“What’s all this?” April came into the dining room. “The flowers are…lovely.”
I pulled out her chair. “They need a little perking up, but—”
“I love them.” April patted my hand that I’d set on her shoulder.
Maya sat in her seat. “Do you like your dinner mama?”
“I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure I’ll—” April’s words cut off as she looked down into her crazy cake. She gasped. “Oh!”
I got down on my knee beside her chair.
“Jude.” She plucked the diamond ring from the middle of her crazy cake.
“Say yes, mama. Say yes.”
April looked at me.
“I love you April. Now. Always. Forever. We’re a family but I want to make it official. I want to stand before God and everyone and pledge my life to yours.”
“Jude.” She pressed her hand to my cheek. “Yes. Yes, I want that too.” She leaned to me, kissing me, and I felt like I’d just won the lottery.
“Yay! We did it daddy, we did it.”
I smiled and winked at Maya. “Thank goodness you were here to help me. Come here, baby.”
She jumped out of her chair and came to us. We scooped her into our arms. The three of us hugging and laughing and crying. All I could think of was how dreams really do come true.
Epilogue
April – One Year Later
I stood behind the woman sitting at my desk as I watched her work through the project management software we used to keep track of client tasks. I shifted on my feet, as the weight of my belly strained my back. Today was my last day and then I was out on maternity leave, so I was training a temporary replacement, although I suspected that when I returned to work, she’d be asked to stay on as our client list was long. Mr. Lassen was so pleased with the results of Jude and Cyrus’s work, that he’d referred other local businesses to us. Cyrus and Jude had even hired another of their Navy SEAL buddies as the work grew exponentially over the last few months.
A year since Jude’s return, and my life was even better than I imagined it would be eight years ago when Jude and I first made plans. Back then, my goal was to get an education and go to work for my father, while Jude intended to continue to work in construction, with a goal to earn his contractor’s license. I’d imagined we’d live in a little house with a few kids, and have a quiet, serene life.
Today, our lives were bigger than that. I’d invested some of my trust into the business, giving it the financial stability to succeed during its initial growth. It also meant I was a partner, not an employee.
Jude and my lives weren’t just joined in business. A month after Jude proposed, we had a small ceremony in the backyard of the house. August gave me away and he seemed quite proud to do it. Maya was our ring bearer and Petal was my maid of honor. Cyrus was Jude’s best man. Weddings are stressful, and with tension between Jude and August, the potential for more stress existed, but the event went off without a hitch. I had to thank Petal and Cyrus for that as they worked together to make sure we had a lovely day. It was nice to see my best friend and Jude’s best friend get along. I sort of wondered if there might be something more between them, but dismissed it as soon as I thought of it. Petal was an outgoing free-spirit whereas Cyrus, sweet and kind, was more serious. Still, I was glad that they could be friends. Jude was too because he said Cyrus would need to make new friends in Bismarck since Jude was going to be focused on me and Maya.
After the lovely wedding ceremony, August took Maya to his condo, while Jude and I flew to New York for a week on our honeymoon. I’d never been there before and I was blown away by the immensity of all of it; the buildings, the noise, the lights. Of course, we spent much of our time there in bed. We had seven years to make up for. On the last day, after making love, I lay, cuddled in Jude’s warmth feeling so perfectly content. I now had the family I wished for with him.
I ran my hand over his chest, wondering if Jude would want more children. We hadn’t ever talked about it. “Have you thought about having more kids?”
He tilted his head to look down at me. “Sure.”
“You have?”
He shrugged. “It was less of thinking about it and more assuming we would at some point. Why? Don’t you want more?”
“I do want more. We hadn’t discussed it so I wanted to ask.”
He turned us so we lay side-by-side facing each other. “What do you think?”
“Just that I’d like to have another child with you.”
“Just one?” His hand gently rubbed my arm.
“To start with.”