Julie's eyes shot wide open and she turned to look at him in askance.
Smiling a little ironically, he said, "This is not how I planned to do this, Julie, but… I have never loved you more or been happier than I am right now, and I can't imagine a more appropriate time to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me than this one."
Grinning so big that it hurt, she said, "Like you even have to ask. Yes. Of course I'll marry you."
He beamed right back, leaning in to kiss her. "You'll let me be your knight in shining armor for the rest of our days, huh?"
"Absolutely. But I don't intend on you having to rescue me very regularly from here on out."
With an ironic slant to his smile, he said, "What are you talking about? You're the one that saved me."
"Aw, how sappy," she teased, leaning in to give him a lingering kiss.
"Fatherhood has made me feel like my insides are all marshmallow," he confided. "I'm hoping they'll firm back up a little."
"They will," she promised. "Right now you're just very swept up with our little angel."
"How could I not be?" he asked rhetorically as he watched the baby yawn.
"You have a good point," she stated. "In a way… doesn't this moment make all the other moments seem… kind of worth it?"
"Tenfold," he replied without hesitation. "I only wish that I could have been the one to… really give you this."
"As far as I'm concerned, you absolutely are," she informed him firmly. "Biology is only as important as you make it. I go to sleep in your arms every night and wake up next to you every morning; you are as much Alyssa's father as I am her mother."
"And with Matt all the way in New York…"
Julie shook her head. "It doesn't matter where he is, Aaron. I'm glad he's moving because it makes you feel better, but it doesn't matter to me, it doesn't matter to this family. From now on, it's just the three of us."
"We could always adopt later if that's not enough," he suggested.
Shaking her head with a fond smile, Julie said, "Let's cross that bridge when we get to it, hm? I, for one, am perfectly content with this perfect little angel. Are you?"
"I've never been happier," he assured her solemnly.
"Then that's all that matters," Julie stated, leaning in and stealing a light kiss from Aaron, then returning her attention to the perfect baby girl in her arms.
Despite—or because of—all of the stupid little mistakes she made along the way, Julie Kingsley could not have been more content with where she ended up.
After all, what more could a girl ask for than a happy ending?
Epilogue-
As the grandfather clock struck eleven, Julie glanced up at it, wondering when Aaron would ever get home from work.
She needed to talk to him. She had even told him that when she talked to him on the phone before dinner. Then again, that was probably why he wasn't home yet, she thought with a private little smile. Even after four years of marriage, the man could not stand when she would break out, "We need to have a talk."
Frowning, Julie thought she heard a noise coming fr
om the other room, and then she heard a very distinct thump.
Narrowing her eyes, Julie left the living room and made her way down the hall, walking very softly as she approached the bedroom.
Sure enough, a brown haired little sprite was peeking around her bookshelf when Julie peered inside the bedroom.
"Alyssa Jane Turner," Julie said, her tone scolding. "What are you doing out of bed? Do you have any idea what time it is?"
The six year old sighed then, giving up her hiding spot and said, "But mooooom."