Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ONE YEAR LATER: SPENCER

I zzy never moved into her new apartment.

She came home the same day we finally talked and said all the things we should've said all along. Leon and Lola took Izzy's new place. It was perfect for them, close to work for them both.

Moving Leon out felt like the end of an era, overdue in some ways, too soon in others. I could've lived happily forever with my two best friends, but Izzy was more than that, and Leon had Lola. We were all growing up, all moving on. I couldn't quite picture what our next steps would look like, but I was excited to take them with Izzy.

Izzy worked out her notice and said goodbye to the douchebros. I picked her up that day, and we went shopping for the baby. We bought so much stuff it wouldn't fit in my truck, and we had to have it delivered the following day — a crib and a stroller, a high chair, a swing. A changing table. A playpen. A dinosaur onesie. We had bags full of clothes, boxes of toys, a mobile that played music and glowed in the dark.

"That's a whole lot of stuff," said Izzy, when our order arrived, boxes piled high, blocking our door. I picked one off the top, our new bottle warmer.

"Whatever happens, we know we're prepared."

" Do we, though?" Izzy cocked her head, doubtful. "I have this terrible feeling there's something we missed, and we'll bring our baby home, and it'll be the one thing she needs. She'll scream through her first night because we forgot her, uh… Thing."

I pulled Izzy to me and kissed the top of her head. "If she screams through the night, we'll be right there to hold her. We'll do it in shifts, and we'll take turns sleeping. Then, in the morning, we'll go grab her thing."

"Or make a Taskrabbit do it. Do they work at night?"

"Some of them, probably." I kissed her again. "Don't worry. We've got this. And if we don't, we'll learn."

We learned all right, from our first night as parents. We had a little girl, six pounds, seven ounces, and she had lungs on her like an opera singer. She used them to let us know she was angry , and she was angry because I took her blanket, but we didn't know that. Couldn't figure it out. We tried walking her, bouncing her, driving around in the dark, but still she kept howling. Izzy laid her on the dryer — with her blanket in it — hoping the vibration would soothe her displeasure. She went quiet for a second, then got going again, and she didn't stop till that blanket was dry, till Izzy wrapped it around her, soft on her skin. Then she stopped, and she gurgled, and she went straight to sleep.

"That's what this was about? Some stupid, cheap blanket?" Izzy laughed quietly, not to wake the baby. "Isn't that the free one we got from the hospital?"

I felt its satiny corner. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Why did you wash it?"

"It was covered in spit-up."

"We need to get a spare one for next time you do that." Izzy leaned against me, heavy with exhaustion. "Why can't human babies be like baby horses?"

"Two hundred pounds and covered in hair?"

Izzy swatted me weakly. "Up and walking. Taking what they need."

"You'll eat those words when she is up and walking."

We shared a tired laugh at that, then we all napped together, curled like nesting dolls in each other's arms.

Three more months flew by in a talc-scented haze, feedings and tummy times and long, sleepless nights. We lost Stella's blanket in a grocery store bathroom. Izzy spent half a day hunting it down. I bought a fabric pen and printed a note on its binding – LIFE-AND-DEATH BLANKET – BABY SCREAMS IF REMOVED! IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL – and then our phone number.

I threw Stella's hat in my hockey bag instead of my tube socks, and had to borrow a pair from Enrique. We won big that night, and I kept Stella's hat. I kissed it every game all the way through the playoffs. It saw us clean through to our first Stanley Cup, but I pooped out of the party to a chorus of jeers, and hurried home to what mattered the most in my world.

"I'm so proud of you," Izzy told me that night.

"I know, right? I'm the diapering master ."

She gaped at me. "What? I meant for the cup."

"Oh, that." I tickled Stella's belly. "I thought you were talking about her diaper. It's on there so snug, she couldn't leak if she tried."

"Believe me, she will try, so let's sleep while we can." Izzy took my hand to lead me to our bedroom, but I pulled back. I needed her rested.

"I'll sleep in here tonight, so I can get up if she cries."

Izzy frowned. "Don't you have press lined up for your big win? Your coach called to remind you of some interview."

"That's not for two days. I'm home all day tomorrow." I stretched out on the nursery couch. Izzy leaned over me to kiss me goodnight.

"Thank you, then. We'll trade places tomorrow."

I turned my face to the pillow to hide my excitement. Izzy was tired enough she'd probably forgotten, but tomorrow was a big day for us, our anniversary. The day she'd moved in and we'd started our life together. I needed her rested so she'd enjoy my surprise.

Stella woke me at dawn, wanting her breakfast. I grabbed the milk Izzy had pumped and warmed it up, then sat feeding her in the kitchen as the sun came up. Izzy came out bleary, still in her housecoat, and I cursed under my breath. I'd been planning to bring her breakfast in bed.

"Sit down," I said. "I'll make you pancakes."

Izzy sat and took Stella. "Pancakes? Mm, yummy."

"Blueberry or chocolate?"

"Two of each."

