Bonus Epilogue - Finn

“This timeline is critical.”

“You’re telling me,” Penny mutters. When I look up at her, she has a pen behind her ear, and a lock of her hair has fallen into her face. We’re waiting for the elevator in my office, and she looks absolutely bedraggled. I remind myself to give her some time to clean up before go-time.

“I’ve coordinated with the vendors, touched base with everyone this morning,” Penny says, breathing quickly, her hand wrapped tightly around the binder in her hand.

The binder we’ve been using to coordinate this event for months. Without it, I don’t know what we’d do.

“Did you ask them to adjust the lighting based on the 3D rendering of the space?” We’re leaving my office now, twenty minutes late according to the timeline for the day. “Too harsh and we'll have sensory overload. Too dim and we lose the visual impact.”

“Yes, made the call yesterday. I’m not totally confident in their ability to pull it off.”

I let out a sigh—of course. The elevator finally spits us out on the ground floor, and we push through into the building’s lobby.

“Did you get that special candle?”

“Yes, it’s with the other supplies.”

“What about dietary restrictions?”

“All documented and color-coded. Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut allergies - everything's covered. The catering team has redundancies built in for each category.”

The moment Penny and I push out into the bright sunlight, Sam pulls around the corner, grinning at me from the driver’s seat.

“Hi, love,” he says, rolling the passenger window down. There’s a little giggle from the back seat, and my heart melts.

“Mommy!”

The sound of Millie’s bright, cooing gurgle from the backseat makes my heart melt, and Penny turns to me, some of her exhaustion from our planning shifting into pure shock.

“I know,” I say, grinning as I grab the passenger door’s handle. “It’s a new development.”

“Stunning,” Penny says, smiling as Sam rolls the back window down for her. “Hi, Millie,” she coos back, tickling her.

“I’ll see you at six sharp,” I say, laughing and pointing at her as I slip into the passenger seat. “Don’t be late. And take a nap!”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Penny laughs, turning and walking toward her new apartment in downtown Burlington.

“How was the meeting?” Sam asks, from the driver’s seat, waiting until I buckle in to pull away. “Do you feel better about tonight?”

“I think we have everything in order,” I breathe out, body relaxing. “I hope we do, anyway. It’s just—I know it seems silly, but it’s important to me—”

“Important to you is important to me,” Sam says, reaching out and taking my hand. “Besides, it is a big deal. It’s important to mark big milestones.”

There’s still some slush on the ground, mixing with salt and gravel, and I listen to it crush under the tires as we make our way through Burlington. Little shops pass. I watch college kids enter coffee shops and mill about. It’s unseasonably warm for March, the sun is shining, and if I close my eyes, I can almost picture what this place is going to be like in the summer.

I’ve learned to love Burlington winters, cozy and warm with our fireplace going. And the summers are bright and sparkling, all lemon cake and boats on the water.

It’s the in-between months that I don’t love. With the singular exception of today.

“Oh, hold on,” Sam says, clearing his throat, his gaze flicking to the dash for a moment. “Call from Harper.”

A smile stretches over my face—in the two years since I first met her, I’ve only liked her more and more. Apparently, she encouraged Sam to go after me all those years ago, and that’s something I’m not going to forget.

She’s supposed to be our photographer for tonight, and I cross my fingers in my lap, hoping she’s not canceling.

“Hello?”

“Oh my god, Sam!” she’s laughing but sounds slightly panicked. “Okay, so I have bad news.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes,” she says, “totally fine except—Josh has pissed off every single sitter I’ve found for him, and the one for today just called to cancel because he’s apparently poorly behaved.”

Sam and I glance at each other, and his eyebrows shoot up. Our understanding is that Josh is Harper’s cat. I tip my head down, as if to say, Why would a cat need a sitter?

He shrugs, then purses his lips like, You don’t think Josh is a kid, do you?

I frown, We’d know, right?

