I release Ben and get to my feet. "Are you kidding me?"
Win points to something tucked almost behind the teepee. Sure enough, when I move closer, I spot a pastel pink cart stocked with snacks. There are small bags of caramel corn, candy, and chips—everything a girl could want to pig out in a nest that looks like a marshmallow.
I laugh. "Just when I thought it couldn’t be more perfect, you spoil me with candy."
"And there's a light inside your house," Ben says.
I turn back to the nest. "No way!"
Ben pulls me toward it and lifts out a small lantern. There's a large cream candle inside.
"It’s electric," Win explains. "There's a remote to control it in the lantern that you just need to pull out. That way, you never need to worry about starting a fire if you want to sleep in here."
"IfI wanted to sleep in here? I could happily live in here." And I'm not even joking.
I take it all in: the nest, the snack cart, the rocking chair, and I shake my head. My heart is so full. "Thank you. All of you. I still don't know how Ben kept this a secret so long."
"Oh, he came to us," Win says. "Whenever he wanted to talk about it, he'd spill it to us. But it was incredibly stressful sneaking all this stuff into the house. We were creeping from our cars like ninjas, terrified we’d run into you with armfuls of cushions and throws and no explanation about what we were doing."
“Carrying that mattress up the stairs was particularly stressful,” Murph says blandly.
I choke out a laugh. That explains how they all know so much about this room, my nest, and everything in it.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me.” I shake my head again, struggling to believe such a beautiful nest is mine.
“You’re our heart, Rose,” Murph says quietly. “Without you and Ben, this would be just a house.Youtwo make it a home.”
I finally lose control of my tears, and Murph draws me against his chest. Then more arms circle us. Ben hugs my leg, and I’m wrapped up in the warmest, safest, and coziest embrace with Joel, Win, and Murph. It’s the absolute best feeling in the world.
Epilogue
Rose
The road trip was Murph’s idea.
It only took a couple of days to unpack and organize the house because Sam’s parents and mine stayed in Rios to help, spend quality time with us, and explore downtown. Once they left, we stayed up late to watch a movie, but mostly to talk after Ben went to bed.
“Ben doesn’t start school until the fall, and none of us have taken a proper vacation in years. Let’s go on a road trip this summer,” Murph said. “Why wait until after the baby is born when we can just go now?”
I looked at him and started laughing. He didn’t laugh back. Neither did Win or Joel.
That was a week ago.
Now I’m standing in front of the massive 30-foot white RV that sleeps seven people, parked outside our house. We’ve packed all our stuff, and I’m still struggling to believe we’re actually doing this. "This is insane."
Murph steps up beside me, wraps his arm around my shoulder, and kisses my forehead. “That’s the fifth time you’ve said that this morning, sweetheart. We leave in ten minutes,and you’re running out of time to accept that this is actually happening.”
Joel, Murph, and Sam picked up the rental RV in Cedar Point a few days ago and returned Sam’s rental car because Sam is using my car while I’m away. Joel and Murph have spent the past couple of days learning how the RV works while we crammed it full of everything we’ll need for the next three weeks.
Planning the road trip was surprisingly easy.
I’d already mapped out all the sights Ben and I intended to hit when we were in Memphis. But we needed to make a couple of big, exciting changes. We’re not only going to be spending three weeks in this thing driving across the country, but we’re also stopping by to visit Murph’s family in Wyoming—Ben is insanely excited about getting to ride a horse—then heading to California to hang out with Joel’s parents at their vacation rental in Malibu and spend a few days at the beach.
“It’s actually happening,” I say faintly.
Murph drops a kiss on my lips. “There you go.”
He heads back inside while I give myself another minute to process before I go grab Ben, who I said should make the most of the backyard and run around to his heart's content.
