Epilogue
It was Sunday, brunch day. The second one since Derek’s injury and their reconciliation.
And it was seven days after her period was due.
It came like clockwork. Never a day early. Never a day late. Until she’d gotten pregnant the first time around. And until today.
Her friends and chosen family milled around downstairs, eating, laughing, and completely unaware of the impending nervous breakdown one floor above them in the master bathroom. She should have waited, had tried to wait, but she sat at the table obsessing and needed to put herself out of her misery.
Earlier that morning, it had hit her like a lightning strike. Seven days. Seven days late. She’d been so busy with work and Derek, that the lack of period had gone unnoticed. Until today. The day when she was having a houseful of people for brunch. As they’d done every Sunday until Katie got sick and had recently started again.
So, under the guise of needing more orange juice, she’d gone to the store and purchased a pregnancy test. It had taken five minutes of staring at the shelf to get her hands to listen to her brain and actually pull the box from the shelf. Of course, they’d been trembling the whole time. This was a moment she’d been petrified of for the past few years.
After Derek came home, they’d sort of had an unspoken pact not to mention the possibility looming over them.
And now it may all be upon her.
As was the way of life, there’d been an accident that blocked her route home and she’d returned at the same moment Roxie showed up. Hunter, who was quickly becoming a close friend of the both her and Derek, arrived about thirty seconds later. She’d decided she could wait until the guests had left and she was alone.
But that hadn’t worked. So now she was hiding out in her bathroom trying to stare at anything but the little stick waiting on the closed toilet lid.
Was she ready to be a mother again? It was the main issue she was working on in therapy with Maggie during her solo sessions. The times with Derek were spent focusing on their relationship, and the alone time for individual growth and healing.
Despite the progress she was making, lingering fears still had a solid grip on her. There were too many things that could go wrong. The potential for soul-crushing pain too high.
“Babe? Where you at?” Derek’s voice rang out from their bedroom.
“In here,” she called. “Just fixing my hair.” It was a half-truth. She’d gotten warm cooking and needed a tie to hold her hair back.
Two seconds later, her husband’s large form filled the doorway between their bedroom and bathroom. “Babe, is there something going on with Roxie? Has she seemed off to you lately?”
God, she loved this man. He cared about her friend’s welfare just as much as she did. “Actually, I did notice. She’s been strange for the past month. I think something is up with her and Gregg. I’m going to try to get together with her for lunch on Tuesday. I’ll ask her about it then.”
“Sounds good. You hiding out up here?” He strode into the room and she positioned herself so she was blocking his view of the toilet.
“No. Just needed a minute. I’ll be right down.”
He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his muscular chest. “Lyss? What’s going on?”
He knew her too well. Like a bloodhound, he could always sniff out if she was having a problem. The alarm on her phone chimed. Three minutes were up. She swallowed.
“What’s that?”
Her eyes locked with Derek’s. It was as though her tongue thickened in her mouth, making speaking impossible. Her heart pounded as she stepped to the left, revealing the pregnancy test waiting on the toilet seat.
Derek’s gaze shifted then returned to hers, this time wide eyed. “I—” His Adam’s apple rose and fell as he swallowed. “Is it time to look?”
She nodded. No point in delaying it. With nausea rolling in her gut, she grabbed the test. It wobbled in her hands. Derek stepped forward and surrounded her shaking fingers with his strong, steady ones, lending his never-ending strength.
“Whatever it says, it’ll be okay, Lyss. I promise.”
She nodded and for the sake of her husband, pretended she had the strength for this. She gazed down at the test.
Two blue lines.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Joy hit her so hard she almost fell to her knees. Any worry, doubt, fear she’d been harboring disappeared the second her eyes caught that second line. She was going to be a mother again.
“It’s positive,” she said holding the stick in front of Derek’s face. “Oh my God, it’s positive.”
Derek let out a tremendous whoop and lifted her off her feet, spinning her around. When he set her down, he cupped her face and kissed her. “Are you okay?”
“I…yes, I am. If you’d asked me yesterday I would have told you I was still terrified. But seeing it now in front of me. I’m good. More than good. I’m ecstatic.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Pregnant.
