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“So, how was it?” Malia asked. “Was New Orleans everything you thought it would be?”
“It was even better than that,” Dee began, telling her about the bed-and-breakfast we stayed in and several of the restaurants and museums we visited. It was truncated, mostly because we could both see how tired they were, but she gave enough details that Malia seemed excited for her.
We stayed a bit longer, chatting with them about their week as well, then packed up Rose’s things and said goodbye. We still had another twenty minutes to get to our place, and if I stayed any longer, I was going to crash on their futon instead. I didn’t think either of them would mind that, but I wanted to go home and be with my little family.
About a half hour later, we were opening the door of the cabin, which was now, officially, our family’s home. Immediately, I went to the thermostat and cranked it up a bit to get the chill out of the air. Dee took Rose into the bedroom and wheeled the crib over next to the bed. Then, she climbed into the bed with her and curled up with the blanket, not even bothering to turn off the lights.
I smiled and went about putting things away with the last of the energy I had. I could afford to sleep in the next morning, so I made sure everything was ready for the new day, including putting all the food away in the refrigerator. When the house was set up, I went into the bedroom and changed into comfortable pajamas and slid into the bed next to Dee and Rose.
Dee’s eyes fluttered open and stared into mine as I lay there, Rose between us. She smiled, and I returned the expression, curling up even closer to the two of them. I pulled out my phone and hit the button for the bedroom lights, which were attached to a smart plug, and the room was suddenly cloaked in darkness.
Yet, through the light of the moon coming through the blinds, I could still make out Dee’s face and her eyes, shining in the starlight and still staring at me. We were in love, a love that I knew would last our lifetimes. There was nothing that could break our bond or come between us, not in a way that could split us apart. The only thing allowed between the two of us was a sleeping baby.
When Rose was well and truly asleep, I gently moved her to her crib and curled back in the bed with Dee. Her head rested in the crook of my arm, and I kissed her gently on the part of her hair. Then, as my eyes fluttered shut, I imagined the life that was still to come. And I smiled.
EPILOGUE
DEE
Two years later…
It was time to get ready for the big day.
In the past two years, a lot had changed. For one, Rose Blackthorne was now officially my daughter. Not just because I was married to Hawk, but because I had gone through the process of adopting her myself. She had new paperwork that showed her parents as Hawk and me.
As the day approached, I spoke to Hawk about putting together a party for her. Her first birthday we spent quietly at home, just having Wendy and Finn and Malia and Gerry over along with my mom. This year, I wanted to do something a little bigger for her, and of course, there was the big surprise we wanted to tell everyone too.
Our place was a bit out of the way for most people, so we ended up choosing to have her party at the diner after closing. Helen had offered to keep the place open for us at the last bonfire, and Tony was ecstatic to try out his baking skills in making a cake. He had been exploring making a culinary move to baking full-time, and Helen was helping him decide if he wanted to move out of town and join someone else or start his own bakery in Ashford.
As for career moves, I had made one of my own. After getting back from our honeymoon, I let the hospital know I wasn’t going to be able to stick with the schedule I had and that if it meant they needed to find someone new, so be it. It turned out they were more than willing to work with me on my schedule, especially after they told Dr. Sutton I was going to leave otherwise.
He ended up going to bat for me with the hospital board, and now I had a much more livable schedule and the ability to take time off if I needed it. It made our family more capable of doing things like taking road trips to New Orleans or going camping for a couple of days so Hawk could track a bird that was nearby.
