Epilogue

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

(A NOTE TO THE READER)

After a couple months of settling into the new house, Faust found himself nervous one random afternoon as he knocked on Oakley's door and entered the room.

Oakley was on the floor, belly down, coloring a picture of a dinosaur.

He popped right up at the sight of his dad.

Oakley's obsession with his father was instant.

Same could be said for Faust with his son.

The first time Oakley truly called Faust "Dad" … Faust had to leave the room as his eyes filled with tears.

"Can I talk to you, kiddo?" Faust asked his son.

Oakley nodded.

Faust crouched down, reached into his back pocket, took out a small box, then opened it, showing off a very expensive diamond ring.

"Cool," Oakley said.

"Do you know what this?"

Oakley shook his head.

"This is an engagement ring, kiddo," Faust said. "It means I want to marry your mother. I'm going to ask her and if she says yes, then she'll wear this ring. Does that make sense?"

"I thought you were already married," Oakley said.

"No. Not yet. I wanted to ask you first. If it's okay. I love your mother, Oakley. And I want this ring to make it known to everyone, especially you and her, that I want to be with her for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, sure," Oakley said.

"You can help me plan out how to do it too…"

"Wait," Oakley said. "I thought you had to be married to have a kid."

Faust smiled. "No, kiddo."

"Then where do babies come from? How are babies made?"

Oakley was dead serious.

Faust had no idea how to approach that conversation…

While the where do babies come from question was being thrown around, Shelby found herself chewing on her right pointer finger nail, sometimes looking at herself in the bathroom mirror, sometimes looking down at her phone.

The timer finally hit ten seconds.

It almost felt like counting down to a new year.

When the timer got to one second left, she quickly turned it off so the noise didn't gain anyone else's attention.

She then reached down and pulled open the top drawer where all the toothpaste and floss was.

Her heart raced.

She felt more nervous this time than the last time, which didn't make sense at all.

This time, Shelby had her man. The love of her life. Her protector.

With one big breath she lifted the pregnancy test from the drawer to see what the results were.

One word stared back at her and her eyes filled with tears.

Outside the bathroom door, there was a knocking sound.

"Mom! Faust wants to ask you something!" Oakley's voice called out.

Shelby turned and looked at the door.

She held a positive pregnancy test in her hand while outside the door Faust was down on one knee ready to ask her to marry him.

Funny how life works sometimes, isn't it?