Epilogue One

EPILOGUE ONE

Vaughn

I t's the first snowfall of the year, and I'm excited to wake Val up and see what her reaction is. The land our newly finished house sits on has a direct path that leads to the train trestle, and I'm planning on taking her out there today. So that we can check to see if our names are still there or not. It's been almost two years since we put our initials there, but I'm hopeful.

Once I have everything ready, I've taken it out to the trestle, and I've made sure that Nolan is going to keep watch, I head back to the house. When I walk inside, I'm surprised to see Val sitting on the couch, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Morning." I grin over at her, stomping my feet on the ground to get the snow off. "Did I wake you up when I left?"

"No." She yawns. "I'm so tired."

"You should've woken me up for the feeding at two. I saw the text message you left." I have a seat next to her, putting my arm around her, and pulling her into my side. "Thanks for leaving me the text that Rod came and got Vivian. It was a blur when I woke up and went to the nursery, looking for her. Before I started freaking out, I happened to pull up your messages."

Dipping my chin into my chest, I kiss the top of her head. "You needed the sleep, and we could both use an afternoon away from our daughter. I love her, but I miss just being able to do whatever we want. We haven't been able to do that for the past eight months."

"True." She stretches her legs out. "But we knew that was going to happen when we saw that positive pregnancy test. You're cold."

My nerves are causing my hands to slightly shake, and my stomach is making odd noises. "Yeah, it's snowing out there." I laugh. "Speaking of. We haven't taken a walk in a long time together. Would you like to? It's so peaceful."

"Yeah." She smiles. "I'd love to spend some time with you."

An hour later we're out in nature, heading toward the train trestle. "Do you know where we're going?" I ask, knowing that she's horrible with directions. It's a good thing our phones are hand held maps. Since she got her license, she's used it more than anyone I've ever met.

"I think the train trestle, but I'm not sure."

Color me surprised. "Look at you knowing the directions to get there."

She laughs, throwing her head back. "I know, sometimes I surprise myself."

We hold hands as we pick our way through the woods, and when we get to the trestle, there's Nolan. "Everything's set up for you. Have fun, kids."

"Thanks, man." We bump fists.

Val doesn't say anything, she just waits for me to tell her what we're doing. She's learned to trust me through our time being together. We walk toward where we put our initials, and she gasps, seeing the breakfast I've set up for us.

"What is all this?"

"A thank you for what you do for this family. For being the best mother, and partner there is. I thought it'd be interesting to see if our initials are still there, it's been longer than a year."

"I'm going to be heartbroken if it isn't." She sticks out her bottom lip.

We start searching around the spot where we put our initials so long ago. "It's right here." I point to the heart I made. "We're destined to be together." I grin down at her.

"We knew that with or without the train trestle." She pushes her hair out of her face, and turns to admire the snow-covered terrain around us.

I take the opportunity to go down on one so that when she turns back around, she gasps. "Vaughn, what are you doing?"

"Asking you to marry me. I love you, and I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. I want us to add to our family, and I want you to have my last name. Only if you want all of that, too. Do you?"

There are tears streaming down her face and love bright in her eyes. "I do. I want that more than anything. I love you Vaughn Collins."

With a shout of excitement, I slip the ring on her finger, and then stand up, taking her in my arms. Closing my eyes, I turn us around in a circle, and envision what the rest of our lives is going to look like. Two years ago, I never would have imagined any of this, and it's all because Val had the courage to leave her situation and walk into a bakery.