Epilogue

Caspian

A Month Later

I look down at the handwritten note in front of me. It takes me back to months ago when the old man sent me a letter in the mail for fuck's sake. Now I find this one in the dressing room.

My Boy,

I am so proud of you! And I know your grandma and your parents would be too. Me and Maria haven't been this happy in a long time and I just wanted to tell you before things get all crazy. You've made an old man very happy, my boy.

Love you,

Grandpa Eddie

P.s. Ask your lovely bride about the cream cheese and pickle chips she's been craving…just like my Ruthie when she was pregnant with your father.

P.p.s. We don't think she's figured it out yet!

Oh, my fucking God!

I'm up on my feet and out the door by the time the paper has floated down to the top of the dresser. Gramps has been over the moon since he found out about the wedding. I think getting everything ready and being able to walk Maple down the aisle has done more for his recovery than any of the physical therapy they have him doing or the ‘rest' we've forced him to take.

He got all misty when Maple asked him to be the one to walk her down the aisle. I can't imagine him keeping this to himself for very long, which is probably why he left me the note. A way of putting me on the clock to tell her before he explodes with it and just drops it on her.

I go down the hall and have to fight my way through the women. My sweet girl couldn't tell anyone no so she has five brides' maids, all wives of the guys from the hockey team. They really took her under their wing and when on the very rare occasion I have to work late I have no worries she'll be alone while we stay in the city. On the weekends we leave to go to the Manor and to Gramps and Maria who dote on my Maple.

I fight through the layers of frills and lace and… girlie shit to finally reach my lady. Thankfully Maple wanted to have the wedding at the Manor, outside, in the exact same spot we had our first picnic, all those weeks ago. She's sitting in front of a mirrored vanity with Maria fixing her hair in an elaborate bun-thing that will look amazing because it's on Maple. Maria takes one look at me and huffs.

"He just couldn't hold his wad, could he? One more day, Caspian. That was all he had to wait. But no…"

She knows Gramps has told me.

"What… what's going on, Casp? Is everything alright with Eddie?" Worry clouds Maple's eyes until I can't stand it.

"Nothing is wrong with Gramps, baby. He's tickled pink and getting dressed…but he, uh, left me one of his notes."

Maria hustles the other girls out of the room and quietly closes the door behind her so we will have some privacy.

Where the hell do I even start?

"Can we talk, sweets?"

She turns horrified eyes to me, "Oh god! You're leaving me at the altar?"

"What? Fuck no!"

She visibly relaxes at my words.

"Jesus, love. Why would you think I would ever leave you?"

"I don't know." She sounds like she is really trying to figure it out. "I… I've been a wreck the past couple of days. I start crying and think… it's just I'm so tired and all I do is eat and I'll become as big as a house if I don't stop, and you won't find me attractive anymore and then you'll start cheating with some slutty little secretary that doesn't eat all the time and you'll ask me for a divorce and…and…"

"Good God, love. Stop. Stop. You can't… you can't worry like this. It's not good for…" I barely catch myself.

"Good for what? My eating? I know. But I just can't stop eating and worrying and…

"Baby, I'm obsessed with you. I watch you when we're not together."

She gives me a small sexy smile. "And I let you because it turns me on."

I pull her into my arms, turn, and go to one of the sofas in the room then I sit with her in my lap. "That's my sweet little girl. One of the many reasons I love you."

My hand moves from her hips to her still-flat belly and the thought of our baby being inside her has me getting a little misty-eyed.

"Don't ever worry about me loving you, Sweets. I will love you until the day I die. And then I'll still love you after that."

She brings her lips down on mine.

"You have to stop worrying so much, Sweets." I start over again. "It isn't good for the baby."

She stares at me for a long time. Finally, she starts talking. "Come again."

"I said, worrying isn't good for the baby, love."

Her hand drops to where mine is and for a long time we sit like that until she finally whispers, "How do you know?'

"I didn't. Gramps did. Turns out my grandmother liked the same things you have recently become fond of when she was carrying my father."

She gasps, "Cream cheese and pickle chips."

"Cream cheese and pickle chips."

"Eddie thinks…do you think it's true? Do you think we might be…?"

I know my sweet girl. She's not saying the word because she wants it to be true, which tells me all I need to know about whether she's happy about the baby.

"After the wedding, let's sneak away from the reception for a little bit and find a store with a test we can take to confirm it."

Her eyes sparkle with unshed tears as she meets my eyes and gives me a quick, little nod as the corners of her mouth tilt up into a smile.

"For now, I want to make love to the mother of my baby and my wife."

I lay her down gently on the plush couch and open her furry white robe. She's naked underneath and I can't keep my hands off her. I kiss down her body until I come to the soft swell of her belly. You can't tell yet that she's got my baby in there, but one day soon, she will bloom for me and give life to our son or daughter. One day soon her round breasts will be filled with milk…for the baby…and me! Soon I will be able to teach my children what Maple taught me… Love is Thicker Than Blood, and it is the thing that makes the world go round. The only thing that matters.

The End!