I smoothed my hands up and down my thighs, trying to calm down, trying to look like I wasn’t about to jump out of my own skin. “I’m in love with you, Jameson.” I swallowed down the bile that rose up in my throat, my uncertainty of the situation so consuming that if I wasn’t sitting down I surely would have fainted.
“I’ve been in love with you for so long, but too afraid to speak the words aloud, too terrified that things would be ruined between us.” I looked down at my feet, ones that were covered in plain white cotton socks that didn’t keep out the chill in the air whatsoever. “You’re all I have, Jameson. You’re my family, my best friend... my everything.” I looked at him then and his eyes were red-rimmed, his jaw tight. I didn’t know what emotions were playing across his expression. I couldn’t read him at that moment.
His big body shook as if he couldn’t control the action. “You’re all I have too, Lia.” He looked like he was going to cry, but after a moment of silence, as if he were trying to gather himself, he looked back down at Caleb. “You’re my everything.” His words were low, loving. “Both of you are now my everything.”
I had my hand placed right over my heart, not realizing I’d done the act until after the fact.
“I am so in love with you.” He looked back at me and I felt the stupidest smile cover my face. “For longer than I want to admit.” He laughed softly. “And yeah, I was afraid of everything I’d lose if I admitted it and you weren’t on the same page as me.” He shook his head slowly. “I should have been a man and told you, not wasting time, not wasting what we could have had, no matter what could have happened.” He looked at Caleb and I swore it seemed like Jameson was going to cry. “And you gave me this, him, a baby, Lia.” He coughed as if he was choked up. I quickly wiped my falling tears of happiness away. “You made me a father.” He lifted Caleb up and kissed his little head, closing his eyes as he did the act.
I made a sound deep in my throat, one of happiness and relief and everything that I’d ever hoped and dreamed happening for our reunion.
“I recorded everything that happened while you were away, during the pregnancy. I have pictures and videos, journal entries, too.” He snapped his head up to me, surprise on his face. I shrugged. “I figured you might want to see all that, but if not—”
“Come here,” he murmured to me softly, and I shifted closer to him so we were thigh to thigh, Jameson’s big body pressed to my much smaller one. “Thank you. I want to see it all. I want to feel like I didn’t miss out on a single moment.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him even more. “My little family,” he said in this deliriously happy voice, a smile spreading over his face. “All mine.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head against his bicep, never realizing how much I’d wanted this to be my reality until I was experiencing it. I’d only ever dreamed of it. I’d only ever wondered what this would be like.
But here I was. Here we were. Making our very own future.
Epilogue One
Jameson
One year later
I sighed in contentment as I pulled Lia in closer--impossibly closer if I was being honest. She was already pressed right to me, but fuck, I wanted her closer. I closed my eyes and buried my face in her hair, inhaling deeply, the scent of the rose shampoo she always used causing fire to stir within me. I’d just made love to her good and hard, long and slow, yet I was ready to go again.
The baby monitor on the bedside table showed little Caleb was still fast asleep, and although we’d hoped he’d be sleeping through the night by now, there were times--stretches even--that he didn’t. But no matter how tired I was, I wouldn’t change this for anything.
I smoothed my hand over her arm, grabbed her wrist gently, and lifted her hand up and out of the blankets so I could look at the wedding ring she wore. I’d asked her to marry me as soon as I’d gotten back home, and knew that's what I wanted to do even before I knew about baby Caleb.
I’d just wanted Lia in my life, and I would have done anything to make that a reality.
The last year had gone by in a blur of tears and laughs, smiles and stress. And yeah, it was fucking hard being a parent and a husband, and making sure I didn’t screw things up. I worked a lot because of my medical background, and Lia talked about going back to school, which made the stress on her even greater. And at the base of my core I just wanted to make things okay for her. I wanted things to be easy for us, always happy, and where we weren’t wanting to pull our hair out because Caleb got into the flour and decided to use it in the kitchen like we needed a remodel.