Hank pulls another beer from the cooler. And I rub the back of my neck trying to figure out what the fuck to get the woman who wants nothing.
“She always talks about how she wished she could have had family trips with her brother when they were younger. We can rent a cabin somewhere nice,” he says.
I lean forward now, fully invested. “Keep going.”
“We invite family and friends,” he continues. “Make it a whole week thing, you know.”
“And when we’re there,” I add, “we have a commitment ceremony.”
“Like Ash did?” Hank asks.
“Kinda,” I continue, “nothing formal. But instead of one of us marrying her, we all pledge ourselves to her for life.”
“We can give her a ring,” Doc says. “Something custom. Mixed with all our tastes.”
Hank sits forward, excited now. “And we give her the ol’ lady cut.”
“Yeah,” I say slowly.
Hank nods.
Doc raises his beer and we do the same. “To the best push gift and woman ever,” he toasts.
Epilogue 1
Vee
September
Iwakeupwithasharp pain tearing through my stomach.
For a second, I don’t know where I am. The room is dark, the house quiet, the clock on the nightstand glowing faintly in the corner.
Then another pain hits. This one is so sharp, it steals my breath.
“Ahhh,” I gasp, curling slightly on my side as my hand flies to my belly.
“Veronica,” Josh’s sleepy voice speaks beside me.
Something feels different. There’s a gush and all I feel is wetness.
“Oh my God.” The realization hits me all at once. “I think my water just broke… or I peed myself.”
He bolts up in bed and reaches across me to wake up Luke.
“What?” He jumps up as if he’s prepared to fight off an intruder. “Get Hank, Veronica’s in labor,” he tells him calmly. A harsh contrast to Luke who jumps out of bed in a panic and races out of the room. I hear his bare feet slapping on the wooden floor as he sprints down the hallway.
My heart starts to pound as I shift under the blankets, my hand sliding across the mattress.
Another contraction crashes through me before I can even think.
Josh gets out of bed, snatching up the pair of jeans he tossed over the chair in the corner and pulls them on before rummaging through a drawer and finding a shirt. Once he’s dressed he turns back to me.
“Leggings and a shirt?” he asks as another contraction hits me.
They're close. So close.
Chaos explodes as Luke and Hank come rushing back into the room. Hank is dressed, but Luke is still in just his boxers.
