Epilogue
Maverick
Six Months Later
“You can put those boxes by the ladder there,” Julie tells the delivery driver. She’s wearing a pink and white dress that frames the baby bump she’s been sprouting for about six months now. I love seeing her round and full, carrying my child.
“You need to get off your feet, Mrs. Mayor. Let your lowly henchman help. Besides, you’re busy enough with Sage, Juniper, and this new baby you’re growing. You can’t be stacking bookshelves all day too.”
She slumps down in a velvet armchair and sighs. “Okay, I give in. You can stock the shelves. You can also get me a glass of water if you’re dying to wait on me.”
I kiss her forehead and lift Juniper from her swing. She’s fussing and I’m sure she’s ready for a bottle. “I’ll get the babies settled. You put your feet up and read for a while.”
We’ve been working on the library since Julie won the election, but we’re nearing an end to our prep, and we’ll be opening up our doors early next week.
We couldn’t have done it without the help of everyone in town. Angie especially has been giving her time. I think she feels guilty about all the blame she put on me and the hard time she gave us at the start. Truthfully, though, if it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t be here right now. I would have never known Julie was at that shit motel and I would have never swept her away.
When I return from the kitchen with a glass of water, Angie is sitting beside Julie opening up boxes and handing her books.
“We were just going through all the cool travel books we got. You guys still need a honeymoon. Let’s see what random place this book has in store.” She flips through the pages and stops without looking. “Cairo. I guess it’s eighty degrees this time of year and you can see pyramids, camels, and sand… lots of sand,” she says with a smile.
Julie laughs. “I think I’m going to pass on international travel for a while. Right now, I’m happy here with my girls and my boys.”
“Boys?”
Julie smiles, then crinkles her nose up. “Forget I said that.”
I set the glass of water on the table next to her. “No, no, no… you snooped on the gender reveal, didn’t you?”
She closes her eyes and nods. “I didn’t exactly snoop. The paper fell out of the envelope as I was giving it to Josie at Betty’s Bake Shop… and I might have seen aB,and then anO,and aY. It’s no big deal. It’s just a thing. I could be wrong.”
A son. I have a son. For a second, I imagine the five of us outside next to the river, our pans sunk in the water as I teach the kids to pan before we settle on some late morning fishing.
“Are you mad?” Julie’s nose is still wrinkled.
“Oh no, sunshine. I’m not mad. I’m ecstatic. We have it all. Two beautiful girls, and our baby boy.”
Angie stands from beside us and sighs. “Well, I’m going to leave you two love birds alone. I guess Levi and I have a date tonight.”
“Six months later and you two are finally going on a date, huh? Did you bond over conspiracy theories?” Julie laughs playfully.
Angie rolls her eyes. They’re like sisters. “No. Actually it’s not a date-date. It’s more of a late-night work on my car sort of thing.”
“I’m confused,” I say, holding the bottle for baby Juniper. “He set up a date to fix your car?”
“No. It’s not really a date. He’s just booked up, but my car needed fixing, so he said he’d do it for me after hours. I offered to bring him dinner as a thank you. So… that’s where I’m going right now. We’ll see how that turns out. I don’t know if he’s my type, but he does have that bad boy vibe going for him… and a handlebar mustache which I’m not sure I like or don’t. Either way, I’m going.” When she’s finished rambling, she bows to us both dramatically as though she’s finished her show, then pops out the front door of the library.
“We should get home too,” Julie says, checking her watch. “By the time we get dinner and get the girls down it’ll be late. I see myself in bed by nine p.m. sharp tonight.”
“You’re speaking my language,” I say, helping her up from her chair. “We do need a name for this baby boy, though. What are you thinking?”
Julie grins wide and looks toward me. “It’s actually two baby boys.”
My heart stops. “Two?How are you… you’re kidding!”
She shakes her head. “It was on the gender reveal note. I called the doctor to double check that there was no mistake, and she confirmed. Two baby boys and two little girls. I think we’re going to have our hands full for a while.”
I’m not sure my heart has ever been fuller.
“I was thinking we would name them after some of those cowboys you’re always talking about… the ones in the movies.”
I can’t help but smile at the idea of our two little boys named after Hollywood cowboys. “Clint and Will it is,” I say. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”
She grins ear to ear and leans into my arms, the last bit of sunlight against her back as she rests. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman, and nothing I wouldn’t give to know my family is safe. And every single night, I have the shining silver moon to thank for giving us the courage to live the life we were meant to live.