Epilogue

epilogue

Josie

Christmas Eve

One Year Later

I thought I couldn’t possibly love Christmas as much as I already did. Being proverbially crowned Strawberry Hollow’s Queen of Christmas was a title I rightfully earned with my overwhelming amount of festive spirit every year.

But then… Wyatt and Lucy walked back into my life and somehow made it even more special. More memorable. More meaningful.

And this year just might be the most special of them all.

“Lucy! Wyatt!” I call from the living room. “Can you come in here for a second?”

They’ve been working on a Christmas puzzle, one of our new favorite traditions, for the last hour or so, which gave me just enough time to get my surprise ready.

Wyatt strides into the living room with Luce right on his heels, and I can’t keep the smile from tilting on my lips.

God, this man is beautiful. He steals my breath on the daily, but seeing him wearing matching plaid Christmas pajamas with his daughter without a single complaint makes him the hottest husband in the world.

It still feels like a dream that I get to call Wyatt Owens my husband.

Our winter ceremony was small but had everyone we loved there with us. Even his papa was able to come now that his hip is fully healed.

We got married under the same tree that I fell from when we were kids, where he held me as I cried, and somehow, even then, I knew that I would someday be his.

It was magical, and even almost a month later, I’m still replaying our wedding day in my mind on repeat.

“Hi, honey,” he rasps, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips as he sits beside me on the couch, the cushions dipping with his weight.

Lucy climbs into her daddy’s lap, her bright green eyes fixing curiously on the two newly wrapped presents in my lap. “What’s that, Mommy?”

My heart squeezes in my chest. I also can’t believe that I get to be this little girl’s mama .

She asked me a few months ago if she could call me Mommy, and I broke down in sobs right in the middle of the kitchen floor. My sweet girl thought she had done something wrong, and I had to quickly explain to her that it’s an honor for her to call me Mommy, and there was nothing I would love more.

An honor that I hold so close to my heart.

My husband and my daughter are the light of my life. They’re everything to me, bringing me more joy and happiness than I ever knew was possible.

Smiling, I lift the presents. “These… are very special presents that I have for you.”

Wyatt looks completely confused because we already picked out all of Lucy’s presents together, so this one we haven’t discussed yet.

“Do you want to open them?”

Lucy nods enthusiastically as her eyes widen.

I hand her the pink-wrapped present that’s tied with a pale purple bow and then hand Wyatt the burgundy box with the green bow.

“Can I open it right now?” Lucy asks, gaze flicking from her dad and me to the present and back, wearing a wide grin. I miss her toothless smile that I loved so much, but time continues to tick by, and my little girl is growing more and more every day.

The most bittersweet feeling, watching her grow right before my eyes.

I nod.

They both begin to open the presents. Lucy’s strawberry blonde eyebrows are furrowed in deep concentration as she tries to get the bow off.

Wyatt manages to pull the paper off faster, so he grabs the small box from within and carefully pulls the lid off. At first, I see the confusion shadowing his face when he pulls out the small white ornament that’s tied with a white satin bow along the top.

His eyes find mine after he reads the word written in gold script, and as badly as I tried to resist, I can’t keep the tears from welling.

“What?”

I nod, a small sob bursting past my lips. “Yeah.”

Lucy finally opens her box and pulls out the matching ornament. “B-i-g… S-i-s-t-e-r?” It takes a moment for her eyes to find me as she rereads the words a few times. “But… I’m not a sister.”

I laugh. “Yeah, Lucy bug, you’re going to be a big sister.”

Her eyes widen as she shoots up from Wyatt’s lap, almost dropping the ornament. “Really? I’m… I’m going to be a big sister? Is the stork bringing it?”

My gaze finds Wyatt’s, and when I see the tears in his eyes, his handsome face full of so much love and surprise, I completely lose the battle of keeping the tears back.

“There’s a baby in here, Lucy bug.” I put my hand along my stomach, which will soon grow as our baby does, an overwhelming wave of emotion settling in my throat.

“Honey…” Wyatt murmurs. “We’re having a baby?”

“We are. I’m eight weeks.”

I can barely get the words out before his big, strong arms are circling me and hauling me off the couch into his arms. He buries his face in my neck, and I can feel his tears wetting my skin. “I love you, Josie. This is the most beautiful gift you could ever give me, honey. Thank you.”

A powerful feeling swells in my chest as I curve my palm around his nape, holding him to me.

I’m making Wyatt a daddy again and Lucy a big sister, and the feeling is… indescribable.

I get to share something so special with the man I love with every piece of me. To build a family with him, a home that’s bursting with love and happiness, memories that will never fade no matter how much time has passed.

I love this little life.

And most of all… I’m hopelessly in love with Wyatt Owens.

Want to read about Josie’s older brother Jackson Pearce and his enemies to lovers romance with his Emma Worthington?

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