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Epilogue 2 Months Later
It’s déjà vu,almost. And yet not at all.
I’m standing on the same tarmac where I stood two months ago, welcoming him home again. Same spot. Same dress. It’s become a bit of a tradition, but today will be the last day.
The wind is warm, the July sun high in the sky, and today I’m keeping a different secret.
A good one. The best one. And I’m sure he won’t be mad at me for keeping it. At least not for long.
He steps off the cargo jet, just like that fateful day two months ago. But today, he looks relaxed. And happy. And no longer in terrible pain.
My heart swells to bursting with joy and pride. Relief, oh my goodness. The relief.
His short trips away have been hard for us both but it was a compromise we could live with. I missed him like crazy on the weeklong trips away, three of them in total, and he missed me and showed me just how much as soon as we got inside the car. Once he knew I was safe at home setting up a security system to rival the Pentagon and two private guards to be on me 24/7 he accepted a short-term contract position instead of reenlisting. He had some things to settle, some training he wanted to do and debrief with his team. He wanted to do right by his SEAL brothers so a few weeks away to calm his conscience was the right thing to do.
Besides, I’ve been busy since he left on this trip. Daydreaming over tiny onesies…and poring over lists of baby names.
But he has no idea. Not yet.
Today, he helps a different soldier off the plane, not needing help himself, thankfully. And then, from across the crowd, he spots me, and his beautiful blue eyes light up bright and hot.
He makes his way across the tarmac to me and I make my way to him. We still haven’t quite figured out how to do this, being in love, being a couple, but still somehow being siblings in our own way. He scoops me up in his arms in a very brotherly, very protective way, and I wrap my arms around him tight.
“Fuck,” he growls into my ear.
“Welcome home,” I whisper back.
He twirls me there, just a little too long for a brother and sister with or without the ‘step’ part, but nobody notices, wrapped up as they are in one another, in the relief of having their soldiers home.
“You should probably put me down,” I whisper. “Before people start talking.”
He growls again, a noise offuck all of them, but he knows I’m right. He and I agreed before he left; for this tour, we’d keep up the pretense. But now that he’s home, we’ll find somewhere new to start over.
He puts me down, eyes darting to make sure we aren’t being watched or heard. “I can’t fucking wait for it to be just the two of us.”
I bite my lip and look up at him, smiling into the sun. And then lean in to whisper, “Make that three,” and I place my hand on my belly.
His eyes snap to mine, hard and sharp. Disbelief, joy, amazement. All the emotions tumble through his beautiful eyes to me in an instant, in the way you can only understand someone so immediately because you’ve known them all your life.
“Kat, are you?” His eyes dart back and forth between mine like he isn’t sure where to look.
I nod up at him. “Found out the day after you left. I decided not to tell you on Zoom because I wanted to see your face. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, and you’re coming with.”
He looks so overjoyed, so overwhelmed, and for the first time in my life I see tears in his beautiful eyes. Seeing him cry makes me cry, and before I know it I can’t keep the tears back at all.
He chokes back a sob, pinching the bridge of his nose, his brow cinched, and my heart breaks and swells simultaneously.
He wraps his arm around me again and we walk to the car. He bought me a big Pearl White Yukon Delani SUV before he left, with all the bells and whistles. I unlock the doors with the remote and he scans the parking lot. He opens the back door, behind the driver’s seat, and then with one big hand on each of my hips, lifts me into the back seat, so my legs dangle out toward him.
And then, with his broad shoulders and his muscles and his perfect body so chiseled and strong, sinks down to his knees with his face resting in my lap.
“I have a surprise for you, too,” he says, his deep voice vibrating against that special spot between my legs, making me think of othersurpriseswe might give each other right now.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Baby, it’s fucking fate.”
“What’s fate?” I laugh, puzzled, as he looks up into my eyes, then reaches into his pocket and brings out a small box.
