Ethan shifts and I look up. He cups my cheek and leans in, kissing me softly. His lips brush lightly against mine, and the contact is sweet and promising. He pulls back, and his eyes are warm and full of the love I’ve always dreamed of seeing in them.
“I’m your idiot, remember?” he asks. He pauses. “I love you.”
I swallow and tears gather in my eyes as I kiss him again. I’ve waited so long to hear those words.
“I love you too,” I say softly.
I smile and lay my head on his shoulder again. Part of me wonders if we’re going to have to go through this again, but, somehow, I don’t think we will. Finally, everything is out in the open. Now we can finally move forward.
Together.
Epilogue
Ethan
“Wait, careful…!”
“Dad, I’m losing it!”
“Fuck!”
“Dad!”
I dart forward, dropping the balloon I’m holding, but I trip over the chair that I was standing on. Thankfully, however, Georgia is also moving, and she manages to grab the chocolate cake Lily is holding before it ends up on the floor.
“Please be careful, Lily,” she sighs. “If you dropped this, there’d be no cake.”
Lily winces.
“Sorry, Georgia,” she says. She pauses. “Dad said a bad word.”
“I heard him,” Georgia says, her lips twitching. “Let’s just say this was a special occasion and let him off the hook?”
Lily turns to give me a considering look. On the floor, I smile sheepishly at her.
“Fine,” Lily says importantly. “But only because it’s my birthday.”
“Thanks,” I laugh. I groan and pull myself to my feet. “Ow, that hurt!”
“Can you still put the balloons and streamers up?” Lily asks anxiously.
“Priorities, Lils,” Georgia says, amused. “Are you okay, Ethan?”
“I’ll live,” I sigh. “And, yes, I can still put the balloons and streamers up. You better keep blowing up those balloons, though, instead of picking up the cake.”
“I might put it in the fridge for now,” Georgia says, picking up the white box.
“I just wanted to see it,” Lily pouts.
“And you almost saw it all over the floor,” I tell her. “You’re the one who wanted me to put these up, so get moving.”
Lily grins at me and hurries to the pile of balloons so she can start blowing them up. Yesterday, she begged Georgia and me to decorate today. Not only did she want balloons and streamers on her birthday, but she wants them up for the party that she’s having on Saturday. Between us, we decided we’d decorate when Georgia and I picked Lily up from school after work.
Unfortunately, it’s been harder than it really should have been. It really shouldn’t be that hard to put up streamers, but the fucking things keep getting tangled. Then I accidentally ripped one strand when I stepped on it. Not to mention the balloons that keep popping because Lily was blowing too much air into them.
We’re almost done, though. Georgia is cooking a stir fry on Lily’s request, and my daughter and I just have the dining room to finish decorating.
“That smells delicious,” I comment as I get back up on the chair.