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“No, we’re the only ones living in this moment. No one else can see these same stars the same way we are.” He watches them in silence for a few more minutes in silence before sighing. “We should get back to the clubhouse. We have to be up early tomorrow.”
“What? Why?”
Knox grins broadly at me. “We’re going house-hunting tomorrow.”
Epilogue
Nell
“Woofus! Princess!” Knox calls out to the dogs in the backyard. “Time to go inside.” We went into the pound to find our Woofus, but when we found him, we found out he had bonded with another dog and they couldn’t be separated. So, Princess came home with us too, to our burnt sienna colored adobe home with only enough space for us and the dogs- no babies.
I smile at him from the kitchen as I bring pizza on plates to the table. He doesn’t care that I don’t know how to cook. He just likes that I’m happy, and I like when he’s happy. Pizza, it turns out, makes him very happy.
He also likes to pretend he’s too tough to care about a dog, but when Princess got stung by a wasp over the summer, his facade shattered. Knox picked her up and laid her across the bench seat of the truck, rubbing her side and baby-talking to her the entire ride to the animal hospital. He acted like she’d been stabbed. The vet tech told him he was a ‘very good pet daddy’ and Knox looked at her like she was covered in dog shit. He’s still learning.
“Look at the good puppies,” he mumbles, rubbing their backs and sneaking them handfuls of treats instead of just giving the spoiled babiesone.Woofus is a vaguely rottweiler-looking mutt and Princess is a pitbull mix. They sleep in bed with us every night, rivaling even the hottest of New Mexico days with their body heat at our feet. “And my good girl,” he says, stalking up behind me.
I expected today to be a lot worse. We visited the gravesites again today for the anniversary of Layla’s death. We held each other as we spoke to the headstones of a woman we’ll never see again, and a baby I never saw at all. When we left, Knox squeezed my hand and asked if I was ready to truly be his, and we found ourselves in a tattoo shop getting our names permanently added to each other’s bodies.
The wedding will happen… eventually, maybe next year, maybe in ten years, but not today. Today, I gained the word ‘Knox’ across the side of my neck. He asked me a thousand times if I was sure that was where I wanted it, but I said yes every time. I’ve known Knox for a majority of my life, and I know that he’s what I want. Pres will make me wear an ascot to keep it covered at work, but I don’t mind. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
Knox got my name on his chest. He said I was braver and stronger than him to go for something on my neck. I don’t think that’s exactly true. Knox is the strongest person I know.
His phone rings and he groans, digging it out of his pocket as he kisses my jaw. “Shit! Something’s going on at Zed’s place. I gotta go.”
“Be careful,” I shout as he grabs his cut and runs for the door. I’ve rarely seen him going that fast, so it must be serious. “I love you!”
“I love you, too!”
