28. Epilogue

Three years later

Perry

Rolling over, I find the other side of the bed empty and sit up. Right. We have a house guest and he likes to be awake at night. I swear that kid is part owl.

Pulling on my lounge pants that sit on the floor, I shuffle out to the living room. Sun pours in through the window and I shield my eyes. Cartoons play on the TV and I follow my husband's voice down the other hall.

"Alex, you said you had to pee."

A giggle follows, and I bite my lip at the tired sigh from Roman.

"If you pee, we can go back to the cartoons. When Uncle Perry wakes up, we'll go outside, okay?"

I lean against the wall, listening to the mini version of Roman sass back at his uncle. There's probably karma involved somewhere in all this.

"I peed!" little Alex shouts, and Roman hoots with joy. I listen as Roman reminds him to flush and helps him wash his hands.

"Unckey Perry!" Alex flies into the hallway when he sees me poke my head in and I scoop him up. He laughs as I raspberry his neck.

"Are you giving Uncle Roman a hard time this morning?"

Alex babbles his answer as my gaze finds Roman. The dark circles under his eyes tell me all I need to know about how much he was up last night with our little nephew. But the fond smile on his face also tells me he doesn't regret a thing.

Setting Alex down, I tell him to go watch his cartoons and I'll make some of his favourite bacon in a few minutes.

"Was he up all night?"

Roman steps into my arms with a sigh.

"Almost every two hours. He's too excited to be here. It's cute and endearing the first few times. Then it just gets on my nerves and I want him to sleep." He kisses me and I hum against his lips.

"You were cute and endearing the first time you came here too, if I recall."

"Don't be an ass and rub it in. I don't know how my sister does it 24/7. It's only been two nights and I feel like a zombie. I always forget how busy he is."

He's not the only one, but we love him. Even though Roman complains, he loves having this one-on-one time with Alex.

"I know we never really talked about it, but…did you want kids? Seems like we should"ve had this conversation before we said I do."

Roman snorts.

"We did. At his first birthday party, when he was so excited, he threw up all over the cake table. I said, lord remind me I don't want to be a parent."

He tilts his head at me. "Did you ever want kids? You're so much better with him than me. He wants you to show him how to fish, by the way. He couldn't stop talking about it at 2 A.M., so thank you for that."

"I did once, but I also had a job that took me away too much. If I had kids, I wanted to be there for them every day. I wouldn't have been able to leave for a week at a time."

"You're such a softie that way."

"It's why you love me."

His hand drifts down my chest and ends with cupping my balls over my pants.

"It's only one reason. I like you hard, too."

I laugh and kiss him, pressing him back into the wall. "You're so cheesy."

"I'm horny. I love the little dude, but Jesus, Perry, I didn't think he'd never sleep a wink at night. I miss our morning wake-ups."

Shoving my leg between his thighs, I press into him. He whines and rocks his hips.

"A quickie at nap time?" I trail my lips down his neck. "Will he sleep for seven minutes?"

"Unkey Ro! Look it!"

I step away from Roman and adjust myself. But there's no need because my erection deflates like a balloon left in the cold.

"Oh god. Alex, give that to me. You've been bad. That's not a toy."

Roman throws a panicked look my way, and I shrug.

"If he was in our bathroom, he saw it. And it's a fun, cool blue colour."

Alex waves the silicone dildo in the air and laughs while Roman chases after him.

"Stop laughing and help me!"

I know I should, but I can't. Until Roman calls from our bedroom.

"Perry! Oh lord…"

Alex stands in our bedroom with a quivering lip, and I rush to scoop him up.

"Hey, don't cry. We can fix it."

Roman drops his head back with a groan. Peering into our bathroom, I join him.

Alex was out of sight for maybe five minutes. During that time, he found the dildo on the counter, emptied the shaving cream in the sink and sprayed it on the shower doors. My Gold Bond powder floats in the toilet, the empty container on the floor.

"Are we supposed to punish him? I don't know how this works."

Which is true. Do three olds understand? Is it like animals and you need to catch them in the act?

"I don't know!" Roman throws his hands in the air. "Technically, it's our fault for not watching him." He still holds the blue dildo in his hand and it wiggles as he rants over the mess he has to clean up, but not once does he yell at Alex or even take his frustration out on me.

"Go make him the bacon he loves and I'll clean this up. Chalk it up to another life lesson."

"And what's that?"

"I don't want kids." He laughs and tickles Alex in my arms. "But I'll be an uncle every day of the week. Just promise Uncle Ro you'll never come in here again."

Alex nods. "Prawmiss, Unkey Ro. Love yous."

Roman rustles his blond hair, so much like his own. "I love you, too. Go eat bacon."

He squirms out of my arms and tears off to the kitchen.

"If you need a nap, just lay down when you're done. I'll keep him amused."

"Save me some bacon."

