“I love you, Noah Kneland.” She kisses me back.
Epilogue - 3 years later
Olivia
Theysaytimeflieswhen you’re having fun, and I always thought that to be a bit of a cliche until I fell back in love with my best friend. Love is supposed to be messy, with ups, downs and all arounds but as long as you fall deeper in love with your person each day, you’re doing it right.
I will remember each of those critical falling moments, where you are so invested in someone that your stomach hurts, that you even remember what your life was before those moments.
I have had exactly four of those moments with Noah.
The first day of our last harvest season together, when he wrapped his arm around me
Signing karaoke at Fishy’s
Walking down the aisle on our wedding day last year
Finding out we're pregnant
Until today, the last moment has always been my favorite.Standing at the top of the aisle looking down to every important person in my life, and seeing Noah standing there, tears welling in his eyes.
In that moment, as I stands at the edge of the aisle, it’s like the world narrows to a single point of focus, Noah. My heart pounds so hard in my chest that I swear everyone around me can hear it. But not with nerves, a more overwhelming emotion: love, joy, a little disbelief that it’s finally here. I know there are many people here, perks of living in a small town, everyone is excited for a wedding, and everyone actually shows up too. But as I begin my descent down the aisle their faces become unrecognizable, their presence distant, fading into the background. My breath catches when we lock eyes, because in that instant, nothing else matters. It's not the dress, not the guests, not even the ceremony, food or even the journey we took to get here. just us silently screaming, “I choose you. I love you.”
Which is exactly what I plan to do, choose Noah each day knowing he will be there to catch me through it all. But today is different, we are no longer just choosing each other, we are choosing our child too and somehow I think today is going to become my favorite day of falling in love with my husband.
Walking out our giant sliding glass door onto the newly built wooden deck that overlooks our property to see all of our favorite people in the yard, together celebrating has me realizing that this is the ultimate dream.
Mason jumps off the steps of the deck roaring as he plays Dinosaurs and Dragons with my nephews. My mom and Noah’s mom are standing over the gift table, making a list of everyone who brought gifts today so that thank-you cards can go out later. Carter and Bec are sitting on the outdoor sectional with beers in hand, chatting quietly but also looking uninterested in the party which is on par. The guys from the fire department are all standing with Noah and Cole around the grill, chatting and laughing. They really have been a godsend since moving back home, creating another sense of home and family for this move and transition. Caroline and Savannah come into the picture through the sliding glass door with a beautiful cake indicating that it's almost time for the party to start.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Penelope standing next to me, smiling ear to ear. Her divorce has been official for just over two years and it's a breath of fresh air to see her out and about, not only out and about, but smiling as well. This time hasn’t been an easy transition for anyone but I wouldn’t want anyone else standing next to me.
“I'm really glad you are here today, Pen,” I say, turning to give her a hug.
“You know I wouldn’t miss your baby shower or gender reveal party. However, I secretly hope it's a girl because we have enough crazy little boys around here to last us a lifetime,” she responds, pulling me in close. “You are creating the most beautiful life, Liv, and I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
“These damn hormones really are the damn worst,” I say, laughing at her and she laughs back at me in agreement.
When moving home, my biggest fear was losing my relationship with my Milwaukee friends and family, but exactly the opposite happened. When they say distance makes the heart grow fonder I didn’t think it corresponded to friendships as well, but they have only grown in amazing ways. Caroline just moved to Fisher Creek to escape the city after feeling overwhelmed by fast-paced city life, and has since taken her auntie role, very seriously.
Noah had kept a distance from the guys at the station, afraid to develop a relationship with any of them due to the fear of it being ripped away in the blink of an eye. Trauma does funny things to people, and watching someone work through all of their trauma, personal, professional, and familial to grow and achieve the happiness they deserve is amazing. Actually doing the work and experiencing the ups and downs of working through trauma together alongside the man you love is an entirely different game, one I will forever be grateful for.
Noah has been able to build relationships and friendships through work that he never would have been able to do before limiting our ability to be where we are today.
