Epilogue

EPILOGUE

6 MONTHS LATER

A daze wrapped up her Zoom call with her therapist. She had been speaking to her once a week and ever since she made that promise to Leilani, their relationship had gone from strength to strength. It no longer bothered her when Leilani spent time with her friends. She had worked through the fear-based emotions she had and she didn't have those fears anymore. She was grateful to be able to let go of them. She was determined to be a better and more present partner to Leilani.

Leilani and Jaspurr had moved in with her in her penthouse last week. She had been gradually starting to make Adaze's penthouse feel like a home. Leilani had that skill. Everything she did made things warmer. Everywhere Leilani and Jaspurr were felt like home to Adaze.

The same day Leilani moved in, they went to the same shelter Leilani had gotten Jaspurr from when she first moved to the area for Adaze to adopt a cat of her own.

She hesitated just outside the shop. "I don't know if this is a good idea."

"Why not?" Leilani frowned. "I thought you wanted a cat."

"I do, but I've never had a pet of my own before. It just feels like a big decision."

"It is, but you don't need to be so nervous. You're going to take great care of it, and I'm here to help you."

"I know," she took a breath. "Let's do this."

"Are you sure? We can take a minute if you need to."

She shook her head. "The longer we wait, the more I'm going to get in my head about it. Let's just do it before I can overthink it too much."

"Alright."

Leilani took her girlfriend's hand and led her inside. They were immediately greeted by the woman behind the desk.

"Leilani, good to see you again. How's Jaspurr doing?"

"He's doing good. My new girlfriend, Adaze, was looking to get a sibling for him. We were hoping you might have a few eligible to adopt here."

She smiled motioning the pair to follow her to the back. "Of course. I'll take you through to the cat room. We've got four or five in there right now. I can either stay there while you all get acquainted or I can wait at the desk. Whichever you two are more comfortable with."

The pair shared a look. "I think we're going to start by just having Adaze go back by herself. She's the one who we're here for after all."

Adaze bit her lip. "Are you sure you don't want to come in with me? What if I pick one Jaspurr isn't going to get along with?"

"You don't need to worry about that. He's an agreeable little guy. I haven't met a cat he can't get along with yet."

"Don't jinx me," she groaned.

"You'll be fine on you own, but if you want me with you, I can go with you."

"It's okay. I think I'm just getting in my head."

"Okay." Leilani gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be out here if you need anything, love."

Adaze turned away from her and pushed into the cat room. It was a wide-open place set up like a living room. Unsure what else to do, she took a seat on the sofa and waited.

It felt like she'd been there for hours (it had in fact been ten minutes) before a cat finally emerged. It was a small—so small, at first glance Adaze thought it was a kitten—calico cat with large green eyes that made her appear annoyed, but she wasn't. It was just her face.

"Well, hello there," Adaze smiled at the small thing. She held out her hand, but the cat barely acknowledged it, opting instead to walk over to her and lay on her feet.

Adaze couldn't stop smiling looking at the small creature curled up on her feet.

Leilani spoke with the receptionist for close to an hour before she glanced at the time and frowned.

"I'm surprised Adaze isn't back yet," she said.

"I was thinking the same thing. I do hope at least a few of the cats actually came out for her."

"Maybe we should check? Make sure she doesn't need any help?"

The receptionist nodded, leading her inside.

When they saw her, Leilani grinned. Adaze had fallen asleep on the sofa, the smallest little calico she'd ever seen curled up on her lap, purring up a storm.

"It looks like she's been chosen," she grinned.

The receptionist shook her head in shock. "I don't think I've ever seen Patches come out for anyone before."

"Really?"

"Really. She's always so nervous around new people. Do you think Adaze will want to adopt her?"

Leilani grinned. "I can promise you she will."

They'd celebrated the move-in and adoption with a housewarming party attended by all of Leilani's friends and Diana. Adaze felt a bit self-conscious she didn't have more people to invite, but once everyone was inside, she was welcomed among the other women like she'd been a long-time friend.