“Hello?” Harper says, and Sam laughs, “Shit sorry. I’m here. So did you need to cancel for tonight?”

“Well…I know it’s kind of a weird question, but I was wondering how you’d feel if I brought him. He’s not as poorly behaved as the sitters like to pretend he is, and I think he might even be fun for the kids. What do you think?”

“Sure!” I say, registering Sam’s surprised face. I’ve planned everything so meticulously he’s probably surprised I’d agree to an unknown variable like this.

Little does he know, I’m more invested in finally solving the mystery of Josh, once and for all, than ensuring the seamless execution of tonight. Maybe that’s character growth.

“Oh, really?” Harper says, and then, “That’s great! I promise he won’t be any trouble.”

“I believe it,” I lie. Then, Millie lets out a squeal from the backseat, and I can practically hear Harper smiling.

“Well, hi there Miss Millie,” she says, and Millie squeals again. “I’ll see you later, girl!”

When we end the phone call with Harper, I realize I’m not quite sure where we’re headed. We’re supposed to get lunch before heading to the venue, so I turn to Sam, giving him a look.

“What?” he says, laughing. “I wanted to surprise you.”

We continue on the snaking road that leads out of Burlington, and rather than getting anxious, like I usually might, about the surprise, I just relax into the seat, breathing and looking out the window. We have plenty of time to get back.

Outside, the fields and hills roll by, and Sam finds my hand, lacing our fingers together and resting on my thigh.

When we rumble down a gravel road and arrive at our destination, I’m not quite sure what it is.

“Sunny Star Farm?” I ask, as Sam hops out of the car and circles around to the back. He returns a moment later, opening my door and handing me my rain boots. As I unlace my snow boots and replace them with the more water-proof version, I catch glimpses of Sam in the side mirror, swapping out Millie’s shoes as well.

Five minutes later, I realize where we are.

“Welcome to Sunny Star Alpaca Farm!” a woman says, smiling cheerfully at us as we approach. She’s sitting at a table with several plastic cups, containing what looks like dry nuggets of food.

Sam pays for the food and we listen to the rules, then we’re set loose in the pen. Millie shows no fear, like usual, when Sam places the food in her palm, instructing her to keep her hand flat.

An alpaca approaches us cautiously, sniffing at Millie’s coat, which makes her giggle loudly. The alpaca weirdly doesn’t mind this, and happily lifts the food from her palm with its lips.

An hour—and several sweaters and bundles of yarn from the shop—later, we’re back in the car with rosy cheeks, still laughing about the alpaca that was obsessed with Sam, following him around even when it was clear he had no more food.

“I thought he was going to come home with us,” I laugh, buckling myself in.

“Yes!” Millie giggles, clapping. A little knitted alpaca sits in her lap. One of many presents today.

“Alright,” Sam says, unzipping a lunch box in the backseat. “Spent a little more time here than I thought, so we’ll have this snack in the car while we head back, okay?”

I can’t help but smile as I look at him. Handsome, capable, loving. The perfect father for my baby girl. When he gets back in the driver’s seat, I grab him by the front of the shirt and pull him in, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

“Yuck!” Millie shouts, which makes us laugh, even as his hand slips back into mine.

***

Everything is absolutely perfect when we walk into the Children’s Museum, Millie on my hip. We’re all dressed in matching pink family outfits—Millie and my dresses match Sam’s shirt. Millie’s dress sparkles and she has a little Birthday Girl pin on her chest.

“Happy birthday!”

The chorus of voices comes from all our friends, including Devon and Lola, Grey and Ellie, Brett and Fallon. Their children chime in with the shout—at least those who can. Clementine in particular looks tickled.

Penny has deftly passed out the poppers, and they go off together, showering the room in confetti. It floats down over us and into her hair, where Sam picks it out deftly, smiling cheek-to-cheek.

Millie, as I predicted, is delighted.

But what delights her more than the confetti is the little white pig sitting calmly at Harper’s feet. I stare at it for a second, trying to comprehend what I’m looking at—there’s no way it’s actually a pig. It could be an ugly dog.