I made her two of each and piled them on a plate, and brought them out to her along with the syrup. I brought some OJ as well, and a gilded envelope. Izzy spotted the envelope.

"What's this?" She reached for it. "Is someone getting married?"

"No, it's a present. Open it up."

Izzy opened the envelope and her whole face lit up. "A spa day? Really?"

"Yeah. The full treatment." I sat down beside her and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I've got the whole day today, so I'll hang with Stella. You go get pampered. You need a break."

"What about you? You've been working so hard."

I loved her for asking, but I couldn't join her this time. I needed her out of here, just for a while. Just while I fixed up her actual surprise.

"I'll be fine," I said. "This day's about you."

I barely got Izzy out before Leon and Lola showed up, then Izzy's boss Donna and a bunch of her work friends. A few of my teammates straggled in late, still halfway buzzed from last night's party. We all set to work straightening the house, clearing up baby stuff, making it shine. Leon took over the kitchen and got on the cooking. Lola hung ribbons and flowers everywhere. I'd ordered a giant ‘Happy Anniversary' sign, and we hung it in the foyer near the front door, the first thing Izzy would see when she walked in. We were mixing a batch of virgin sangrias when it hit me — the cars. Everyone had parked out front. Izzy would see them and know?—

"She's coming!" Lola came running from the front room. "Everyone, hide. Get down. She's coming."

"Your cars are all out there."

Lola dragged me under the stairs. "What?"

"Your cars in the driveway. She'll know?—"

"Shut up." Leon ducked in behind us and covered my mouth. We all crouched there waiting, and Izzy called out.

"Hello? Is someone… whose shoes are these?" She bumped the door open and we popped up like prairie dogs, yelling "Surprise!" at the top of our lungs. We were quite a crowd by then, all of our friends, and Izzy screamed, then she laughed, then I thought she might cry.

"Really, you're all here? The place looks so… clean!" She drew a deep breath. "It smells amazing."

"Lee's been cooking," said Lola. "He made all your faves."

Izzy spotted her parents, who'd flown in from Orlando. She went running to hug them, and I felt my heart swell. They'd been promising to drive out since Stella was born, but with her dad's bad leg, they hadn't quite made it. A couple of plane tickets had solved that problem, and they'd arrived just in time for the big surprise.

"Where's Stella?" said Izzy, when I made it to her.

"Sleeping like an angel. I hoped she'd wake up so she'd be in on this too, but you know how she gets when I go in and wake her."

"Yeah, don't do that." Izzy pulled a face. "I'm sure she'll wake up soon, with everyone here."

She woke up in time to meet her grandparents, and for everyone to coo over her while Izzy ate. After that, a few guests had got confused, thinking I said "baby shower" when I said "anniversary." They'd brought presents for Stella, so Izzy opened those, and we dressed Stella up in her new rainbow onesie. The party flew by, full of warmth and laughter, and the guests drifted outside to watch the sunset. Izzy went to go with them, but I held her back.

"I'll clean all this up," I said. "In case you were worried."

"I wasn't." She kissed me. "This has been great."

"And there's one other thing. I wanted to ask you a question."

"You can ask me anything." Izzy leaned up against me, Stella dozing in her arms. I pulled them both close and basked in their warmth.

"I've been asking myself all year how I got so lucky. How I wound up with the both of you, this home, this life. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for you two. You make me so happy to wake up every day. I guess what I'm saying is, Izzy, Stella—" I paused to kiss them both in turn, Izzy on her lips, Stella on her forehead. "You're not just my family. You're my whole world. Izzy, will you marry me and make my world complete?" I fumbled in my pocket for the ring I'd picked out, but my hand was shaking and I dropped the box. I knelt down to get it and popped it open. Izzy gasped, then she laughed, and Stella woke up. She saw Izzy laughing and gurgled along.

"Of course I will," said Izzy. "But my hands are both full."

I saw she was right, her arms full of Stella. "But we're getting married?"

"I'd have popped the question myself if you didn't hurry."

I slipped the ring in her pocket, still in its box, and took her in my arms, Stella nestled between us. "I've never been happier than right now, today."

"We're getting married."

"Guys! Guys! He asked her!" Dan yelled out our news and a huge cheer went up, guests streaming back in to see Izzy's ring. I took Stella from her so she could slip it on. Doing that might've saved me from death by back-slapping, all my teammates crowding in wanting to congratulate me at once. They went gentle when they saw I had the baby, but I still got a few slaps and thumps on my arm.

"You're gonna love it," said Dan.

"Congrats," said Enrique.

I stood grinning wide, watching Izzy glow. I couldn't have wiped the smile off my face if I'd tried. I could see it all, our lives stretched out before us, birthdays and Christmases, a hundred big firsts. Stella's first step, then her first word. Her first day of school. Her first hockey game. Or maybe she'd like soccer, or playing guitar, and that first game would be a recital instead. But whatever it was, I'd be there cheering, and Izzy would be with me, right by my side.

"My family," I said, and I couldn't wait.

The End