Epilogue
Cate stood in the back entrance of her first gallery show. It was still unreal. Six months ago, she had been buying out the entire art supply store, and now here she was, showing her work. No, not showing, selling. She only had three paintings left that weren’t spoken for.
“Come, dear. Mingle.” Susan stood in front of her, her smile bright. If Cate hadn’t known her, she would have thought it was a salesman smile, bright with intent, but it was real and warmed Cate’s heart. It meant things were as amazing as she believed them to be. “Everyone is so excited by your work.”
The room held some familiar faces, but most of them were people Cate had never met before that night. She had set her expectations low, hoping to have some of her teacher friends and her family there. She never expected the turnout to be such as it was. It was both thrilling and terrifying.
“I’m on my way. I was just taking a breather.” She had shaken dozens of hands of people she probably wouldn’t remember if their paths were to cross again. She had been too nervous to use all the little tricks she used as a teacher to remember kids’ names on the first day. “I can’t believe they all sold, and not to Levi.”
Levi had tried to buy three of them before she even displayed them. She couldn’t blame him. They were the ones she created after their first date after meeting again, after their first time together when they confessed their feelings, and after she told him they were expecting a little bundle of their own. It was hard to believe she was growing her family when she was over forty. Her OB reassured her it was more common than she thought, and quite honestly, it felt right, even perfect.
“Oh, I bet there were some words over that one.” Not so much words, as much as Cate agreeing not to sell them, but she nodded and smiled at Susan just as Amelia joined them, sweetly kissing her wife on the cheek.
“You know us too well,” Cate teased back, not wanting to discuss it further. As much as she loved Susan, some things were private. “He thinks he’s being supportive.” And that was the truth of it, too. He wanted to help gather buyers for the show and on that Cate put her foot down. Either she did this on her own, or not at all. As it turned out, on her own seemed to have worked out quite nicely.
“Men,” Amelia bantered.
“Men,” Susan and Cate concurred.
“Love.” Levi wrapped his arm around Cate after appearing out of nowhere. Cate had been so focused on her conversation and the bustle of the room before her she somehow missed the smexy that was her husband walking over.
“Levi,” she whispered as she nuzzled into him, not caring they were in public. He was hers, and she was going to enjoy every minute. She knew better than most how quickly life could change, and she wasn’t going to waste a moment with her Levi. Not one.
“Everyone is raving about your work, love,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“So I have heard. It’s still unbelievable.”
“It was to be expected, love. Your work is brilliant.” He moved so that he stood behind her, his hands resting on her slightly-extended belly, his new favorite resting place for them. Levi was the one who’d first brought up starting a family, and at first, she thought he was insane. Now? Now she thought he was the perfect man. The perfect one for her, anyway.
“Not that you are biased or anything.” Cate leaned back, enjoying his warmth.
“No bias in it—you are brilliant. Shall we mingle?”
“Absolutely.” She took his hand from her belly, intertwining their fingers. “Susan, thank so much for this opportunity.”
“Pish.” Susan shooed her away in a movement far too over-exaggerated to be real. “Thank you so much for making me all the money.”
As they made their way into the main gallery, Jamie walked in the door, beaming. She had already seen the display, volunteering to help set up, but to see the amazement in her eyes, Cate would’ve guessed it was her first time seeing them.
“Mom, this is amazing. I’m so proud of you for following your dream.” She leaned in, hugging her mother and then her stepfather. Levi had taken on as much of the father role as Jamie allowed, and both seemed to be happy with the relationship, which was a huge relief to Cate. “Do you know what those dots on all your paintings mean?” Jamie pointed to a small colored dot by the display of a small piece in front of her.
“Those, my wonderful daughter, mean they are spoken for.” As in sold.
“Wait, did you buy these all, Levi?” Yeah, her daughter and Levi were going to be just fine.
“Your mother wouldn’t let me.” He shrugged as if to say, What are you gonna do? “These were purchased by others who see your mother’s brilliance.” His eyes held so much pride. Cate wanted to get him alone, and quickly, but they still had a long night ahead of them.
“Whoa, Mom, you do realize how much money this means?” Jamie leaned in and whispered, clearly knowing it wasn’t appropriate conversation for the location, but unable to help herself.
“Are you saying I am not adequately employed enough to take care of my wife and baby?” Levi teased. Cate raised her eyebrows at him. They had never finished the discussion on when to tell Jamie about the baby.
“No way. No freaking way.” Jamie was practically bouncing before she embraced her parents in a bear hug.
“You’re not upset?” Cate had been worried about breaking the news to her practically-adult daughter, which was probably why Levi just spit it out. He called it the Band-Aid method. Not that it hurt. The moment was blissful.
“I always wanted a sibling,” was her simple reply.
“You don’t even live at home,” Cate reminded her, not that she wanted her to stay gone after her summer internship, but the apartment complex had offered her a full lease, and she and Hannah took it, which was for the best. Sometimes you needed to let go. Not that it made things easy, but the best was not always easy, which Cate had learned far too many times in her life already.
“Which makes it perfect, the little rug rat won’t keep me up at night. That’s all on you guys. I guess that means I need to start calling you Dad now, you know, to get you used to it.” She gave him an arm bump as if to pretend the offer was in jest, but they all knew the offer was sincere.
“Or because I’d be honored.” Levi bumped back in kind.
“That too, Dad. That too.”
In this moment, everything was perfect. Cate had rekindled her first love, one that had never truly died; she had followed her passion and had started to see unbelievable success; and she was growing her family. She leaned into Levi, savoring the moment and looking at the first picture that had sold that evening: “Remember Me.”