We’re going to promise ourselves to one another for life, and even that doesn’t feel like long enough. I want our love to surpass our years, to go on for eternity. And something tells me that it will. This is rare, this is special. Not everyone gets a love like this in their lifetime.
And I’m going to cherish mine forever.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
THREE YEARS LATER…
Nate
“Cake, cake, cake!”
Tara and I look at one another with tired eyes, despite the smiles on our faces. Having a young daughter is no picnic. Especially not when said daughter wakes up every single morning demanding cake.
“Cake, cake, cake!”
“Honey, we’ve been over this. You can’t eat cake for breakfast,” Tara says, scooping up our baby girl and settling her on her hip. She’s the most adorable thing to ever walk the earth, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t also the most frustrating little demon I’ve ever come across.
She looks just like her mom with her dark hair and intense eyes, and it only makes her a more terrifying toddler.
“I want cake!” Sophie demands, folding her arms over her chest. I laugh out loud. Sometimes, the only entertainment I need in my life is my daughter. As she develops her personality, she becomes even more fascinating to me.
Where does she pick all of this up from? It’s certainly not from us.
“You can have some cake if you’re good later and eat all of your veggies. Mommy and daddy want you to be a healthy little girl,” Tara says. Sophie seems unsatisfied with that response and juts out her bottom lip.
“But I don’t like veggies. I like cake!”
“Join the club,” I say, sweeping Sophie up from Tara’s arms to distract her. As I whirl her around, Sophie screeches, but I know she loves it. She’s just like her mom, always looking for the next adventure. I love that she becomes more and more like my wife every day. I’m lucky enough to have one version of Tara…and now I have a mini version too.
“How about we go to the park instead of eating cake, hmm?” I ask Sophie. She looks a little less grumpy at the mention of her favorite place. She absolutely loves the park. She loves to be pushed high on the swings, walk around the pond in her stroller, and greet all of the ducks as we roll past them. Plus, when she’s at the park, she’s much better behaved.
“Ice cream?” Sophie asks hopefully. I glance up at Tara with a grin.
“I knew we shouldn’t have given her ice cream at the park, now it’s all she thinks about,” I groan.
Tara laughs. “No ice cream either, honey. It’s not breakfast food. What about oatmeal?”
Sophie’s screech of disapproval has me and Tara in stitches. We can’t ever take her tantrums too seriously. She’s not spoiled by any means, and we never give in to her outlandish demands, but it’s funny that Sophie already thinks she’s the boss around here. She tires us out every single day, but both Tara and I love her for it.
And soon enough, we’ll have another little terror to deal with. Tara’s stomach is swollen once again with pregnancy. In three months, Sophie will have a little brother to boss around. She’ll love that. I was worried she’d be jealous of us having another baby, that she’d feel neglected, but she seems to think we’re having this baby to make her happy. And I have no problem letting her think that way if it keeps us in her good books.
I think about our baby girl as we’re walking around the park. I think about how brimming with life she is, how much personality she already has. She’s going to be just like her mom, a force to be reckoned with.
I glance at Tara as we walk along with the stroller. With the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair, she looks content. She didn’t ask for much in life…a chance to be a mother, a chance to be among nature and to explore this world we live in…and she’s got all of those things. I can see that the life I’ve given her has made her so happy, and that makes me warm inside.
Because this is the life I wanted, too. This is the kind of life that is simple, but special all the same.
Some people crave loud adventures, but I like the quiet ones like these. Just a small family, growing and thriving together. Just a bunch of human beings sharing love with one another and seeking out the beauty of the world. That’s what makes us different. We have everything we could ever want, but it’s the little things that truly give us happiness.
I wrap my arm around my wife’s waist as we walk together with our baby girl in the stroller. I’ve learned that life doesn’t get any better than these moments. We’re tired from staying up all night with our young daughter. We haven’t had a decent sleep in a while. But it doesn't matter because we have a child to love, and we have one another.