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Ben flipped through the pages in his hand as he thought of what I was asking. He threw the paperwork down on the desk and nodded. "Fine, tonight at seven. I'll see you then."
Epilogue
Ben
Some feelings never die, no matter how much you try to put them out of their misery. I'd visited Jess that night, and we talked into the wee hours of the morning about everything that had happened in the years we had been apart.
We rushed into nothing. We took our time getting to know one another again, becoming friends first, then we took things step by step as they came. Not rushing into things gave us the chance to learn things about one another that neither of us had known before, and we could accept them as they came. Our relationship, although intense, became one filled with patience, acceptance, and love.
It took Jules a long time to trust Jess, but she had promised me she would do her best to put aside all the ill-willed feelings she held towards her. A year later, the two of them had become inseparable. Jess began working at Sunset Builders, helping Jules with appointment bookings as we opened our third location on the far side of the city.
I stirred the apple cider as it heated in the pot on the stove. Once it was steaming, I shut the burner off and poured the apple cider into the mugs that sat on the counter and set the pot back on the stove. Christmas music poured through the apartment as the lights on the tree twinkled.
"Oh, you turned on the tree," Jess noticed as she walked into the living room. She was wrapped snugly in her bathrobe as she curled up on the couch and flipped on the fireplace.
"Apple cider," I said, bringing over the mug. She reached up taking it from me.
"Sounds great, thank you."
I sat down beside Jess and relaxed back into the couch, putting my feet up on the coffee table. I placed my arm on the back of the couch, and Jess set her mug on the table and quickly snuggled into me. It was a snowy night, and we sat there together, the only light coming from the Christmas tree, and watched the snow fall outside.
I kissed her forehead as she rested her head on my shoulder. "Christmas Eve wouldn't be Christmas Eve without apple cider," she whispered.
Apple cider had been a tradition my mom had done for us kids before she had left. Every Christmas Eve she would make us each a mug and we would sit and sip it while watching Christmas movies. "Why do you think I was late tonight?" I said, kissing her forehead again.
"I am glad you remembered," she said, sitting forward and grabbing her mug, taking a sip.
As Jess sat forward to put her mug back on the table, I reached into my shirt pocket and pulled the diamond ring I had purchased earlier this afternoon. I closed my hand around the ring as she sat back against me.
"What's in your hand?" she questioned.
I opened the palm of my hand and watched as her eyes went wide. "What do you say? Second time's a charm?"
She looked up at me and placed her hand on my cheek, kissing me. "Yes," she said, kissing me again before her fingers grazed the palm of my hand as she took the ring and slid it onto her ring finger.
Sitting forward, I set my mug on the table and then turned and picked her up. She let out a tiny squeal followed by a laugh as I carried her down the hall to the bedroom.
I was excited to start my life with her. I was even more excited when six months later she sat in front of me with a pregnancy test in her hand, smiling up at me.
Even though it had taken us ten years, we would finally be one. My hopes of sunsets and somedays had finally come true.