It was amazing how well they all got along when Adaze managed to work through her jealousy enough to enjoy their time together. By the end of the evening, she was sad to see them go.

One Year Later

Adaze and Leilani were set to go to another get-together with Leilani's firefighter friends although it was now fair to say they were firmly both of their friends. Adaze especially clicked with Hallie Hunter and Becky Thompson, the chief. That morning, when they'd woken up, Leilani was delighted to find a giant box on their doorstep.

They dragged it inside and opened it to see the new cat tree they ordered. It came in countless pieces that Leilani immediately dumped out on the floor.

That was four hours ago.

Now, the pair of cats were watching Leilani fight to assemble the massive cat tree. Jaspurr was sitting near Leilani's feet, his small face almost seemed to show concern. Patches, on the other hand, seemed more interested in stealing some of the screws than anything Leilani was doing.

Adaze frowned from her spot on the sofa, setting the thick book she'd been reading aside. "You've been working on that thing for hours now. Are you sure you don't want me to call someone to do that?"

Leilani waved her off with the hand holding the screwdriver in a way that didn't seem entirely safe. "Absolutely not! I'm not giving up now. I can do it! If you want to do anything, then get over here and help me, but under no circumstances do I want you to call someone else. I don't need help."

She snorted. "Absolutely not. There is no world I am getting involved in this."

"But why not? Don't you want to set a good example for the children!? What will they think if you leave me to fumble on my own?"

"Because if you're having that hard of a time, all I'm going to do is get in the way and they're cats. I somehow doubt they will notice which of us builds the thing they will very quickly abandon in favor of the box it came in."

Leilani looked back to the pile of screws that had been sorted once upon a time with a sigh. "I don't know about that. This thing is going to be great. I'm sure it'll give them endless hours of entertainment."

"Whatever you say, love."

Leilani carefully started searching for the correct screw, a look of great concentration on her face.

"If you need to tap out I can make the call," Adaze said in a tempting voice.

"No!" she insisted, brandishing the screwdriver again.

"Will you put that down before you hurt yourself?"

"Absolutely not! I can do this! I know I can. I just need to find the right screw. I'm almost done, really."

She hummed. "Can you do it in time for dinner tonight?"

She groaned, flopping back on the plush gray rug. "No, probably not."

"That's what I thought." she snorted. "Why don't you go get dressed and I'll get this cleaned up."

"No, I can do that at least. Besides, you take longer than I do to get ready."

Adaze rolled her eyes. "Not that much longer."

Leilani laughed, doing her best to round all the little screws, but there was no way she actually got all of them. "Just go on. I'll be behind you in a bit."

Adaze got to her feet, dropping a kiss on her head on her way back to the bedroom. She searched through the closet for something to wear.

There was a lot more bright colors mixed in since Leilani started ordering things she thought her girlfriend would like. Adaze found herself drawn to one of them. It was a kelly green silk shirt with a yellow scroll work pattern.

She was still trying to settle on a vest when Leilani finished getting dressed. Leilani laughed.

"Told you I'd be ready before you."

"I'm almost ready!"

Leilani laughed. Coming over, she pointed to a vest. "Go with that one. It's one of my favorites."

"Thanks," Adaze turned, pecking her on the lips.

The pair finished getting ready and headed off to the restaurant.

Thanks to Adaze taking too long to get dressed, they were the last ones to arrive. They headed inside the restaurant. It was a fairly popular Mexican place. Happy music filled the room from the speakers as a server led them to the large table where the others were already crowded around.

When they saw them, Rory lit up, waving them over.

"Glad the two of you finally made it," she said.

"Oh come on," Leilani groaned. "We aren't that late."

"You're both just lucky I remember your drink orders."

"And we're very thankful for that," she said as she rolled her eyes.

Adaze laughed at the pair of them.

"What's so funny?" Leilani pouted.

"You," she said.

"Well that's rude."

"You asked."

"Because I thought you were going to say something nice."

"Well, you should have known better."

They looked over the menu, sipping on their drinks. They placed their orders and caught up on what everyone else had been up to the past few weeks.

