Epilogue

“...and then we went to the carnival and I had so much cotton candy that I threw up blue and pink and it made purple!” Charlie says excitedly as he bursts through the front door.

Our eight-year-old comes running up to me and throws his arms around my waist, squeezing me tightly. Despite him admitting to getting sick earlier in the day, I’ll never miss a chance to hug my son and tell him how much I love him.

“I take it your boys’ day out went well?” I ask Charlie as well as Elliot as he steps inside the cabin with a giant stuffed elephant.

“Woo!” Charlie exclaims, nodding his head. His face turns pale and I worry he might get sick again, but Charlie keeps it together. What a trooper.

“Yes, I’d say we had a good day, despite the rainbow puke.” I laugh and tell my son to go brush his teeth and rinse out his mouth. “And how was girls’ day in?” my husband asks as he circles his arms around my waist.

“It was fun to have a spa day and do our nails. Rachel loved it. She passed out about forty-five minutes ago. I was going to let her sleep for a bit before dinner.”

“I’m glad we both got to spend time with the kids one-on-one today,” he says. My heart melts for him and how much he loves Rachel and Charlie. Elliot draws me close, pulling me in for a kiss.

I place my hand on his chest, keeping him a few inches away. “Just checking that Charlie was the only one who threw up a rainbow today?”

Elliot narrows his eyes at me, a playful spark in his deep green irises. “That’s correct, sunshine. I’d never do anything to risk missing a kiss from the most beautiful, clever, intelligent woman I’ve ever seen.”

He closes the distance between us and takes my lips as his own, sliding his tongue inside my mouth and winding me up in slow and steady strokes.

When we break apart, Elliot kisses the top of my head and breathes me in. We’ve been married for almost a decade now, with two kids, two cats, and two dogs. I guess we like things in pairs.

”Are we still doing movie night?” Rachel, our youngest asks. I didn”t realize she was up from her nap yet.

“Of course,” Elliot tells her, kneeling down and opening his arms up for our little girl. She gets the cutest little grin on her face as she runs toward him on her tiny legs. He scoops her up and spins her around, making our daughter shriek with laughter. Rachel turned five this year, and she’s looking more and more like her father each day with her green eyes and brown hair.

Charlie comes back into the living room, joining the family. He takes my hand in his, squeezing my fingers as he smiles up at me. With the sound of Rachel and Elliot playing in the background and my son looking at me with all the love in the world, I feel so damn blessed to be right here, right now.

Elliot and I had to endure a lot before we met each other, and together, we’ve done an immense amount of therapy and healing from our pasts. We want to be the absolute best parents we can be, which means dealing with our wounds so we don’t imprint them on our children.

My husband looks over at me, his eyes catching mine. I know he’s thinking the same thing - it was worth all the pain and heartache to get to this perfect moment of pure joy.

THE END