I playfully slap him. “Well, I do! You might be retiring, but I’m about to get promoted. I want to be president for a cup-winning team, not boring old conferencechampions.”
“I’ll do my best,” he promises with a wink.
And he does. A couple of days later, we get to bring baby Emily home. Hudson asked Emily if he could give our daughter her mother’s name so she knows how grateful he is that she brought her into the world, which she tearfully agreed to, and then the next day, he was suiting up for the finals.
He didn’t actually want to leave us at home, and if I hadn’t agreed to move in with him before we ever left the hospital, I don’t think he would have. But I insisted he finish out the season, and that I could stay with our daughter for a few hours, and he finally agreed.
Six games later, they did it. And Oliver scored the winning goal. The Werewolves officially won the cup, and Oliver celebrated by kissing his boyfriend in front of all the cameras. Apparently, the guy is a fan who Oliver hit it off with after he won a contest earlier in the season.
And baby Em got to sit in the Stanley Cup. Hudson insisted I be the one holding her so he could get a picture of “all of his favorite things.”
It’s proudly displayed in multiple rooms in our house.
And every time I see it, it’s another one of those little reminders that he loves me. That I’m one of his favorite things, and all of this—the perfect man, the dream house, the sweetest baby in the world, are mine. That I’m a part of this family.
That I deserve to be happy.
EPILOGUE ONE
Hudson
Seven Months Later
“Ican’t believe you convinced them to move into your condo,” I say to Adrian for probably the hundredth time this week.
“Everything is very wheelchair accessible. And you know how much your dad lights up whenever Em is on the screen during our calls.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been trying to convince them to come to Chicago for years. Even before Em was born, they still wouldn’t even consider it. Now that I’m with you, they suddenly need to live on the same street as me?”
“What can I say, Em and I are very persuasive.”
“Thank you. Just when I think I have everything I could ever want, you somehow manage to make my life even better.”
He’s organized everything to be moved from their house, installed all the assistive equipment that my dad needs, and he’s already set up my old room as a craft room for my mom. I know they’ll love it here. With my dad’s restrictions, they rarely left thehouse in Minnesota if they weren’t going to a doctor's appointment, and now Adrian has my mom talking about taking Em to the park and enjoying all the shops and things she can walk to while my dad naps or is with his new nurses.
Adrian even organized to have my dad’s nurses in Minnesota travel here for two weeks to help train his new ones. They’ll make a ton of overtime during the trip to hopefully cover any time between placements, and Adrian helped us write glowing letters recommending them.
The medical van pulls up first. Even though my mom’s van is adapted to fit his chair, we all felt better having him make the trip with medical staff, and my mom pulls up a few minutes later.
“Oh my god! My babies!” she shrieks as she gets out of the car. She quickly checks in with my dad before turning to us. “I can’t believe we’re really here!” She runs up to hug Adrian first, kissing his cheek before she takes Em from my arms. “Well, aren’t you just the sweetest? Who’s the luckiest grandma in the entire world? I am!” she coos between kisses.
“Hi, Mom,” I cut in for my own hug.
“Hello, sweetie. Obviously I’m excited to see you, too!” she assures me.
“Uh-huh.” I tease. “I know I’m not the favorite anymore; it’s okay. I was at the top for over thirty years. I can handle third place now.”
“Third?” Adrian laughs.
“Did you not see her hug you before Em, even? I’m definitely third.”
“Oh, stop it, I love you all equally,” she insists with a laugh. But I don’t miss the wink she aims at Adrian.
I love it.
And as my mom helps my dad hold my daughter for our first family picture all in Chicago, I make sure Adrian is front and center, right next to them.
None of this would exist without him.
