Chapter thirty-six
Epilogue
A moody Julian and a grumbling Emma.
AUBREY
~ One Year Later / End of August ~
Today is Shane and I’s one-year wedding anniversary, along with our daughter, Stellina’s, first birthday.
This past year has been nothing short of wonderful. From getting married to the man of my dreams, then giving birth to our daughter in the middle of our wedding. Okay, that may not have been the most wonderful moment, but I’m grateful I got to be surrounded by all my friends during that scary time.
From all the pictures and videos we received of our wedding, it was truly beautiful. I was a little disappointed that we had to miss it, after Eden put so much time and effort into it, but getting to hold my daughter in my arms with my husband at my side made it all worth it.
We were also lucky that the photographer hired actually stayed the whole day as planned and took pictures of everything throughout the night. He also happened to capture pictures of our daughter’s birth. He apologized for taking them, since it was an intimate moment that shouldn’t have been captured in that way. But when we saw the images, Shane and I were both in tears.
They were magical and something not many people get to have. Every time I look at them, it’s like I’m reliving the moment all over, with all the emotions from seeing and hearing my child for the first time.
Since that day, so much has happened. Cecilia gave birth at the beginning of April to a beautiful little girl named Esmé, and Ronnie had her son at the end of May. Even though they aren’t having a paternity test done, it isn’t hard to tell who the father is. Caleb is an exact replica of a certain daddy of his with his dark brown hair and deep brown eyes.
Apparently, she got knocked up within a week of having her implant removed. She wasn’t entirely thrilled since she expected it to take a few months, but the boys were overjoyed. Gabriel even cried when she announced it to them in front of everyone at our rehearsal dinner remake.
We waited two months before hosting it. We wanted to focus on Stellina and get my health back up before doing anything, since my blood pressure didn’t immediately get back to normal after giving birth. It took around six weeks for it to climb back to a normal rating and it has stayed there since.
Next was Morgan announcing her second pregnancy, she’s now six months along and expecting another baby girl. And then there’s Emma who’s also expecting within a month of Morgan. Those two are really in sync with getting pregnant.
But we’ve come to learn that Emma appears to have some superhuman gene… because she’s having twins again… Boys… Again. Let’s just say she was far…FARfrom pleased about the news, and my brother was on the receiving end of her wrath.
And last but not least, the Griffins played a phenomenal season once again, and won the championship, earning them the Stanley Cup for the second time since Shane has been coaching them. I think it was their greatest season yet, and I can’t wait to see them play again.
Our pups are now all full grown and… it’s a lot. But I love every one of them, and so does Stellina. She calls them ‘goggies’ and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard. She’s pretty quick with words. The first time I heard her say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’, I was sure I was hearing things, but then Shane heard it too, and so did the pediatrician at her nine-month check-up.
Stellina is a real beauty. She’s smart and delicate and quiet. I know that might change over time, but for a one-year-old, I was expecting more. Shane’s predictions on our baby girl were accurate. Stellina is a mini me with my ash-blonde hair and freckles all over. But so were mine, because she has Shane’s hypnotizing turquoise eyes. She also inherited his deep dimples that I’m crazy about.
The only other difference aside from her eyes and dimples that my baby girl and I have is that where my hair is naturally wavy,hers holds these gorgeous curls. Every time we’re out in public, people compliment me on her hair and ask me how I get it to stay that way, but the truth is, she’s just born with it.
“There’s my beautiful wife,” Shane says, stepping into the kitchen just as I finish decorating Stellina’s birthday cake. She’s very fascinated with stars and loves when we spend the night outside in our backyard, or in the theatre room, looking up at them.
“How’s my wonderful husband?” I smirk as my cheeks take on a pink color. I still blush every time I call him that and he eats it up.
I store the cake in the industrial fridge we had installed for all my baked goods. With the number of kids that we now have in our group, and all our friends wanting me to make their cakes, I was starting to take up the entire double fridge we already have. Shane thought it would be a good idea to have a separate fridge installed in our kitchen just for me to store all my creations.
Ever since Stellina was born, my creative mind has been on a roll. I now have three recipe journals overflowing with my own original recipes. I’ve also been secretly looking at places online that are for sale and have potential to become my own bakery.
I had my heart set on a specific one and was waiting for the right time to talk to Shane about whether it was a good idea or not. But last month when I went to check it out in person, the ‘for sale’ sign was gone. My heart broke a little at the thought of losing the one place I had really started to fall in love with.
Shane comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “I’m doing great. I just got Stellina down for her nap and everyone isn’t set to arrive for another three hours.”
We’re having everyone over to celebrate Stellina’s birthday. Then my parents will be taking her for the night so Shane and I can celebrate our anniversary over dinner and all day tomorrow.
“That’s good. Did you have something in mind for these few hours of freedom?” I lean into him, bringing my hand up to cradle the back of his neck.
“Actually, I did. There’s somewhere I want to take you.”
I turn in his arms, looking up at him. “Shane, we can’t leave the house while Stellina is sleeping.” I narrow my eyes.
“Marianne already agreed to look over her if she wakes up before we get back. It won’t take long, I promise. We’ll be back in one hour, tops.” He kisses my forehead.
