Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Huck

Three Years Later

When I stood in one of the self-defense training rooms just over three years ago and had one of my coworkers tell me that my trip to a local diner might result in me meeting the woman of my dreams, I all but laughed in his face.

He'd been right.

Partially, anyway.

I'd met Josie years earlier, but it was undoubtedly that visit to the diner that put her back in my life in a permanent way.

As I stood in the house we shared now, waiting for her to come home from work, I thought back on how much things had changed in my life since that afternoon at Betty's Diner.

Following what happened to her the night she'd gone out with her coworkers from the diner, I'd boldly made the claim that I was going to marry her. Josie had been arguably a bit more daring by quickly declaring she was ready for it whenever I was.

When I'd joked about the courthouse having already closed for the day, I had assumed her immediate response to them being open on Monday was simply her teasing me back.

But she proved me wrong when we woke up that following Monday.

"So, what time are we going to do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"

Her lips parted, and she sent a wounded look my way. "I thought you intended to make me your wife today."

I'd stared at her in utter disbelief for several long moments. "Are you… are you sure you want this?"

She held up her left hand, showed me the engagement ring I'd slid on her finger following our weekend shopping trip to the jeweler and said, "Wasn't accepting this enough of a confirmation of that?"

"Of course. I mean, I know you want to get married to me, but I didn't realize you would be okay with a simple courthouse marriage. I thought you'd want a formal ceremony and reception."

Josie shook her head. "I want you, Huck. All I care about is being with you, starting a life with you. Maybe that's crazy. Maybe I should be taking time to get my life sorted, but I don't see it that way. Being with you, starting a life with you, is getting my life sorted. It's the only thing I don't have any questions about. And honestly, we could always have a party later if we decide we want to do that. Right now, I'd be happy to call your mom and ask her if she'd meet us there, because I'd want her to be there for it. Beyond that, as long as you're with me, I'm ready."

Just like that, Josie was ready to be my wife.

My wife.

It had been three years—tomorrow was our anniversary—and I still hadn't gotten used to how good it felt to call her that.

We'd gotten up that morning, called my mom, and asked her to meet us at the courthouse in thirty minutes. She didn't hesitate.

Afterward, we went out for breakfast to celebrate.

And every morning since then, I'd been honored to have the privilege of calling her mine, giving her everything I promised would be hers when she became mine.

There was a lot that came along with that, but it mostly meant I was by her side.

I was by her side as she enrolled herself into an associate's program to get the requirements met that she needed to become an obstetric sonographer.

And I was still there night after night as she studied and learned all she needed to know about the career she wanted.

And when she completed the program and sought out jobs in her field.

And when she received the call with her first official job offer.

And when we celebrated her first day at that job.

And when there were tough days at work.

And when we had our first anniversary.

And birthdays.

And holidays.

Of course, it wasn't always the good stuff we did together. There were sick days, occasional bad days at work, and even the situation with her ex and court appearances.

There were the self-defense classes, which were good, but also trying at times. I gave her those classes in private sessions, understanding she'd likely have some issues or flashbacks to contend with throughout and wanting her to have the time and privacy to work through them. Given what she'd endured nearly all her life, I thought she did exceptionally well. And though they'd started out difficult for her, they'd gotten progressively better. She felt confident about her abilities now.

It had remained important to Josie to learn how to defend herself, despite recognizing that things were heading in the right direction with her legal situation.

While it was well established that the justice system didn't always get it right, especially in cases of domestic abuse, Josie had been fortunate in her case.

Following what he'd done to her—and Lori—Josie's ex had a slew of charges thrown at him. They ranged from the recklessness on the road with his truck and the violation of the protection from abuse order all the way up to the attempted homicide.

He was found guilty on nearly every charge, and he was currently in prison, serving his time. He'd be there for a while—no less than the next thirty years—so Josie felt that justice had been served.

She was happy.

God, she was so happy.

I hadn't anticipated life would ever be as great as it was now.

And when I heard the garage door open, indicating she'd just gotten home from work, I was confident the next week was going to be more of the same.

I opened the door and watched as she pulled into the garage. Her eyes met mine when she came to a stop, and she beamed at me.

Unable to hold myself back, I went to her door and opened it. She got out and kissed me. "Hi, husband."

"Hello, wife. How was your day at work?"

"Good, but it felt longer than usual. I think it's because I knew it was my last one for a while. How was your day at home?"

I laughed. "You make it sound like I'm home all the time. I merely took the day off to prepare for this trip."

"Did you get it all done?"

Nodding, I urged her away from the car and toward the house as I confirmed, "Everything. All you need to do is grab your shower, and we can go."

When we made it inside, I suspected Josie would keep moving toward the stairs, so she could grab a shower and we could leave.

She didn't.

She came to a stop and stared at me in disbelief.

"What?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"Aren't you going to ask me what I want?"

My brows drew together, silently questioning her. "What do you mean?"

"Every year, you ask me what I want. Aren't you curious what I want?"

Suddenly, it all made sense. "You know that I am. But I tend to ask you that on our actual anniversary, which is tomorrow. I'm more than happy to hear it now, if you have it figured out."

Josie and I had started a tradition since we'd gotten married. On our first wedding anniversary, I told her I wanted to have something to work toward to give her by no later than our next anniversary. We'd spent a year together at that point, and I was surprised that within two days of me asking her what she wanted, she had an answer. She wanted us to have a wedding celebration with our friends. It had become clear to her over our first year of marriage that we had good people in our lives, and she wanted to do something to celebrate with them. So, we planned a party for the following summer.

Last year, on our second anniversary, when I asked Josie what she wanted, she told me she wanted us to take a trip together for our third anniversary.

That's where we were preparing to go now.

But it seemed she was eager to share her wish for this next year of marriage with me.

"I can wait until tomorrow if you want me to," she said.

I shook my head. "Not at all. Our celebration is starting now, so I'm ready to hear it."

She inhaled a deep breath and held it for a few beats as her eyes roamed over my face. As soon as she exhaled, she said, "I was hoping that by this time next year, we could celebrate our anniversary with a baby in our arms."

Something hit the center of my chest, seizing my breath as warmth spread out from there.

Josie wanted a baby. She was ready to start a family with me.

I took her by the hand and led her toward the stairs.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

I continued moving forward.

Josie pulled against my hold and attempted to slow us down. I had no choice but to stop and look at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm taking you upstairs, so we can grab a shower together. If I'm going to give you what you want by next year, I think it's only wise we start now."

She blinked in surprise. "Does that mean you're okay with it?"

"Having a baby with you?"

She nodded.

"Why would I not be? Of course, I want a family with you."

Josie held my stare a moment before she rasped, "You really are going to give me the world."

"Did you ever have any doubt?"

Shaking her head, she confessed, "No. But I guess I didn't expect you'd be ready to dive right in."

"I'm going to give you what you want, honey. That means, we're starting now."

"Maybe it'll happen while we're on this trip."

I smiled at her. "Nothing would make me happier."

She bit her lip, the excitement etched into every feature on her face. "Okay. Okay, let's go grab a shower."

Without another moment of delay, I led Josie upstairs, where I followed through on my commitment to give her the world.

Afterward, we left for our trip.

We spent the next week celebrating our first three years of married life together.

Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort and multiple opportunities per day while on the trip, Josie didn't get pregnant.

But by the middle of November, it happened.

And by our next anniversary, Josie and I were holding our baby girl in our arms.