We even have a photographer, so we’ll have wedding pictures to hang up on the walls of our new home.
After the vows are spoken and we’re announced husband and wife, Vince pulls me in for a kiss. I’m feeling a little weepy. It’s pretty lame, but I can’t seem to help it. Then he unbuttons a few buttons and pulls open his dress shirt just enough to reveal the Superman symbol on the T-shirt beneath. I burst into laughter.
The photographer catches it, so I’m pretty sure that’s the one that’s going on our wall.
Epilogue
Vince
“Da, da, da, da, da, da.”
“Addie, Addie, Addie, Addie, Addie.”
The little munchkin in the high chair beside me looks up at me and flashes me a toothless grin. “Dada!”
“Addie,” I say, with more enthusiasm, to match hers.
Carly walks around the counter, holding mugs of coffee in each hand and a bottle tucked in the crook of her arm. She sets down our mugs, then leans down to drop a kiss on top of Addison’s head as she puts hers on the tray of the high chair.
It’s not an ironic bottle, but it does read, “Daddy’s little princess.” No irony there, that’s just the truth.
Now my beautiful wife comes over to my chair, shoving the notebooks away from me and straddling my lap. “How’s the business plan coming?”
I settle my hands on her hips and smile up at her. Her hair’s piled on top of her head in her favored messy bun, her trademark sultry smile tugging at her perfect lips. “Well, it goes a little better when I can see the notebook.”
“Notebooks are dumb.” She turns her head to Addie. She’s only six months old, so it’s unlikely she would absorb that particular lesson, but Carly corrects herself anyway. “Mommy was just kidding. Notebooks aren’t dumb. Notebooks are wonderful. You’ll take them to class and write down all your thoughts and the teacher’s thoughts. You’re going to learn so many things, and notebooks will help organize all that knowledge.”
I reach for the nape of Carly’s neck, tugging her down for a kiss. Then I murmur against her lips, “Addie doesn’t care about notebooks.”
“She will someday,” Carly promises, pecking me on the lips one more time before reaching back to grab her coffee cup. She swivels carefully and smirks at me over the brim. “I hold your life in my hands right now.”
“If you spill that coffee on my lap, you’re licking it off,” I inform her.
She rolls her eyes back dramatically. “God, don’t tempt me.”
“Hey, if someone didn’t have class today, we could put Addie down for her nap and spend the afternoon in bed.”
Carly pulls a sad face. “I know. Class is stupid, too.” She turns back to Addie. “Don’t listen to that, either.”
“It’ll all pay off soon,” I assure her, even though I don’t need to. Carly has more drive in her pinky finger than I have in my whole being.
“Dr. Morelli,” she says, grinning at me. “It has a lovely ring to it.”
“It sounds legitimately insane to me, but I’ll get used to it.”
“I can help. I’ll wear some sexy heels and glasses—nothing else. We’ll break in my comfy couch.”
I nod, drawing her in for another kiss. “I approve of this plan.”
“You better approve heartily,” she states, reaching back to put the coffee down. Then she puts her arms around my neck and leans in, sighing contentedly. “I love our life.”
I tuck her head beneath my chin as she snuggles against me and look over at our daughter, going to town on her bottle. “So do I.”
THE END