Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Epilogue
LAUREN
Four years later…
I YAWN, QUIETLY getting out of bed as not to wake Noah. Early-morning light sneaks through the curtains and I’d do anything to get back under the covers and go to sleep. At least today is the last day of my work week. I shuffle downstairs and into the kitchen, firing up the coffee pot.
“Hey, old man,” I say to Vader. He wags his tail and slowly gets up, old bones creaking and cracking with every step. We go together outside; he needs help getting up and down the stairs now.
It’s late in April and actually warm out already. I fill a Cinderella mug with coffee and sit on the back deck, waiting for Vader to get done so I can help him inside. I start to doze off and groan when I force myself to stand. I’m really not wanting to go to work today.
“Hey,” I say softly, seeing Noah in the kitchen. “What are you doing up?”
He runs a hand over his face, wiping the sleep away. He’s still just as tatted and muscular as he was when we first got together, and actually he’s added a few more tattoos since then.
“Was gonna help you with the dog,” he mumbles, still half asleep. “You shouldn’t be lifting him.”
I put my empty coffee mug in the sink. “He helps. It’s not like I’m carrying him completely. But thanks. That’s sweet of you.”
Noah steps behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, hands landing on my belly. “You’re already carrying enough.”
I put my hands on top of his, leaning back against him. “Charlotte is a chunk. She’s going to be bigger than her sister, I’m sure.”
Noah kisses my neck and I’m hit with desire. My libido has been crazy high this whole pregnancy. Even now, at thirty-two weeks, I’m jumping Noah’s bones every chance I get.
He doesn’t mind one bit.
It’s crazy how different the two pregnancies have been. I threw up every day for thirteen weeks this time around, but was able to drink all the coffee I wanted. I’ve been sore pretty much since conception this time, but haven’t had any blood pressure issues.
Noah worries, of course, and has gone above and beyond to make sure I’m not stressed, which is hard to do considering this is my last year of vet school. These last four years have been fucking hard, and I worked my ass off to get to where I am now. But this time, I wasn’t just doing it for myself. I was doing it for my family.
I didn’t go to Purdue like I wanted. Noah tried coming up with every solution he could think of, including moving down to central Indiana with me.
But that took Ella away from her grandparents, and took the extra help away from us. And we needed the help to get me through school. Instead, I took a chance and applied at MSU and, by some miracle, got in. It took a lot of time, energy, and tears to get to this point, but we made it, and my last semester is an externship at the clinic I worked at before.
Looking back, I don’t know how I survived. I was getting used to having a young kid my first year. Noah proposed my second year, and between classes and raising Ella, I planned our wedding. We got married the third year of school, and conceived our second child at the beginning of this last year.
This time around, the timing is perfect. I’ll graduate a few weeks before my due date, take some time off, then go back to work at the clinic as an official doctor of veterinary medicine. I’ll be working part time, just two days a week, until the new baby is older.
“I don’t want to go to work,” I groan. “I have a paper to write this weekend too.”
“You’re almost done,” Noah says. “Then I can start saying I’m married to a doctor.”
I laugh. “I’m making everyone call me Dr. Wilson. I think I’ve earned it, right?”
“More than earned it.” He kisses my neck again. I whirl around in his arms, big belly pushing against him, and hook my hands around his neck. “Do you still want to go to dinner with Colin and Jenny? We can stay home instead.”
“No, we can go. Ella is looking forward to playing with her cousin tonight at my parents.”
Three months after Ella was born, Jenny finally got pregnant. She and Colin had a baby girl as well, named Hannah. She and Ella get along great.
“As long as you’re okay with it,” Noah says. “You’ve been working so hard lately. You know I’m proud of you, right?”
My lips meet his. “I’m proud of you too. For taking such good care of us.”
“You’re my girls.” He smiles and shakes his head. “I’m seriously outnumbered here.” We kiss again. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”