Epilogue One Petra

T here's something to be said about this most wonderful time of the year.

It's Christmas in Magnolia Point again and this year is a lot different than last year.

I smile at Jeremy across the room and he lifts his glass of sparkling cider to me, his gray eyes shining with love.

We've been living together for about ten months now. We only dated for about three months and then we moved in together. Our families are in the room and there's so much going on. So much laughter and so much joy. And we're about to give more fuel to our parents' overwhelming, out of control merriment.

My mother is hanging on Jeremy's and they're both laughing at something that our dads are doing. I can't really tell from this angle but I'm sure it's crazy! Since they started talking again in public it's been nonstop crazy. They're always up to something.

For instance, a week ago, we caught them riding four-wheelers in the woods. Covered in mud, they'd limped back into town and admitted that they'd crashed their borrowed atv's and that they were in the woods. They couldn't ride them home.

So Jeremy and I had gone to retrieve them with a tow truck that had to yank them out of a little bog back there. They were almost ruined so we'd had to pay for them to be fixed and then we'd ended up purchasing them since the owners decided to just sell them at a loss and buy new.

So now we've got atv's that we can use. Or we could use. Jeremy can still use it but…

"What is this news that you guys are bursting to tell us?" My mother's smile is huge and bright and I know what she's thinking. I hate to disappoint her but I guarantee she's gonna be happy.

Jeremy comes to stand next to me and puts his arm around me, holding his drink in his other hand. He smiles down at me and says, "you ready for this?" He's as aware as I am that this news is gonna send this party into a tailspin.

I smile and nod at him. He murmurs, "You're up. I'll keep them from mobbing us!"

I laugh shyly and then smile at our family. "I'm well-aware that y'all think that we're going to announce our engagement. That's not what's happening right now!"

I can see that my mother and Jeremy's mother have both got tears in their eyes. They were so hoping this was it.

I smile and gaze into Jeremy's warm gray gaze. "But we do have some very exciting news." I turn to the gathered crowd and smile. "Jeremy and I are expecting a baby. Next year in June."

The crowd goes wild and I briefly see Promise's happy face right before I'm mobbed by two very happy older women.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" My mother gushes with tears in her eyes. "I wasn't sure this day would ever come." Her forehead creases. "But you guys will need to get married before the baby's born, right? We've got so much to plan."

Both Jeremy and I shake our heads. "No," I say. "We're not going to do that. We're going to wait until we have the baby and we've settled in. We want to make sure that we're able to enjoy this time. Rushing around and trying to push a wedding ahead of the birth would just be crazy. More stressful than either one of us is willing to risk."

Both of our mothers look sad but resigned which is more than we expected. We expected to have to fight harder.

But this is what we want.

Jeremy wraps his arms around me as the moms traipse across the room to our dads, keeping an eagle eye on their antics.

Promise runs up to me and wraps her arms around me. "I'm so excited! You're having a baby!"

I laugh at her. "I think I know that!"

"I can't wait until our little ones grow up together. Maybe you'll have a boy and I'll have a girl and they'll grow up and fall in love and we'll really be family."

I smile gently at her. "We are family. Forever and ever. You're never going to get rid of me!"

Tears glisten in her eyes and I hug her tighter. Jeremy steps away so that we can have our moment.

Promise has forgiven him and I now run my own article in the paper and it's super-popular.

But as Promise and I chat about how things are going in our lives, my eyes stray to Jeremy's bulky figure as he chats with some of our other guests, including his brother who came from out of town. He's now got a bunch of stuff going on in his own life and I can't wait to hear all about it and the girl at his side.

But for now…I can't get enough of the love in this room. The love that surrounds us. Love that I never thought I'd find.

Love that is more than I've ever hoped for. The love of the man of my dreams.

I rest my hand on my belly as I talk to Promise, my mind a million miles away. Happily thinking about my little one and wondering what they'll be like.

Will they be friends for life with Promise's kids? Or will they all fall in love and get married like she hopes.

I don't honestly know. But I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us! I'm sure it's gonna be wild ride but I'm also sure that they'll love me just like I love them.

Later that night, Jeremy holds me tight, the sweat drying on our skin as we pant, our heartbeats coming back to normal.

"I love you," Jeremy says, caressing my back gently. I shiver at his touch.

"I love you too, Jeremy."

I close my eyes and lean my forehead on his chest, hearing his heartbeat under my ear, strong and steady.

I can't believe that I've got it all right now. A man I love more than anything on this earth and our first baby on the way.

I smile and let myself drift off to sleep, lulled by the steady rhythm of a heartbeat that matches my own, synced by our love for the rest of our lives.