Epilogue

Remi

"Gentoo penguins mate for life. The male presents the smoothest pebble he can find to propose to the female with a love token." ~ Tim Rhodes

"Merry Christmas!"Tami Lynn waved as she passed me. "How's your mama doin'?"

"She's good. She's around here somewhere."

My mom came to the Christmas Festival with Kane, Ruby, Harper, and Otto earlier in the afternoon. I'd been at the station for the past three days on shift, and Taylor was finishing up a double at the hospital, so we were meeting them all here. She'd messaged that she was on her way about thirty minutes ago, and I told her I'd be at the wishing well, which was lit up with fairy lights.

From the looks of it, the entire town had turned out for the annual holiday extravaganza. There were booths set up in the town square, with local vendors selling everything from jewelry and paintings to crystals and handmade furniture. Food trucks lined the grass, serving an array of things to eat and drink, including kababs, tamales, hot cider, and eggnog. There was a reindeer ride and a petting zoo for the kids. A live nativity. There were also two bouncy houses and a Ferris wheel. Some of the guys from the station were manning Santa's Kissing Booth, which was run by the fire and police departments. Thankfully, only single men were asked to sign up for shifts.

Growing up, this had always been my favorite time of year in town. At least before my dad died. He'd loved Christmas and never missed the holiday festival. But after he was gone, it never felt the same. Until now. This year, I was seeing the festivities through a child-like lens of magic and happiness. And I had one person to thank for that.

My eyes were scanning the festival for that person when, like out of a scene from a movie, the crowds parted, and I saw her. Just like the first time I laid eyes on her sitting in the airport bar, her beauty stole my breath away. I was still constantly in awe of her effect on me, and I was sure I could live a thousand lifetimes and it wouldn't fade.

"Hey." I smiled as I took two steps, closing the distance between us. My hands cupped her face, and I kissed her. Hard.

It killed me not seeing her for three days. Every time I was away from her my body ached, missing her, like I had the flu. There was no way I'd be able to be gone from her like I had been from Misty for months on end. Sometimes, I felt guilty about not having the same feelings for my ex-fiancée. But then again, if I had, she probably wouldn't be my ex. It's not like I'd asked Misty to marry me under false pretenses. I just hadn't known what true love was until I met Taylor. The only consolation I had for my shortcomings in that relationship was that she was happy with Jagger. Their baby was due in just a few months, and she was going to have the family she'd always wanted.

When our kiss broke, I stared down at her and brushed my thumb along her jaw. "How are you feeling?"

Taylor had texted me earlier, saying that she was tired and thought she was coming down with the flu, so she was thinking of skipping the festival, but then an hour later she wrote back that she was fine and still planning on attending.

Her lips pursed, and she took a step back from me. "Fine. Good. Fine. Do you know where everyone is?" She changed the subject as she looked around, not making eye contact with me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing. Let's go find?—"

I grabbed her wrist and tugged her across the grass to an alcove with a bench that teenagers used to get away and make out. Or at least they did when I was a teenager. Thankfully, when we reached it, it was unoccupied.

"What are you doing?" she demanded when I stopped and turned toward her.

"I am asking you what's wrong again, and this time, it would be great if you told me the truth."

She stared up at me, and I could see she was deciding whether or not that was going to happen. I waited. I knew that I couldn't force her to tell me, but I hoped she'd do the right thing.

Finally, she sighed. "I wasn't feeling well today, so I ran a blood panel."

"Okay." I tried to stay calm and not freak out. On the outside, I maintained a neutral expression. Inside, her words hit me like a sucker punch in my solar plexus. The thought of her being sick made me feel so helpless, so scared.

She closed her eyes and took another breath.

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it. Together," I promised her.

"I would hope so." Her eyes opened. "I'm pregnant."

I'd been so prepared to hear bad news—to hear that something was not only good news, it was the best news, it took me a minute to register.

"Remi. Did you hear me?"

I started to nod, and I felt tears prick my eyes. I sat down on the bench behind me and pulled her into my arms. Just like I had when I'd shown up on her back porch to find out about my mom, I rested my cheek against her belly. This time, it wasn't just her I was embracing.

