Page 122 of The Art of Dying

“No wonder you love me. But now… I hope you’ll be okay with calmer waters. We’re due for some boring, mundane…”

“Peaceful, amazing,” he continued.

I shook my head. “I love you. I’ve loved you since you got knocked off that dirty stool at Bart’s Tavern.”

“Hey. He sucker punched me. You did, too, if memory serves.”

“That was a slap. I still regret it. I wish I’d just kissed you. That’s what I really wanted to do.”

He touched his forehead to mine. “Well, we’re married now, you know. You can kiss me whenever you want.”

I pushed up on the balls of my feet and touched my lips to his, letting his warm, cake-flavored lips melt against mine. “I can’t believe it’s finally over. We’re finally here, happy, surrounded by friends, our kids playing with the Harbinger boys. It’s everything we’ve ever dreamed about.

“Not to push my luck here, but I was going to take some time off and go back to Quincy, check on the house and Mom and Dad’s graves. I was hoping to take the kids. You wanna come? Maybe see Alecia and Vaz?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?” he asked, surprised. “And maybe… stop and see Gina and Apollo on the way?”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

He breathed out a laugh. “You weren’t kidding. You really were waiting for the last of them to be gone.”

“Told ya so.”

“What would you say to us putting up the house in Quincy for sale, finally? It’ll be symbolic. Just… you know, leave it all behind.”

“I’m okay with it. But… you really want to sell your parents’ house?”

He shrugged. “It’s time.”

I glanced at the kids before returning my gaze to Kitsch’s. The song was over and the next one had started, something more upbeat, but we were still slow dancing, staring into each other’s eyes like it was our wedding day.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Kitsch asked.

“I was just thinking that.”

“You know what else our wedding day reminds me of?” he asked with a wry smile.

“Our wedding night?”

“Think we could recreate that, too?”

“Not without waking the kids.”

Kitsch laughed and pulled me against his chest, kissing my hair and turning his head to keep an eye on Dylan and Emily.

My whole life, I’d never thought I was worthy of much. That’s what made me fall for someone like Mason, that’s why I stayed with him for so long, and that’s why it had been so hard for me to trust that Kitsch could love me. Now, I was so full of joy I felt sorry for anyone who’d hurt me enough to no longer be in my life, because with all my flaws, I still deserved what I had, and I had everything I’d ever wanted.

I knew in that moment that if I died—again—I would die happy.

The End.