Epilogue
8 Months later
Meghan
“I still can’t believe you’ve never been to the ocean,” Oliver said as he threw a stick down the beach. “It’s an easy day trip from home.”
“It was just never a priority. My dad was always busy with work or too tired to really go on adventures. Then he got sick and vacations weren’t a possibility. After he passed, I was too much of a wreck and I had to work two jobs to pay off bills that his life insurance didn’t cover. It was a hard time and then it got worse.”
“Why didn’t you go after the first time?”
“I was out of work so long, I needed to find a job and concentrate on saving money. Plus, I had no one to go with me after my cousin moved away,” Meghan admitted. “Have I said thank you yet for bringing me here even though I feel like it’s a bit weird to be wearing thick jackets at the beach?”
Oliver stopped and smiled down at her. She couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, but she knew if she could she’d see the depth of his love for her. It was what she saw every time she gazed into his eyes. They’d gone through a lot in the last year and she knew she wasn’t the easiest person to love, but Oliver never gave up on her. He might have taken a step back and given her what she thought she wanted, but he had always been willing to fight for them and she loved him for it.
He had surprised her with a trip to the beach after her most recent check-up with her oncologist. It had been a year since her diagnosis and surgery. She’d been lucky not to have to go through chemo this time around, but she knew that could change. So far, her blood tests and scans showed she was cancer-free, but that didn’t mean she was out of the woods. There was always a chance of another recurrence, but with Oliver’s help, she’d learned to live with that knowledge. She no longer let it dictate the decisions she made, which had been a hard thing to let go of. She’d always thought she was living in the moment, but Oliver helped her realize that she was actually living in fear.
After her most recent appointment, she had indeed danced around screaming the word remission as loud as she could. Now that she was past the one-year mark, she felt confident saying the word out loud wouldn’t jinx her. She felt better about her future this time around than she had the first time and she attributed that feeling to Oliver and their friends.
A bark and a wet nose against her bare leg broke her out of her thoughts. Looking down, she realized two soaking wet, deliriously happy dogs surrounded her. Arlo, a shepherd mix, and Sadie, a boxer mix, were enjoying the beach almost as much as she was. The two dogs, who were both almost five, had fit into their household perfectly when they adopted them from a rescue organization a little over three months earlier. Sadie had been a little apprehensive at first, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that they weren’t going to send her back. She still got a little annoyed with Arlo, who was more like a puppy than a five-year-old, but at night they cuddled together on one dog bed instead of their own.
Crouching down, Meghan gave each dog some affection before reaching down to pick up one of the sticks that they’d dropped at her feet. Sadie nudged her hand with her nose and then let out a less than dainty bark. Laughing, Meghan scratched the dog behind her ears and then underneath her collar where she knew Sadie really liked to be scratched. She let out another bark, this one more like a thank you than a demand for attention. As Meghan went to stand, the sun glinted off something on Sadie’s black collar.
Worried that the dog had gotten something stuck around her neck, Meghan lifted Sadie’s head up so she could make sure everything was okay. What she found hanging there next to the bone-shaped metal tag was the last thing she expected to see. Attached to the collar by a piece of red ribbon was an exquisite diamond ring. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as she looked up at Oliver and then back down at her dog. Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at the ring unable to speak.
Oliver knelt in the sand next to her, drawing her eyes away from the ring long enough to miss Sadie moving. The sudden change in Sadie’s position put Meghan off balance and into the sand. As she fell backward, both dogs rushed to her side and started to lick her face.
“This was not how this was supposed to go,” Oliver said as he reached for her so he could help her up into a sitting position. “Guys, come on. Sit. You’re both ruining everything.”
Meghan giggled at the scene in front of her. The minute she sat up, both dogs had turned on Oliver and started to attack him with kisses. She could see that he was trying to untie the ring from Sadie’s collar, but she refused to sit still long enough so he could do it. Finally, he offered both of them a treat if they’d lay down, which they did immediately. With both dogs out of the way, Meghan looked up at Oliver who was kneeling in front of her, the ring now in his hand.