"You're pregnant." I whispered, needing to hear myself say the words out loud for it to be real.

"Yes. I am." She ran her fingers through my hair. "Are you…is that okay?"

I looked up at her. "It's better than okay. It's perfect. You have my baby inside of you."

A wide smile spread across her face, and I could see the relief in her eyes.

It was then that I realized she might not actually know how I felt about having kids so soon with her. We'd talked about it in an abstract sense. She knew I wanted kids, and I knew she wanted at least one more so Harper wouldn't be an only child like she had been. But I hadn't pressed her about having any soon because I felt like she was processing enough with our relationship and the entire town finding out about us.

She sighed. "I guess this means that if you wanted to move up the timeline for asking me to?—"

Before she even finished, I was on one knee, pulling out the ring that I kept in my pocket. I held up the three-carat oval diamond ring with an eternity band.

She blinked down at me in shock. "What? How did you…did you know I was…Wait, where did you get this?"

"I bought this the day after we went to dinner with Kane and Ruby and told them about us."

"You did?"

"I did."

"And you just happened to have it in your pocket?"

I nodded. "I've been carrying it around just in case."

Her smile widened. "Just in case, what?"

"Just in case you changed your mind." I took a breath. "Taylor, I love you. I think I might have loved you before I even knew your name. I know that this?—"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, cutting me off as she held out her ring finger. "Yes!"

"I haven't asked you anything yet."

She shook out her hands impatiently. "I know, you were taking too long."

I couldn't help but laugh. I loved that she didn't care about a sappy speech. She just wanted to get to the point. "Taylor Brielle Hale, will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." I slid the ring on her finger and saw tears forming in her eyes.

When I proposed to Misty, she'd picked out her ring the year before, so I knew she loved it. This time, I was flying blind. As soon as I'd seen it, I thought it was perfect, but I had no idea if she would feel the same.

"Do you like it?"

"It's perfect," she said as she sniffed back emotion.

I stood, pulled her into my arms, and kissed her. We were still kissing when we heard someone coming around the corner. We looked up and saw Kenna marching toward us, and she did not look happy. If she was a cartoon, she'd have steam coming out of her nose and ears.

"Hey, guess what—" Taylor started to say, but Kenna spoke over her.

"I'm looking for Sam. Have you seen him?" Anger seethed out of her. She wasn't yelling, but that only made it worse. She possessed a calm fury that was terrifying.

Kenna had always been really fun and happy. I'd never seen her like that. The only glimpses I'd ever seen of this behavior were directed at the man she was looking for now.

I had seen Sam when I first arrived. He was making out with a curly-headed brunette while on duty on his shift at the kissing booth.

"No, I haven't." Taylor shook her head and then looked up at me. "What's wrong?"

Kenna ignored Taylor's question. Her eyes shot up to mine. "Have you seen him?"

"He's at the Santa Kissing Booth?—"

She didn't even wait for me to get the rest of my sentence out. She turned on her heels and was gone.

Taylor looked up at me, and I stared down at her. "What do you think he did?"

"I don't know, but I sort of feel like I might have just been an accessory to murder."

"At least it's before the fact and not after," Taylor teased.

My phone buzzed with a text, and I pulled it out. "It's Ruby. She's asking if we're here."

"Right." Taylor nodded. I could see that she was nervous about sharing our ‘good news.'

"We don't have to say anything toni?—"

"Just let me tell Harper, first. It's a lot of change. And it's going to be even more." She looked down at her belly.

"Harper knows. About the engagement, I mean."

"What?" Taylor blinked at me.

"She came with me, my mom, and Ruby to pick out the ring. She's been, not so patiently, waiting for me to pop the question ever since. She's probably asked me when I'm going to do it a thousand times."

Taylor looked up at me as tears once again filled her bottom lids, and her face split in a smile. "I love you, Kyle."

"I love you, too, Ana."

We reserved the use of those names for special occasions—private occasions. It was like our code word for a world that only we existed in. I hoped that we would call each other Ana and Kyle for the rest of our lives.

The End