Epilogue

Riley

“Are you ready? Are you ready?” I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, so beyond excited for our trip.

It was hard to believe it had been a year since I accidentally went into the wrong conference room and met Daddy. I never thought there would be a time I’d be excited to go back to the city of noise and crowds, and here it was—my idea to do exactly that. When Daddy said the Lactin Brotherhood conference was coming up, I immediately asked to go with him.

“What will you do while we’re there? Do you want to ask some of your Little friends to come so you have something to do?” he’d asked.

“Nope. I want you all to myself, and if they allow me, I’d like to come to the conference opening ceremony again.”

“You liked seeing Daddy up there speaking, didn’t you?” He tapped my nose. “Who knows, if you’re a good boy, maybe we can do something special.”

“Like get married?” I’d been teasing when I spoke the words, but once they were out there, we both realized that was exactly what we should be doing. We’d already moved in together and talked about marriage, and it was the perfect place and time to make it happen.

Adam came out of our bedroom, rolling our suitcase behind him. “I’m ready, sweet boy. I love seeing you smile so brightly.”

“I was thinking of the day neither of us proposed, and yet, here we are.” I crossed to him. “Best idea ever, if you ask me.”

“Second only to transferring here.” He nibbled on his bottom lip. “Make that third. Walking up to you on the day of my speech has to be number one.”

Six months ago, Adam had been granted a transfer so he worked only fifteen minutes from my office. It was a no-brainer to accept, and within a month, we bought our house.

It wasn’t a case of me saying, “Come here, Daddy” or me refusing to move to him. I would’ve followed him anywhere in a heartbeat. We both applied to random jobs that fit our credentials, and his offer was the best. And it was just in time. The long-distance thing had been rough—not because of communication struggles or the fears so many couples faced. I just missed him, and he missed me. Being together in one house was everything.

This weekend, we were somehow managing to make everything even more.

The trip there was fine—no delays or lost luggage. But even if everything went wrong, I wouldn't have cared. Not really. Because we were getting married, and that made all rain clouds look like unicorns and sunshine.

“Have a big wedding so everyone could come,” was the common response from our friends after the squees ended.

But that wasn’t the wedding for us. This was. We’d still have a party when we got home, but for some reason, getting married back where we started felt right.

I attended the same opening ceremony I had when I met Daddy for the first time—only this time, I was in the right place. The theme this year was different, and the keynote speaker wasn’t Adam, but the energy in the space, the comradery, the brotherhood—that was the same. I sat with Daddy as we watched and listened to the speakers. Okay, Daddy listened better than I did. I was too busy waiting for the lunch break. That was when we planned to get married.

We were bucking every tradition, and it was fabulous. I wore the same outfit I had that day, and so was he. Sappy? Probably, but that was okay because we planned to get even sappier.

We drove through the wedding chapel that allowed us to book ahead, gave our vows to Elvis while still in our taxi, signed the paperwork, and that was it. We were married. It was silly and youthful and romantic all rolled into one.

In other words, perfection.

Our wedding celebration brought us to the same restaurant Daddy took me to that first day. Once again, I had a half order of strawberry French toast with a side of eggs and ham. Once again, he looked proud. But even better than that, he looked completely in love, a look I mirrored back to him.

“Is it weird that we’re doing so much the same?” I forked the last of my strawberries.

“Nope. Not weird at all.” He took my hand from across the table. “I like being reminded of the day that changed my life for the best. The day that brought me you, sweet boy. The day that brought me my forever.”

“Me too, only change sweet boy to world’s bestest Daddy.” I intertwined our fingers. “The very best.”