Derek couldn’t believe it. Once he’d gotten over his initial poor reaction to the possibility, he’d been ready for it, but Lyss had been having a harder time wrapping her mind around the idea. Actually, she was having a harder time opening her heart to the idea. She was so afraid of setting herself up for a pain like they’d once had.
But seeing her like this, her eyes shining with excitement and joy. Yeah, she’d be alright. And she’d fall right back into motherhood.
It was a gift from their daughter. He just knew it. Her way of showing them they belonged together, and they were strong. It was her way of helping them find joy again in their lives.
Thank you, Katie.
“Come on. Let’s get downstairs. Everyone’s gonna start wondering what we’re doing up here.” He bobbed his eyebrows. “Of course, it’s exactly what I am planning to do, it’ll just have to wait until later.”
Lyss laughed, a beautiful sound that happened all the time these days. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
As he turned to leave, she grabbed his arm. “Let’s keep it to ourselves for now. It’s so early.” She shrugged.
Part of him was dying to shout it from the rooftops, but he got her point. It was too new. Hell, they hadn’t even had a chance to process it themselves. No point in bringing everyone else in just yet. “Sure, babe. Come on.” He captured her hand in his and tugged her out of the bathroom, giving her ass a swat when she passed him.
“Hey!” She yelped with a giggle.
“Can’t help myself. That ass just calls to me.”
They were still laughing when they reached the bottom of the steps. The staircase led directly into the kitchen, and all their friends were gathered around the kitchen island, loading plates and sharing stories. “Hold up a minute,” he said as he snaked an arm around Alyssa’s waist and pulled her back against him.
She tilted her head up and sent him a quizzical look.
“Just want to watch them all for a second. We’ve got it pretty damn good, don’t we?”
Alyssa turned back and surveyed the jovial crowd. “Yeah, we really do.”
“Ah, twenty bucks, Brett! Pay up.” Alyssa’s assistant Hannah held out her palm to Derek.
“What? No way, woman. How do you know you won? You can’t possibly tell they weren’t having sex up there.”
Alyssa giggled at the same time Hannah rolled her eyes.
“Clothes are straight, hair isn’t mussed, lipstick perfect. Please, man, no sex was being had. Pay up, sore loser.”
Brett frowned and turned toward them. “Well?”
Derek laughed, long and loud. “Sorry to disappoint you, brother.”
“Dude!” Brett said. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a bill, and slapped it in a grinning Hannah’s palm.
She did a little dance before putting it into her pocket. “Pleasure doing business with you, sir,” she said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Brett grabbed a potato off Hannah’s plate then hopped away before she could slap his arm.
Against his chest, Alyssa shook with laughter.
Suddenly, Derek couldn’t hold it in. “Lyss is pregnant.”
The room went dead silent except for his wife’s loud gasp. She looked up at him. “What happened to keeping it quiet?”
He shrugged. “Sorry, slipped out.” Hopefully his grin looked somewhat sheepish, though really, he wasn’t remorseful in the least.
Lyss rolled her eyes and huffed. “Der, you were a SEAL. You were trusted with covert information all the time. You’re supposed to be able to keep a secret for more than five seconds.”
“Holy shit!” Roxie jumped up and down sending the mimosa in her champagne flute sloshing all over the floor. It was the first time in weeks she seemed to forget whatever was plaguing her and act just like Roxie. “Oh, shit, sorry! You’re pregnant. Really? I’m gonna be an auntie?”
Lyss gave him a mock scowl then lifted up and kissed his chin before turning to her friend. “Yes,” she squealed then bounded into the kitchen. Neither of them seemed to care much about the mess on the floor.
Derek leaned his shoulder against the wall at the foot of the staircase and watched as the most important people in his life made memories together. Not long ago, he’d worried they’d never get to the point where they felt life was good again. But they did. They’d suffered, and would never forget that period of their life, but as he’d hoped, they emerged from the darkness into a light that burned bright.
Nothing could or would break the bond he and Alyssa shared. It was strong as steel. The universe had thrown its very worst at them and they found the strength to survive. Sure, life wasn’t perfect. They’d always have their fair share of complications. But in that moment, surrounded by the people they loved and who loved them, knowing a new life was growing inside Lyss…yeah, their life was pretty fucking sweet.
He was home.