“Where did you find this?” She cried with delight written all over her face as she held out the stuffed animal cow to inspect it.
“That store we stopped at this morning. It was the only one and I couldn’t resist.” I lifted my shoulders in a small shrug.
“I’m naming her Annabelle.”
“I’m surprised you’d go with something so cliché.” I grabbed a handful of fries and shoved them in my mouth.
Her lips twisted at this. “You’re right…Hmm, what should I name her instead?”
“Winifred,” I suggested.
“Like the witch from ‘Hocus Pocus’?” She cried. “That’s perfect. It combines two of my true loves.”
“You have a lot of true loves.” I tapped my finger against her nose.
“I have a lot o
f love to go around,” she reasoned. “We have to find you a sloth. Then Winifred won’t be lonely.”
“She’s lonely?” I laughed and reached for my plastic cup of soda.
“Well, I mean not so much right now since she has us to keep her company, but we’re not always going to be there so she needs a sloth buddy.”
“Uh-huh.” I grabbed another handful of fries. “Willow?”
“Yeah?” She lifted her head to look at me and instantly sobered at the tone of my voice.
“It’s going to be weird being at home. We’ve been with each other this whole time. It’s going to be strange to go home, back to my apartment, by myself,” I spoke softly.
“I know.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “But we have to learn to deal. My dad would shit a brick if we moved in together—” She lifted her hands in defense. “—Not that I think you’re suggesting that or anything. I’m just sayin’.’
“I know.” I hung my head forlornly.
Nothing was going to change the fact that Willow and I were together, but things would be vastly different once we got home and we’d have to learn to cope. It wouldn’t be easy at times, but I knew we could do it.
Her hand tentatively brushed against my jaw and I lowered my eyes to hers.
“It’ll be fine Dean. Instead of Dean and Willow’s Epic Road Trip it’ll be Dean and Willow’s Epic Life Story.”
I laughed heartily. “It has a nice ring to it.”
She pulled her bottom lip in-between her teeth and let it go. “I’m not going to lie to myself or you and say that everything will be rainbows and sunshine. Everyone has hardships and I know our relationship will be no different, but we have something a lot of couples don’t have. Something that will keep us together.”
“And what is that?” I asked, rubbing the backs of my fingers against her plump cheek—the curve of it stained a pleasant pink color.
“A past,” she explained. “We have so much history that it gives us a solid foundation to build a relationship. I’m not worried about us crumbling. We’ve got this.”
I chuckled and my hand fell to the back of her neck. I pulled her towards me slightly and lowered to press my lips to her forehead. A pleased sign passed through her lips and I smiled against her skin before sitting up.
“We’ve got this, huh?” I raised a brow.
“Of course.” She rolled her pretty blue eyes and feigned a huff of exaggeration before grinning widely. “We’re bad asses.”
Willow
Five days later we crossed the state line into Virginia.
Home.