9. Epilogue: Nolan

EPILOGUE – NOLAN

Ihave a perfect view of her through the toy binoculars. She's standing at the kitchen window, cutting the stems of the flowers she's arranging in a vase. If she was standing anywhere else in the kitchen, I wouldn't be able to make her out from where I am, but she has positioned herself just right.

"She's arranging the flowers we got her," I report. "Now she's smelling one of the roses."

A tiny impatient hand reaches for the binoculars I'm holding. "I wanna look, Daddy."

I pull the too-small binoculars from my eyes and hand them over to my daughter. "Here you go, baby. They're all yours."

I wince as I awkwardly move out of the way, my body far too massive for this treehouse. But Daniella insisted that I come up and hang out with her, and when it comes to my daughter, I can't say no. Those flowers that Leila is arranging is another example of that—when we were out running errands this morning, Daniella was the one who vehemently insisted that we buy them for Mommy.

"Daddy?"

I accidentally bump my head on the ceiling of the treehouse, wince again, and rub at the spot. "Yes, baby?"

"Can you go away now? My top secret mission is about to start."

I chuckle. "All right. No problem. See you in a while."

From the day she was born, Daniella has been a curious, imaginative child. She has more imaginary friends than I can name, and she's always coming up with the most fantastical games. I love that she's able to keep herself entertained and that she has such an independent and creative spirit.

But I can't wait to see her become a big sister, too. Just a couple more weeks and we'll be a family of four.

Amazing, how quickly time goes by.

I make my way down the ladder of the treehouse and cross the yard to the house, knowing that Daniella is probably watching me the whole time through those little binoculars of hers. When I get inside the house, I go straight into the kitchen, where I find Leila slipping the last flower into the vase.

"Did she send you inside for snacks?" Leila asks, grinning at me.

"Nope," I say, wrapping my arms around my wife and planting a kiss on her cheek. "She just sent me away."

Leila scoffs. "What a little teenager."

"No kidding." I smooth a hand over Leila's belly. "How's baby boy doing?"

"He's been extra active today. I think he's eager to join us."

"We're all eager for that."

"Mm. Very true." Then Leila looks at me with a different kind of excitement. "Oh, Nolan, there's something I want to show you. I saw a video this morning of the most incredible weekend getaway. I could totally see us doing it in a few months."

"Oh, yeah? Let's see."

"Let me grab my phone. It's upstairs."

"I'll come with you. But first…" I lean in and give her another kiss—on the lips this time. Leila smiles into our kiss, gives a sweet little moan, and kisses me back.

"Come on," she says, threading her hand through mine. "I can't wait to show it to you and see what you think."

"I'm sure I'll love it," I say.

It's true. I love every adventure that she takes us on. Sometimes she gives me a heart attack with the stuff she wants to do—on our honeymoon, she somehow talked me into bungee jumping—but I always end up enjoying it. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without her. And it still blows my mind that we have a daughter together and a son on the way.

As Leila pulls me by the hand out of the kitchen, my heart swells with profound love for her. I also can't help but glance at all the photographs taped to the front of our refrigerator as we pass them by. Most of the photos are of us and Daniella, but there are photos of our loved ones, too—including, of course, Leila's dad.

There's one photo in particular of Leila and her dad that always makes me smile when I see it. In it, David has an arm protectively slung over her shoulder, but he's looking directly into the camera with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. I'll never know for sure, but as time goes on, I'm more and more convinced that the twinkle in his eyes was meant for me.

And that, somehow, David knew that Leila and I were meant to be.

Thank you for reading In Love with Her Secret Protector!