“Not at all,” he said. “These are all just random things I found under the seats.”
I shook my head and unlocked the door. We went inside, and Mason closed the door behind us. But he didn’t follow me further into the house. I stopped and turned back to look at him.
“What is it?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m more than okay,” he said. “I want to spend every single night with you. Not just tonight. Not just next week. Every night for the rest of our lives.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a ring box. “Ava, I love you more than I could ever say. I have loved you for so many years, and I love you more now than I ever have. I believe with every bit of myself that this is fate. I believe you were sent back here so we could fall in love again and create another child together. Will you marry me?”
I wanted to come up with something brilliant to say. But there were no words. All I could do was nod and finally give the only answer that I could squeeze through the emotion in my throat.
“Yes,” I said.
Mason slipped the ring onto my finger and stood to scoop me in his arms. He kissed me deeply, then carried me into the bedroom. And I knew then I would never run away again.EpilogueMason - Six Months Later“Um. Mason? My water just broke,” Ava whispered from somewhere in my mid-dream. The words hit me like a brick, and I woke up suddenly.
“Are you sure?” I tossed the covers aside and searched for the to-go bag.
“Absolutely. Are you okay?” she asked as she calmly got up out of the bed and slipped on big fuzzy slippers.
I knew this day was coming any day now, but somehow still felt like I had tons of time to get ready. It was always abstract, and now that it wasn’t anymore, I was scrambling.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get you to the hospital,” I said as I took off running down the hallway, bag in hand. I tossed it into the truck and ran back to her, helping her out of the house and into the passenger’s seat.
“I’m trying my best not to speed, but I am also trying not to go too slowly. That is why,” I said as I hit the turn signal roughly a mile before I was going to turn.
“Yes, but you realize that you’ve been speeding around corners and slowing down on straightaways, right?” Ava asked.
“Well, I have a lot on my mind!” I exclaimed. The withering look from beside me made me bite my bottom lip for a moment.
“Yes, and it’s just a 4:00 a.m. trip to the hospital, so I can play Parcheesi, right?” she asked.
“Point taken. We’re almost there. Are you okay?” I asked, hoping to move past my stupidity with overwhelming concern instead.
“I’ll be fine, just go slow. The four seconds you might save is not worth the spike in my blood pressure,” she said.
I nodded, not wanting to press my luck any further, and turned the radio down. It was a silly thing to do, to turn the radio down because I was trying to look for something, especially since I was still singing the peppy eighties tune under my breath, but I did it anyway and saw the cross street that led to the entrance of the hospital.
We pulled in, and I drove to the emergency drop-off. My call ahead to Tyler, getting the phone tree started, had resulted in what I was sure were a lot of confused reactions, but I didn’t expect anyone else to be there for a while yet. That’s why I was so surprised to see Jesse’s car pull up right behind us. As I got out to open the door for Ava, he rushed over.
“Hey, you take her in, I’ll park your car,” he said.
“You don’t have to do that,” Ava said as she struggled to get out of the seat. I leaned down to take her by the elbow and wedge her out, but Jesse hopped in on the other side and we lifted her instead.
“It’s the least I can do. You guys get in there,” he said. I handed him the keys, and he wrapped me in a big hug, a smile stretching across his face that seemed to light him up. “It’s the big day, brother! I am so excited to meet my nephew!”
“Thanks, bud,” I said, clapping him on the back. As he took off around the car to hop into the driver’s seat, I put my arm around Ava’s waist, and we began walking slowly into the building. My heart was racing, and I could feel my pulse in my fingertips, but I was strangely calm. I didn’t know if it was an out-of-body experience or if I was just delirious from a lack of sleep, but time passed and suddenly we were in the delivery room, with Ava resting and a doctor telling us it would only be a few hours.