“I know we’re already technically married, but I never got a chance to do this right. I love you, Meghan Crosby. You’re everything to me and more. My life was nothing without you in it and I hope to never have to live like that again. I know that there are no guarantees as far as life and death go, but as long as we are both among the living I have some guarantees for you. I will cherish you and love you until I can’t and even then, I probably still will. I will take care of you whether you want me to or not. I will give you everything you want and need, even the things you don’t realize you need because you’re stubborn.”
“Hey….”
“I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know there, sweetheart. Now, where was I? Oh yeah…I will listen to everything you have to say, even if you aren’t speaking out loud. I will hold you close unless you’re having a hot flash and then I’ll bring you a cold washcloth to help cool you down.”
Meghan laughed, hoping that it would help stave off the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. The words her husband was speaking were absolutely perfectly romantic and hilarious at the same time. This was truly them, their relationship and the ups and downs of living with what cancer had done to her.
“A lot has happened in this last year and while some of it was absolutely shitty, I don’t know if we’d be here right now without it. You are without a doubt the love of my life, Meghan. Will you do me the honor of staying married to me so that we can live happily ever after together for however long we get?”
Wiping a tear from her cheek, Meghan smiled. “You should know by now, you can’t get rid of me that easily, Oliver. You better put that ring on my finger right now.”
Oliver’s face lit up with the smile that had bowled her over every day since they’d met. He slid the Princess cut solitaire diamond ring on her finger. It fit perfectly next to the simple silver band that matched the one he wore. Oliver had surprised her with their original rings right after she’d realized how much of a mistake she’d made when she’d walked away from him. After they made up, he asked her to move in with him before showing her the rings. Meghan had loved the gesture and the simplicity of the ring. Her new engagement ring was the perfect complement to it which wasn’t really a surprise.
“God, I love you,” she said as she reached out to cradle his face in her hands.
Pushing up on her knees, she leaned over the dogs that were lying between them and kissed her husband with everything she had in her. Her lips parted against his, giving him as much access as he wanted. His tongue swept in to tease hers, then retreated. The kiss went from sweet to smoking hot in a matter of seconds.
“I know this is supposed to be all sweet and romantic, but I can’t feel my ass anymore. How about we head back to the cottage and take a shower?” Oliver suggested after the kiss was broken up by whistles and hoots from somewhere behind them.
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I’m a bit wet and you know how much I hate when that gets wasted.”
Oliver stood, then helped her up. The dogs jumped up, barking and running around them. They brushed the sand off each other and then tried to get as much off the dogs as they could. He reached out and grabbed her hand, his fingers wrapping around hers.
“So now that you’ve agreed to keep being my wife, how do you feel about changing your name?” Oliver asked when they got closer to the cottage they’d rented. “I mean, it’s totally cool if you want to stay Meghan Crosby. I get the whole independence thing and it has been your name your entire life. But to be honest, I would love it if you wanted to change it to Meghan Brooks.”
Turning so she could face him, Meghan smiled up at him, a devious tilt to her lips. Before their trip, she’d started the process of changing her last name to Brooks. It was supposed to be a surprise that went along with the not-so-surprise party her friends were throwing them to celebrate their wedding and their one-year anniversary. Granted the party was a little late, but there had been a lot going on in all of their lives, so she wasn’t going to point that out.
Now that Meghan knew how much it meant to Oliver that she change her last name, she couldn’t wait to drag out her response a little.
“You know changing your name is quite the process. Lots of paperwork and people to deal with. I really think I’m going to need to be convinced that it’s the right thing for me to do,” Meghan said with a laugh and then took off at a run toward the cottage.
“Challenge accepted,” Oliver yelled after her as he ran to catch up to her. The dogs following behind them, barking along the way.
When he caught up to her on the porch, he grabbed her by the waist to stop her from continuing into the house. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her against him. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, both from the run and from being in the arms of the man she loved, who she knew was about to take her inside and make love to her until she was screaming his name. Every moment she spent with Oliver was a miracle, every time he touched her, she felt more alive than she’d ever felt before. Meghan never knew that love could feel like this, that she could feel so whole, despite the things she was missing.
It may have taken another brush with death, but Meghan had finally found a life worth living. She didn’t know what might come, but she knew she was never going to take it for granted again.