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“You’re such an idiot, Lucas Adler,” she says, and before I can say anything else, she grabs the front of my shirt in both hands and pulls me in for a kiss.
From inside the apartment, I hear an uproar, cheers and applause — and on any other day I’d be embarrassed by being witnessed, but right now my brain is trying to catch up with my body, and my body is bursting with joy. I’m exactly where I’m meant to be, and as I twine my hands with hers, I know I never want to let her go.
We kiss for what feels like forever, and when she finally pulls away, she whispers to me, “There’s more to life than work, you know.”
“I do now,” I say. “I swear I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I’m not coming back to be your secretary,” she scoffs, and I shake my head, holding her hands tight.
“I wouldn’t dare to ask. You can rely on my support from now on.”
“You’ll cook and clean?” Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
I shrug. “I’ll provide cooking and cleaning services to you.”
She grins and kisses me on the cheek. “Close enough.”
When she locks her fingers with mine and turns us back towards the house, a rush of doubt washes over me at the thought of having to face her family again. But holding her hand, I can face anything, and anyway, they’re all smiling.
We step back through into the room. Katie gives us a “told you so” kind of look while Mr. Gould has turned back to his dinner, unbothered by the events taking place. Mrs. Gould’s smile towards me is warm. “Now then, after that, will you stay for dinner?” she asks me.
I glance between Sophie and Katie who are both urging me with their eyes to say yes, so I nod and let myself smile. “Yes. I would like that very much.”
EPILOGUE
SOPHIE
“Lucas, come here a second,” I call.
“Hold on, babe,” he calls back. From my position in Jason’s kitchen, I can see through to the living room where he’s settling the kids in front of the TV. They’re deep in some conversation and it’s utterly adorable to watch. He lets them talk to him like they’re philosophers or businessmen, and I swear Ava is going to grow up to be a terror on the stock market.
We’re babysitting this weekend while Jason and Marianne are away at a conference, and we’ve been staying here since last week because it was Ava’s third birthday. The only person more delighted about the cake than the birthday girl was Chloe, who ate most of it. She’s a funny girl.
And it’s been a delight over the last six months or so to see them more often. I live in the penthouse now with Lucas, and he’s been the driving force behind going to visit his brother. At first, especially when I initially moved in, I was afraid that nothing would have changed after all, that I would be signing up to be his housewife, watching him be the big man going off to work.
But I have to give him the credit he’s due because he has changed in ways I couldn’t even begin to have imagined. He still has his grumpy moments, but he’s wonderful with the kids, and they never hesitate to make fun of him when he’s being dumb.
Jason and I talked about it all before they went away, about the change in personality that Lucas seems to have had. “It’s not a change,” he said, “so much as a reveal of who he was always meant to be.”
I know exactly what he means. Lucas has hired three new personal assistants and pays them all the wage he used to give me, and has stopped working himself to the bone. He even helps out Jason with his charity a day or two a week. It’s so great to see them work together.
He looks the happiest he has in years, and so do I.
Eventually, Lucas calms the kids to the point where he can excuse himself and wanders away to me. “What’s up?” he asks as he approaches, reaching out with both hands to take mine.
I take a deep breath. “I’ve got something to tell you.”
His whole face drops as I say it, and I reach out to touch his cheek. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.”
Still, he doesn’t look persuaded. “Okay, what is it, then?”
He’s so cute that he worries like this. I’ve stuck with him this whole time — I don’t know why he thinks I’m going to drop him now. At last, he treasures me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. “You know how you asked me to marry you?”
He nods, grimacing a little. That conversation hadn’t been fun: he had been so excited, and I’d dampened his spirits with an “I’m not ready quite yet,” which in fairness was totally justifiedbecause our relationship had only just become official. “What, you’ve changed your mind?”
I shrug, swallowing. “Well, I think I might have to. I’m not really an old-fashioned kind of girl, but I think if two people are committed to each other enough to raise a baby, they can be committed enough to get married too.”
My words wash over him and I wait, trying not to smile too hard as I watch the series of expressions he makes as he understands what I’m trying to tell him. “Wait — you’re telling me you’re pregnant?”
