40. Epilogue

KYLE

A year later…

Clarissa waddled from the car.

Leo had already burst into Marci and Davey's house, eager to find the baby, while I waited for my beautiful wife as she carried our second child inside her. I had spent every moment by her side as soon as she told me she was expecting. I drank her in, memorizing every wonderful, awkward step.

"I'm coming as fast as I can," she complained.

"I didn't say anything," I said as I held my empty hands up.

"You didn't have to. Your face says it all," she said accusingly.

"And what is my face saying?"

She stopped walking and bit her lower lip. She sniffed and looked down at the ground.

I was off the stoop and by her side in an instant. "Whatever you're thinking, that's not what my face was saying. Clarissa, look at me, darling." I tipped her face up to mine with a finger under her chin.

I pressed a kiss to her soft lips.

"That translator you have in your head that thinks it can read my expressions is lying to you."

"You think I'm funny looking." She sniffed.

"I think you're gorgeous, a goddess on this earth."

"Really? Is that what you were thinking?"

"I was actually thinking about how I am so very happy to see you pregnant, and I was kicking myself for having missed this when you carried Leo. I don't want to miss a minute of your looking like this. And you're cute when you waddle."

"I'm waddling?" She started to cry.

I guided her head to my shoulder and wrapped her in my embrace.

"I'm a waddling watermelon. Why did I think a green striped dress was a good idea when I'm this pregnant?" she cried.

"You're a very cute watermelon. Now, come on. We're the last ones here. We need to get inside or they're going to wonder what's taking so long. Leo has already announced our arrival."

I wrapped my arm around her back and walked slowly with her. I knocked and then opened the door as we always had. So much in my life has changed since Clarissa. I was a husband, a father, and we had friends that were like family. Clarissa was the best thing to have ever happened to me, and I was still learning exactly what that meant.

"You're here!" Steve called out as we stepped inside. "Happy anniversary."

"Congratulations. Thanks for inviting us." Michelle from the Chicago office came up and gave Clarissa a hug. "I can't believe I waited so long to come out to Seattle. It's beautiful here. I can see why you moved."

"I thought you were here. Leo has already declared that no one is allowed on Brandon's blanket and has set up a guard station in the other room," Marci said as she walked past carrying a bowl full of chips.

We crossed through the room to where Leo sat next to the baby blanket on the floor. The blanket was Marci and Davey's son Brandon's clean, safe place to play. And as he grew more mobile with newly learned crawling skills, Leo was taking his keep-the-baby-on-the-blanket job very seriously. He had been given keeper of the baby duties a little over a week ago when we were over for our regular Friday night spaghetti dinner.

I grabbed Davey's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Thanks for hosting this for us, man."

"Are you kidding me? Marci would have my head on a platter if I didn't," he replied. "Beer is in the cooler on the back deck."

"Is that the brisket?" Clarissa asked. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She followed her nose out through the next room and onto the back deck.

My wife had been craving smoked brisket for months. In an attempt to be a faithful, doting husband, I began asking everyone I knew if they had the proper skill set to smoke a brisket without turning it into charcoal or beef jerky. Which so far, had been the results of my failed attempts. I had no idea until that happened that Davey was some kind of grill master.

It was a no-brainer to ask him to help me out when it came to this little gathering, our first anniversary. Since I had whisked Clarissa to the far side of the planet to get married, this party—with the help of Marci and Davey—was the wedding reception we never had with our friends.

More people were gathered around outside. The weather behaved perfectly.

"No, I'm not handing him my phone right now. He's at a party," Jeremy was snapping into his phone, his face pinched. He pressed something on the phone and put it into his pocket. His eyes met mine. "Boundaries. I swear, you all need to learn boundaries."

"What did I do?" I asked. "I just got here."

He pulled his phone back out from his pocket and waved it at me. "That was Sullivan, calling me on a Saturday because you aren't emailing him back fast enough."

"It's like six a.m. there," I said. "And it's Sunday for him. Why is he calling?"

"I don't know, and you are not going to pick up your phone to check your work email right now. I think you set a bad precedent, and now he expects me to make sure that you are available twenty-four, seven. Buildings don't go up that fast. He can wait."

I had established some bad working habits. Then again, at that time, I didn't realize what a work-life balance was. I thought work was life, and then Clarissa happened, again. I wasn't sure if I believed in destiny, but it certainly seemed like fate wanted me and her to be together. Every time I messed up, I was given another chance for her love. I was lucky. Clarissa took me back, not once, but twice.

"That man needs to fall in love. Maybe then, he'll learn to appreciate that there is more to life than renderings and client meetings," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Clarissa asked. "I just heard you say there is more to life than client meetings. What did I miss?"

"Sullivan in Hong Kong is harassing me to get Kyle to call him back over the weekend," Jeremy said. "He wanted me to give him the phone, right now."

"And I was saying Sullivan needs to find something outside of work to make him happy."

Clarissa laughed. "You used to be the same way. He probably needs you to come to Hong Kong for some big client meeting."

I looked down at her. She was round with my baby. "I'm not going anywhere for a while."

"If I were not about to pop out the next generation of the Love family, I would say take me with you." She placed her hands on either side of her belly.

I skimmed mine over hers and gently caressed the top of her baby bump. "You want to go to Hong Kong for a meeting?"

"I wouldn't say no to having a chance at going back. We were married there, after all."

"I'm sure whatever Sullivan is getting anxious about can be dealt with over a video call on Monday morning. Because that's when I'll give him a call."

Clarissa looked wistful.

"What?"

"I remember a time when you would have been on the phone and getting plane tickets before you even knew what the problem was. They needed you, you went."

My gut clenched. At least she was able to joke about those bad choices I'd made. I leaned in and kissed her cheek. She knew I would forever be sorry that I had been so blind to the pain my actions had caused. Never again.

"That was a different time, a different me."

"Good," she said, giving me a bright smile that made her eyes twinkle. "I like this version of you a whole lot. You know Leo's school is almost out. Maybe we could go for part of the summer? You could take care of your clients, and I…" She let out a defeated sigh. "Will have just had a baby and will not want to do anything."

"Maybe not this year. But when the kids are older, that could be fun. Maybe we could go for an extended six months or a year?"

"Would this be a working extended stay? Because I think you need to take me too," Jeremy said. He held up his bottle. "Seriously, take me with you. I need more beer."

"My last assistant hated the idea," I said, watching him leave.

"She went, didn't she?" Clarissa added.

"Begrudgingly, and she hated every second of it. But seriously, would you be interested? Take the kids, live abroad for a while?"

She slid her arms around my waist. "What's the point of having an internationally renowned architect for a husband if I don't get to enjoy the international part?"

"And here I thought you were more interested in the architectural part," I teased.

"What?"

"You like my erections," I whispered in her ear.

"Mr. Love, you are incorrigible. But you're not wrong. You build things nicely."

I kissed the tip of her nose. "Mrs. Love, you are quite adorable. Happy anniversary."