Epilogue

EPILOGUE

MARCO

THREE & A HALF MONTHS LATER

“I have something for you.”

I’d just walked into the bedroom and saw Ivy sitting on top of the blanket, ready for bed. We weren’t planning to go to sleep just yet, but this had become part of our regular routine.

And I loved it.

I loved walking into this bedroom—now, our bedroom, considering she’d officially moved in and got rid of her place—and knowing we’d spend some time talking to each other about our days before we’d either cuddle up to watch a movie and make love or skip the movie altogether and go right to the lovemaking.

But today was different.

Because today I was going to mark this moment with something else.

“You have something for me?” Ivy asked. “Is it… Wait, what’s today? Did I miss some special occasion?”

I tipped my head to the side and smirked. “It would require a fair amount of thought to come up with what today is. But I promise you haven’t missed some major holiday.”

Curiosity washed over her expression. She looked utterly adorable. “What’s going on?”

I crossed the room and made it to the bed, where I pulled the rectangular wrapped gift out from behind my back.

Her gorgeous lips parted in shock, and she tucked her hair behind her ear. “I didn’t miss a special occasion, but I’m getting a gift?”

Smiling, I confirmed, “You are.”

Ivy took the gift from me, a bit of caution in her movements. Her beautiful blue eyes darted between the gift in her hands and me. “What is it? What did I miss?”

I shrugged. “Open it, and it’ll all make sense.”

She returned her attention to the gift, tore off the wrapping paper, and revealed a plain white box. After removing the lid, she pushed the tissue paper out of the way and gasped, lifting her fingers up to cover her lips. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “You made this?”

I rounded the bed to her side, sat down, and nodded. “It’s the first thing I made with the tools you bought me for my birthday. The thing is, today marks six months.”

Her brows pulled together. “Six months? Six months for what?”

“It’s been six months to the day since you made that Marry Me Chicken dish, and if I recall correctly, you said you expected a proposal within six months,” I reminded her. Tears filled her eyes, and I brought my hand to the woodcarving I’d done for her. It was a list of all the important dates in our lives, our names carved into the wood above the dates. “This is the date you made the chicken for me. This is the day of our first official date. This is the day I fell in love with you. And this, I hope, is going to be the day of our engagement, the day you tell me you’ll spend the rest of your life with me.”

As a tear rolled down her cheek, I pulled the ring box out of my pocket. I opened it up, presenting it to her, and said, “The bottom half of this carving isn’t finished, Ivy. I need to add our wedding date. And eventually, as they come, I’ll add the birth dates of our babies. All you need to do is accept this ring, Princess. Tell me you’ll marry me, and I’ll make sure we finish the carving.”

Ivy had been holding her breath, but the minute I finished speaking, the air rushed out of her. “I’ll marry you.”

I took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. Once it was resting at the base of her finger, I framed her face in my hands and kissed her. “I love you, Ivy.”

“I love you, too. Is this real?”

“It’s real.”

“We’re going to get married?”

“You pick the date, and it’s going to happen.”

“And you want to have babies with me?”

“I can’t wait to make them.” I grinned at her.

“I’m never going to be alone again?”

I shook my head. “Never.”

She smiled at me, lifted her hands, and curled her fingers around my neck. “We should start practicing now.”

“Practicing?”

“For baby making. We’re both so determined to excel at the things we do, I would expect we want to be the very best at that.”

I laughed. “Who told you that you weren’t already stellar at that?”

She cocked a brow. “Are you turning down your future bride?”

I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward and kissed her. “Not a chance.”

With that, we moved the woodcarving gift out of the bed and commenced my favorite part of the night. We skipped the movie and went right to the lovemaking, but I figured that was on par for the evening.

We had something big to celebrate.

Ivy was my fiancée now.

And with any luck, it wouldn’t be long before I was able to add another date to that woodcarving.

IVY - FIVE MONTHS LATER

If ever there was a full circle moment, this was it.

It was mere minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, and I was officially Mrs. Ivy Kingston.

It hadn’t taken me long to decide.

I wanted to make things official before we entered the new year. So, we planned our wedding for today.

And now we were here with all our friends and family, celebrating the start of our lives together.

Even though it felt like Marco and I had started a life together not quite a full year ago, this made it real. This meant he was mine forever, that I’d never feel lonely again in my life.

“Did you know I stood here last year during the New Year’s Eve party we hosted and felt like I’d never be this happy?”

Marco and I were on the dance floor—we’d been here nearly all night, almost as soon as we’d finished dinner—and I thought he deserved to know just how much this moment meant to me.

“Really?”

I nodded. “Yes. I remember feeling so frustrated, wondering if the clock would ever strike midnight and I’d have someone to hold me in his arms and kiss me when the new year began.”

“Your determination to make that happen has paid off, I’d say. It seems like you’re about to make that happen.”

I shook my head.

His brows shot up. “No?”

Smiling at him, as I danced in his arms while he looked undeniably good-looking in his suit, I said, “I’m not making it happen, handsome. You are. From the moment we were in that hotel room until now, you’ve done nothing but make all my dreams come true. And something tells me that this is just the beginning of it.”

Marco’s hand drifted down my back. “You mean everything to me, Ivy. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to see you happy.”

“I’d do it again.”

“What?”

“I’d sit in the misery and loneliness for all those years, wondering, wishing, and feeling devastated, if I was going to get you in the end. I’d do it a million times over. It was worth all those miserable lonely nights just to have you be mine in the end.”

His mouth curved into a smile. “Forever, Princess. I’m yours forever.”

The countdown started around us, but Marco and I didn’t tear our attention away from one another. Just before the countdown ended and the crowd shouted out new year wishes, Marco gave me what I wanted.

He held me in his arms and kissed me. The kiss went on and on, and it was the perfect start to the new year and our new life together.