“Piggy!” Millie shouts, and I look at Sam in surprise—I didn’t even realize she knew that word. Sam sets her down as Harper brings the pig over, and we watch as Millie puts her arms around the pig’s neck.

“Thanks for letting me bring Josh,” Harper says, tapping the camera around her neck. “And don’t worry about the photos—I’ll still be able to get pictures. He really is well-behaved.”

“Of course he is,” Sam says, then looks to me, like Josh is a pig?

I give him a look back, Josh is a pig. Of course.

Harper disappears with Josh, and we melt into the party, saying hello to the other parents and the little ones who came from Millie’s baby dance class. Together, they toddle and crawl around, playing on the padded structures, while some of the older kids play tag on the periphery.

“This is a really great party,” Lola says, appearing at my side an hour later, a blob of goat cheese disappearing into her mouth. Through her bite, she says, “Love the adult snack table. Genius.”

“You have me to thank for that,” Penny says, grinning as she sidles up next to us. Her own plate is full of little bites, cranberry and goat cheese, shrimp, and fancy multi-grain crackers with honey. “This is all local, by the way.”

“I believe it,” Lola says, just as Fallon appears.

“Lucky Joey isn’t here,” Fallon says, also through a bite of food.

I filter back through my knowledge of her friend group, trying to figure out who she’s talking about.

“The chef one,” Fallon says knowingly. She thinks it’s hilarious that I have trouble telling them apart and remembering them. “He’d be so jealous you didn’t ask him to cater. He loves making little appetizers like this, and his catering company is really starting to take off.”

When I glance at Penny, she’s already nodding—we’ll remember that for next time.

“I should write a chef romance,” Lola says, her eyes going far away. “That would be so on-brand right now. All that chemistry, heat in the kitchen. Could be hot.”

“You and Finn should brainstorm together sometime,” Penny says, laughing.

“I don’t know if that would be helpful for either of us,” I say, shifting to my other foot and looking away from the group. Quietly, into my glass, I say, “And, besides. I finished the book today.”

“You what?” Fallon asks, her voice rising high enough that a nearby kid jumps. “Sorry,” she whispers to them, then to me, “You finished it! Why didn’t you tell us? I would have opened a bottle of wine in your favor.”

“There’s still editing and proofing and so much more to go through,” I say, laughing and waving my hand. “Feels weird to celebrate.”

“We are so celebrating,” Lola says, then to Penny, “Put us on her schedule for Friday night. I’ll get us reservations somewhere good.”

“You got it,” Penny says, pulling out her phone.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” I mutter, just as Devon appears.

“And somehow, I know you’re talking about my wife,” Devon says, appearing behind us and resting his hand on Lola’s shoulder. She scoffs at him, but when she looks over, it’s almost nauseating how in love they look. “Sam would like me to summon you. Time for the birthday girl to blow out her candles.”

I blink, looking at my watch, shocked that both Penny and I let this party go off schedule. We make our way over to the table, where Sam is holding Millie and Brett is sticking the easy-blow candle into the cake, which is shaped like a princess crown.

I stand next to Sam, and he reaches around behind Millie’s back, catching my hand in his. Brett steps away so it’s just the three of us on this side of the table.

Right on cue, the lights go down exactly as Penny and I planned. Everyone oohs as the candle flickers to light, and Millie giggles loudly. Faces are illuminated in the warm orange from the light, everyone flushed and happy.

When they begin to sing, it hits me all at once—I have everything I’ve ever wanted. Good friends, a party. Something worth celebrating.

Millie. The light of my life. My darling girl.

Sam squeezes my hand, and I can’t help it—a happy tear slips down my cheek. Two years ago, I never would have thought I could be this happy. In this city, with this team, with hockey and love and family and life.

I feel full. I feel content and at peace.

Millie blows out the candle, and everyone claps.

The End.