Another year later

Roman

"You're sure this won't fly away and we'll be alone out here?"

Leaf brushes off his hands with a smile.

"Nothing will fly away and there're no guests scheduled." He roots in his coat pocket. "Here's the key to cabin three if you decide to stay longer and need to get warm or whatnot. Just in case."

"Oh, good thinking. Thank you for your help."

"Anytime, Roman. Thank you for making my brother so happy. You two are good for each other."

"Thank you. I think you're right about that."

Leaf and I chat some more before he leaves me, and I check my phone. Perry finally read my message and I hope he can make it. My text was only a little cryptic, but he's smart.

Perry:I'm on my way.

I send him a heart and wait. I shouldn't be nervous. He'll eat this up with a spoon, but other than laying in bed decked out in lace, I've done nothing purely romantic for him. Nothing grand, like organizing a surprise proposal that I fucked up.

My business took off, and I spent my days scaling and managing it. We visited my sister and nephew as often as possible. And Perry often got called out on fire calls as a volunteer firefighter. Those were the hardest for me. Knowing he was off and possibly in danger for hours at a time with no communication.

It was hard fighting off the anxiety of those nights and the fear of him never coming back, but it was getting a little easier. It's always there, but my coping has improved thanks to Perry.

But he deserves more from me. To give him what he secretly wishes for.

And it's time for me to show him I listen. He talks about his book club meetings with me often. It makes me laugh. The book club is still just him and Sasha, but he enjoys it. And I've been taking notes.

The crunch of footsteps draws my attention to the path and I wait for Perry to step into the beach clearing. When he does, my god, I wish I had done this sooner. His face fills with a joyous smile as he quickens his step over to me.

"What's all this?"

He cups my face and leans in for a kiss, the smile never leaving his face.

"This is our spot. Where you told me you loved me, and I was your moon in the darkness." I kiss the shell of his ear. "On this exact day four years ago. I hope you remember."

"Of course I do. The best night of my life. Next to marrying you, that is."

"Instead of rushing off, we can get comfortable and watch the moon and stars." I slide my hands around his waist and into the back pockets of his jeans. "I also have a special surprise for you."

He grins even bigger.

"Do we get to fuck under the stars? Please say yes."

Laughing, his eternal happiness rubbing off on me, I kiss him again.

"Well, yeah, that was part of the surprise, but I have something else for you. Come on."

We leave our shoes outside the tent Leaf set up for me. The whole top of the tent is a screen so we can still see the moon and stars, and I arranged the door to face the moon. Inside is only a thin foam mattress and a few blankets, but it will do the job.

He lies on his back with a sigh and looks out the top.

"This is amazing, Roman."

"You're amazing," I whisper across his lips before crawling over him. "I didn't think it was possible to love you more, but I do. You make me do mushy, romantic things."

His body shakes with laughter under me.

"To be fair, I gave you the idea since I brought you here first."

"True. But I remembered and…" I roll off him and find the gift. "I wrote a book about it."

His smile falters briefly before noticing I'm telling the truth.

"For real?"

He takes the package from my hand with a raised brow.

"Just open it, Perry."

His fingers gently rip open the paper to find a hardcover photo book. The photo on the front is what we see right now. This very moon and this very lake. The title is simple: You're my Moon.

I watch as he opens it and reads each page, his smile never dropping, but he blinks faster and wipes at his cheeks.

"Don't tear stain the paper, baby."

"I can't believe you did this. You put our life into a book. You made our romance into a fucking book." He shakes his head with a shaky breath and the last page is a photo of our wedding. It's our favourite because it wasn't even a professional photo. A friend snapped it while we shared a quiet moment together at the reception. Our expressions leave nothing unsaid. My fingers curl around his tie and one of his hands grips my chin. What came after that photo was mostly x-rated because our love isn't just grapefruit pieces in the fridge and muscular arms to hold during nightmares.

We're passionate and equals.

Each other's rock.

Messy and somehow imperfectly perfect.

"I love you, Perry. I tell you that all the time, but I wanted you to know there's no one else in this world I want to spend my days with. You, too, shine your light on me when things are dark. You're my moon, too."

He wipes at his cheeks and sets the book aside.

"Get naked."

Laughing, I crawl on him again and cover his face with kisses.

"A well-spoken man. I love it."

"I'm gonna show you how much I love this, and you. Because there're no words for it, Roman. Thank you isn't enough."

"Well then, not that I was looking for that kind of thanks, but I'll take it."

"You're a rotten liar. You're a horny bastard on every day that ends in y." He smiles big as I laugh again. He's not wrong.

And if you told me five years ago when I moved here to follow my best friend that I'd fall in love, get married, enjoy plaid—in moderation—and have sex in a tent, I'd have told you to seek therapy.

Yet here I am. Proving that love really changes a person.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for reading!