Epilogue

Two months later, I sat perched on the San Francisco apartment balcony, sipping a glass of soda. Indoors, I could hear Rachel practicing the piano, a new hobby of hers, which she’d taken to overzealously—already learning the scales to a scientific and mathematical level. Tyler was indoors, stirring a November stew, allowing smells to waft through the rest of the house. I was home. I felt happier than I’d ever been in my life. And for some reason, it was easy.

Everett had been overjoyed when I’d told him I needed to move on, telling him I was heading to San Francisco for ‘love.’ Scraping his fingers over his keyboard, he set up an interview between the heads of a Berkeley lab and I, telling me they were working on the same sort of things I was passionate about. “But they do it with taco breaks by the water,” Everett said, rolling his eyes and giving me an honest smile. “If you don’t get the job, I’ll be very, very surprised.”

It hadn’t taken me long to pack my few things and move out west, with Randy keeping me company. Tyler and Rachel had to return to San Francisco after a particularly wonderful weekend back in Raleigh—romantic dinners, fun experiments that Rachel and I concocted in the kitchen, and long walks with Randy—leaving me to draw a final line in the sand between the east coast and I and to start a new life once again.

As for Tyler, his career in San Francisco was taking off. As a partner of the firm (and one of the hottest in the industry), he’d been featured on nearly every tech magazine cover around the globe. When we went out to dinner, we were always side-eyed. I’d once heard someone whisper, “There he is with his new, blonde bimbo girlfriend. These guys. They always have the hottest women.” To this, his companion had replied, “I heard she’s a sleep scientist.”

Tyler appeared in the doorway of the balcony, his dark eyes on mine. It always seemed we could communicate so much, with just a glance. Just a touch. It was just like how they described soul mates; something beyond intimacy.

“The stew’s almost ready,” he said. Reaching forward, he wrapped his firm arms around my waist and inhaled the smell of my neck, rolling his lips across my skin. “When Rachel goes to her friend’s after dinner, I think I might have an idea of what we could do,” he murmured.

“Ha,” I said, turning around in his arms and lacing mine around his neck. My heart was hammering against my ribcage. “You know, standing out here watching the world go by, it occurred to me that this is the two-month anniversary of me being in San Francisco.”

“Think you’ll stick around for good?” he asked, laughing.

“Still not sure,” I said with a wink.

Indoors, Rachel pressed a wrong note, then stopped playing. Tyler grinned, sharing this intimate moment with me. “She’s going to be furious with herself.”

“She’s just like me in that way. Too hard on herself.”

“You shouldn’t be. You’re perfect,” he whispered, kissing my ear.

The three of us met at the dining room table a few minutes later, talking and eating stew with potatoes and carrots—Tyler’s mother’s recipe. San Francisco had become windy in early November, making us zip our jackets to our chins and shiver as we walked around the city. To us, San Francisco presented something new and enticing every single day, something to burst out and explore, and it had brought us closer together as a family. These were words that Tyler had said once, which sent a chill of happiness up and down my spine. A family, to replace all the terror of being alone.

Rachel ate half of her stew before jumping up, kissing me on the cheek and saying, “I have to run. Melissa and I have to set up the experiment before seven-thirty, or else we won’t have time to finish it before bedtime.”

“We’ll walk you,” Tyler said, scooting his chair back.

“Don’t be silly, Daddy,” Rachel said. “Melissa lives across the street. You can literally see her apartment from here. Lighten up!”

I gave Tyler a slight smirk, shrugging. “I think she can make it across the street by herself. She’s almost eleven, don’t you know.”

“Oh right. The big birthday’s coming up, isn’t it?” Tyler collected our bowls and added them to the sink, giving Rachel a final wave. “Just call if you’re running late, okay?”

When the door clicked closed, I found myself standing at the kitchen sink, beside Tyler. The heat of our bodies enveloped us, bringing us closer. In this private moment, he eased his lips over mine, hungry, and then pressed me against the side counter. I giggled, lifting myself up on the countertop. With my legs wrapped tightly around his thick, six-pack waist, he began to unbutton my dress.

“Hard day at the office, baby?” I asked him, kissing his ear, the slight sweat of his brow.

“I’ve been dreaming about your body all day.”

As he eased his hands across the softness of my breasts, molding his palms across my lower stomach—sinking in, I pressed my lips into a smile.

“What is it?” he asked, sensing something was different. “You look like you’re keeping a secret. I can tell by the look in your eyes.”

Leaning forward, I whispered into his ear—the news I’d known, since the previous week, but had kept to myself, rolling it over and over in my mind.

“I’m pregnant,” I whispered.

The next moment was one I replayed over and over again in my mind. Tyler’s face, wide-eyed, his normally chiseled jaw nearly dropping to the floor. And then, the flurry of activity. His kisses, warm across my cheeks and lips, down my breasts and onto my stomach. He brought my panties to the ground and then placed his hand at the warmth between my legs, still gazing into my eyes. I could feel my pulse, blasting against his fingers.

“Quinn. You’ve made me the happiest man in the world.”

We made love after that, much like the first time. On the kitchen counter, his cock thrusting deep into me, and then in the bedroom, rolling around in our crisp, white sheets, and making each other cry out with pleasure. We had a sense for each other’s bodies now, memorizing skin and muscle and were both already imagining the future. A baby, Rachel as the child’s big sister—eleven years older, and wiser! Along with raising a child in San Francisco, in the tech field, surrounded by such grandeur, such gorgeous natural beauty.

As we began to drift off to sleep in one another’s arms, holding each other tight, we heard Rachel enter the apartment, her keys jangling and her whistle bright. Dressing quickly, we stood, poised at the outside of the door.

“Should we tell her?” I asked, a smile sneaking across my face. “Do you think she’s ready?”

“I think if we don’t tell her, she’d kill us for keeping a secret for so long,” Tyler laughed, sounding mischievous. “Besides. Can you think of anyone more deserving of this news? If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t be together. She’s our matchmaker.”

Knowing he was right, I reached up and kissed him again. The air around us smelled of our sex, of our orgasms, leaving our bodies spent and tired and ultimately happy. As we creaked open the door, we found Rachel at the stew pot, eating a carrot, her face bright.

“Hey, you two. What is it?”

“You’ll never guess.”