her eyes glossy as I nod. She kissed me deeply, and I could feel her tears stain my cheeks. I felt her wrap her arms around me as she pressed her forehead against mine. “God, I love you so much.”
“And I love you as well, sweetheart,” I assure her.
“I have one more gift for you,” she says. I nod and watch as she lifts the side of the blanket to reveal a brown envelope. My eyebrows furrow as she gives it to me to take. She smiles up at me while I open the envelope. “I originally thought to give this to you right after I proposed, but I wanted to keep something that was just for us.”
“Oh my god,” I gasped as I pulled the papers from the envelope. It was all the documentation needed to file for Sera's adoption. She’d already signed them, and all that was missing was my signature. “You were serious.”
“You know I never say things I don’t mean,” she tells me. “You don’t have to worry about any of the filing fees or paperwork or anything because I plan on taking care of it all. I also promise to continue to love our Princess as if I’d given birth to her myself. That’s my daughter, and this will make it official, so please grant me this one wish of allowing me to be her other mom officially.”
“Baby, you’ve always been her other mother,” I say. “But I can’t wait to make it official.” We hugged, tears falling again. I swear, I was about to be all cried out by tomorrow. “This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Thank you.”
“Thank you for trusting me with your heart and allowing me to love you just the way you love me,” she replies. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving you.”
“Same here, my love. Same here.”
We shared a few more kisses before I settled back betweenher legs, my back against her chest as her arms rested around my waist. We enjoyed the breeze and the calmness of the night sky. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day, and I smiled to myself, knowing that there were so many days like this in the future.
And I couldn’t wait to enjoy every single one of them with her.
Epilogue.
Jakayla Morris-Collins - April 20th, 2028 - Four Years and Four Months Later
“Congratulations again, you two!” Zee squeals as we walk back to the parking garage. “Y’all make a beautiful family.”
“Thank you,” Adrian laughs as she holds Drew’s hand, watching as their son, Ezra, runs ahead with Serenity and our son, Kerian. “It still feels so surreal that he’s nowofficiallyour baby boy.” She glances at Drew. “Thank you for creating this beautiful family with me.”
“No,I’mthe one who should be thankingyou,” she replied with so much love and adoration in her eyes. “You came back into my life all those years ago and flipped it upside down. Thank you for that.”
“Mm, I know another way you can thank me tonight,” she flirts.
“Okay, y’all freaky frogs,” Drew’s good friend Callie cuts in, laughing as she waved her hand. “Save the pillow talk forwhen you get home. Y’all promised me a meal after court, so let’s get into that first.”
We all shared a laugh as we finally made it to the parking garage. We said our goodbyes at the entrance with the promise to meet back up at Drew and Adrian’s place for brunch. Kerian begged to ride with them so he could be with his best friend, Ezzy. We agreed because how could we say no to those two cuties?
Ever since Ezra had come into Drew and Adrian's life last year, he and Kerian had become thick as thieves, and it was a total mirror of how close Zee and I had become with Drew and Adrian. Ever since that first Thanksgiving we spent together after reconnecting, we’ve kept in touch, and our friendship has only grown.
We went from ex-roommates who had lost touch to friends who talked every other day and even went on family vacations together. We had each other's backs and gave advice when the others needed it. Like that time we suggested they look into adoption, like we did, after they were gutted when they learned that Drew couldn’t conceive.
I think that might be why Kerian and Ezzy had such a strong bond. Even though they didn’t fully understand the concept of adoption yet, they both knew that it was something they had in common, and they liked to say that they were both twins because they got forever families at the same age. It was actually very sweet.
As we drove toward Drew and Adrian’s place, I thought about all the other ways our lives had changed over the years.
Business at the orchard was thriving and doing better than ever. Although we’d had to expand production on a few of the products we made, mainly the soaps and body scrubsthat I created. The online shop was receiving hundreds of orders daily, followed closely by the ones we received at the physical store we’d opened in the city.
I felt so accomplished, especially because it was one of the first major things I greenlit after taking over as owner two years ago. Of course, my parents still helped from time to time, but they were both enjoying their retirement. And the less time they spent at work, the more time they got to spend with their grandchildren.
Speaking of which, they have four grandchildren so far. Two from Jakayla and me, and two from Morgan and Cassie. So, it was never quiet around the Collins household, and I think they loved it that way. It also helped that they could go over there whenever, thanks to us all living within walking distance of each other.
