Epilogue

Epilogue

RUE

A long while later…

What the hell? When did they start locking up pregnancy tests? I guess I never paid much attention to them, so they could have been doing this my entire life and I didn’t know it. Still, it’s annoying. Stealing it would be so much faster than waiting on someone to come unlock the case. I know I shouldn’t, but I’m in a hurry, that’s all. It won’t take Maxim long to notice I gave him the slip.

I peek around the pharmacy to make sure no one is paying attention before I walk over to the toilet paper display. I give it a small nudge and hurry around to the other aisle, hearing the display fall when I’m out of sight.

When I go back to the tests, I pretend to play with my hair and sneakily pull out the bobby pin. While everyone is distracted, I quickly open the case and steal one of the tests. Although technically it’s not stealing because I plan on leaving money on the front counter. It’s a mom-and-pop pharmacy, and I also feel bad about the mess.

“Firecracker.” Maxim’s hand wraps around my wrist at the same time I hear his voice. He catches me right before I can slip the test into my bag. Damn it. Only he can sneak up on me like that.

"One of these days I’m going to make you take the tracker off me." It’s a lie, and we both know it. The weight of it on my ankle serves as a reminder of his possession, and God knows I love it.

"That’s never happening." Maxim takes the test from my hand. "And I didn’t need the tracker this time. I knew you were up to something when you left the table." I let out a huff, pretending to be annoyed.

I love how well Maxim knows me. I’ve never had that with someone before. He pays attention to every breath that I take.

"So you know?" I ask when he puts the test back in the case and closes the glass door.

"Do I know my wife is pregnant?" He smirks. "What don’t I know about you?"

"Hey, I’m not even sure if I am, so don’t be so smug about it.”

"You are." Maxim’s hand moves to my lower back, and he pushes me to the front of the pharmacy. He shakes his head when we pass the toilet paper display I knocked over. "You’re always causing chaos wherever you go."

"You love it," I say defiantly. "That way you can punish me for it later."

"I’m not sure if we can call it punishment, given how much you enjoy it." When we get to the car, he opens the passenger door for me, but I pause before I get in.

"Is everything okay?" I ask hopefully.

"No," he answers, and my heart sinks. "In you go."

Maxim gives my ass a small pat, and I slip inside. He pulls my seatbelt over me before I can and buckles me in. I’ve stopped trying to do it at this point because we both enjoy how he is always taking care of me. I’m sure others might think our way is odd, but it works for us. I think it fulfills things we both long for. It’s why we work so well together. We fell in love so easily because we fit. At least, I thought we did. Now I’m not so sure. A baby would change everything, and children aren’t something we’ve talked about.

Maxim slips into the driver’s seat, speeding away from the curb. "Are we meeting with your brother and Kelly today?"

"Not today."

That’s all he says while I sit there and fidget with the trim on the end of my dress. Today I’m wearing a pretty lavender dress that he laid out on the bed for me. He loves me in dresses, and I like the way he looks at me when I’m wearing them.

"Are you going to enlighten me on why things aren’t okay?" I finally ask after a long pause.

"Do you want to do this now?" His eyes glance over at me, and I look away. I hate how unsure I am. "Firecracker." Maxim places his hand on my bare thigh. "There’s nothing for you to worry about. I will always take care of everything. Don’t fret."

"I don’t like when you’re upset with me." I know that I probably sound like a pouting child, but I don’t care. I fold my arms across my middle and huff.

"I’m not upset with you. I’m upset with myself." That pulls my attention back to him, and I notice he’s furrowing his brow. Then I see how tense his jaw is, and I’m more confused.

"Is it because you knew you should have been using protection?" That would kind of make sense, I suppose.

"No." He lets out a low chuckle. "I knew what I was doing every time I came inside you." Maxim’s thick fingers stroke the inside of my thigh.

"You’re not upset that I’m pregnant?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "You wanted this?"

I’m not sure I was willing to admit how badly I wanted this until I realized it might be. I love the life we’ve been living since we got married. We’ve been free spirits and traveling wherever we wanted, but settling down sounds nice too. I’ve secretly dreamed of a real place to call home. Maybe because I never had that before, but having that with Maxim would be my idea of paradise.

"When it comes to you, I want everything. I hate that you would question that. Or you felt you needed to hide this from me." Maxim turns onto the same street where his brother lives.

"I thought we weren’t going to your brother’s."

"We’re not." Maxim drives past their house and pulls into the driveway next to it. The gates slide open for him, and he pulls through.

“Maxim?” I put my hand over my mouth when the house come into view. Tears burn my eyes as I take it all in.

“I had it built,” he says, and I feel the tears fall down my cheeks.

“You remembered.” I turn to him, and he nods. I can’t believe he did this.

“Of course I did.”

One night we’d been snuggled up watching TV, and Father of the Bride came on. I’d never seen it before, and the movie was adorably sweet. I told Maxim that it would have been nice to have grown up in a home like that. To have a beautiful place filled with family and love.

“I told you when we got married I’d give you everything you ever wanted. I said all I wanted in return was for you to always be my girl.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to settle down.” Maxim unbuckles my seatbelt and easily plucks me from my seat to straddle him.

“I’ve never had a reason to want to settle down somewhere, but this can be our home. We don’t always have to stay here. We can come and go as we please, but this is our home. A baby doesn’t change our love, it only creates room for more.”

I’m so overcome with everything that I can’t respond. All I can do is press my lips against his.

But I made my promise, and I’m sticking to it. I’ll always be his girl.