When they first started going on regular outings with the others, Adaze didn't understand how Leilani could have so much to say to people she saw almost every day. (Truthfully, she still wasn't sure she understood it.) But she still loved hearing how animated she got far too much to keep asking too many questions.

She glanced down to where Diana was chatting with Hallie Hunter. She was surprised by just how much her personal-assistant-turned friend had come to be part of her life in a way she never could have expected.

They still worked together but cut down to three days a week so Adaze could enjoy more down time with Leilani. Despite that, the pair now spent time together in their off hours. Usually just going to grab lunch or going shopping, but it was still such a nice change to their "strictly professional" relationship Adaze had insisted on pretending to maintain for so many years even though it had been far more than that for years..

The meal passed in a pleasant buzz of conversation. They talked about how everyone was doing. Leilani broke out her phone and started showing everyone pictures of Jaspurr and Patches.

Leilani sighed. "It's such a shame Patches doesn't like to be dressed up. I really wanted us to all wear matching sweaters for a holiday card this winter."

Adaze grimaced. "It's a shame really," she forced herself to say.

"I know! I guess it'll just be the three of us in sweaters. I hope Patches won't feel too left out."

"I'm sure you can think of a way to make sure she feels included," Diana said, smiling at the face Adaze was making at the thought.

Despite her misgivings, she knew she wouldn't hesitate to put on whatever Leilani asked for her holiday photo.

Besides, it would be the first time she was ever included in something like this, and while it felt silly and a little embarrassing, she was also excited at the thought.

She didn't have an office to hang it up in, and she was hardly in an industry where she would be sending it to colleagues, but it still felt like a tangible sign of their commitment to each other.

"I hope so," Leilani continued. "After all, I was going to be sending one home to my family so I want it to give a good impression."

Adaze almost spit out her drink. "You what?"

"Well, I'm going to be sending one back home to my parents, siblings, grandparents, you know. Everyone you'd usually send a holiday card to."

"I didn't know you were planning on doing that."

"Yeah, well what else would I do with it?"

"I don't know. It seems like kind of a big deal though, right?"

Leilani smiled in understanding. "You don't need to worry. They're going to love you."

"How can you know that?"

"Because I love you."

She leaned in and the pair shared a kiss. Adaze didn't have all the answers yet, but that was alright. They were going to find them together.

Leilani continued, "I actually thought maybe we could deliver it in person this year? Come to Hawaii with me? Meet my family? They are amazing. I owe everything to them."

Adaze smiled in understanding. "I would love to."

Later that night they were in bed together with Jaspurr and Patches.

"I'm so happy you want to meet my family," Leilani said.

"I'm just sorry I have nobody close on my side for you to meet in return," Adaze sighed. "But I can't wait to meet your family and also get to know the island you grew up on. I can't wait for you to show me around."

Leilani reached her hand out for Adaze's and tangled their fingers together.

"Also…" she said almost nervously, "I was wondering if I could maybe tell my family we are engaged…"

Adaze felt confused for just a moment, "But, we aren't…"

"I know, but I thought maybe we could be? I know marriage is a big thing for you after what happened last time, but would you? Will you marry me, Adaze?"

Adaze smiled. She had come a long way in therapy now. She was at a place where marrying Leilani had been high on her list of priorities.

She reached into the drawer of her bedside table and pulled out a small leather box.

She flipped it opened to reveal a large sapphire ring that shimmered in every shade of blue possible. It was surrounded by small diamonds.

"Oh my god!" Leilani gasped.

"Sapphire to remind you of the ocean. You beat me to it, my beautiful Leilani. But I was going to ask you. So, yes, I would love to marry you." Adaze laughed, happier than she had ever been.

"So, yes, you can tell them we are engaged. And, if you are still wanting to try and get pregnant next year, well, you can tell them that too. I'm all in, Leilani. I'll do everything I can to be the best wife for you, and I can't wait to become a mom with you." She slid the ring onto Leilani's finger.

Leilani smiled and rolled on top of her, kissing her eagerly. "Oh, my darling. I can't believe how far we have come together since we met! I can't wait for the rest of forever with you!"