Page 88 of Shifted

"What happened to slow and steady?” I mused.

“I want to be with my girlfriend and my child every morning, noon, and night. To tuck Joely into bed and have you lying in my arms. I practically sleep here every night anyways, so I’m wasting an apartment,” He continues to trail on reasons I already thought out because I wanted that too. “I was waiting for you to ask." I cut him off, and his hands caressed my sore thighs again as I took in his scent; it was the most calming feeling in the world.

"So, can I?" he asks, and I press a kiss against his shoulder in response.

"Well, since you asked so politely, I guess so." I feel his chest warm as he laughs, and he then begins to pepper my face with kisses.

EPILOGUE

Hope Taylor

I was only left confused as my eyes opened because, after three months of Theo Jones sleeping in my bed, this was the first time I’d woken up alone without any notice. There was no signal of him in the bathroom or closet; the lights remained off as the morning sun had come in. I removed the covers and allowed my feet to touch the cold hardwood.

“Theo?” I call out in our room, not loud enough to wake Joely down the hall. I lift my charged phone from the nightstand to see no new notifications from him. Sighing, I shuffle out of bed and towards the door of our room. I go down the hall to see a light coming from downstairs, and curiously, I head down the steps.

The hallway was empty, but as I headed towards the living room, I saw the candles lit as he stood staring out at the morning rain.

“This is a fire hazard, you know. This beats like every Boston fire code there is” He turned to see me standing in my pajamas. But he just stood with a grin on his face. He stepped towards me as I stood cross-armed, “What are you doing?”

“I have something for you,” he said, leaving me confused. I watched as he reached into his pocket. “I just, I was going to wait until the summer at Penny Lane. But I just can’t wait anymore, Hope.” He pulled his mask from his pocket, and I watched as he pulled something out from it as my heart raced. The promised seashell in hand, one you’d notice out of thousands, I couldn’t believe it.

“I'm so tired. This is not even funny if you're joking with me right now.” I stammered, staring at it, the story he told me about his original proposal. It could’ve been so different all those years ago, but it just feels so right now. There are no secrets, and we are free to love in the open. We have our little girl. Some would say it might feel rushed, but for me, it doesn’t; for me, we’ve been waiting for years, and it’s felt like I’ve been his since the day I saw him again after my first month of college. We played the long game for what seemed like an eternity, trying to scratch each other from our lives to let ourselves figuratively be happy. But I was only ever happy with him.

“I know we’ve been pulled apart and pushed together in unexplainable ways. But with everything that's happened, I’ve always known one thing. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Hope, my Angel. He shakes the shell and the ring goes into the palm of his hand, and I look back at him. His eyes were glossed as I watched him almost choke up in nerves.

“Hope Mary Ellen Taylor, will you marry me?" I stood speechless in awe of it all; I couldn’t believe it. Something that seemed so far and impossible at one point was here. The moment I had dreamt of since I was a teen. But I didn’t even realize I’d kept him waiting for a minute, “I had this whole big speech planned out in my head, and now I can barely think, but I love you and our daughter. I just… I want forever with you, and my words aren’t coming out like I wanted them to–”

“Yes,” I say, and then he looks as if he hasn’t heard me correctly.

“Yes?” he questions.

“Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, Theo.” The ring slipped onto my finger, and I’m lifted as my arms wrap around his neck. He holds me tight. Tears are shared in this intimate moment, one that will stay in my mind forever, like a mental photograph.

“It’s about time,” I teased. Rolling his eyes at me, Theo pulled me in, and our lips connected as I let it fully consume me.

"I love you," he cuts in between, and I pull back, letting my head rest against his chest. My eyes fixate on one of the candles as I relax in his arms, the safest place in the world, my home.

“Mm, I love you more.” I Soothed, rocking in his arms.

“I love you most.” He mumbled.

“Not a chance.”

?

Three months later

My reflection in the mirror made my heart well because today was finally here—a moment I’d been imagining for almost too long. The June wedding at Penny Lane had arrived, and I couldn’t be more excited. There weren’t nerves or any pressure—it was just family and love.

"I swear to God I am going to murder your caterer. They set up the food completely wrong! God, what idiots!" Maria stood in the mirror behind me with a clipboard, frustrated while talking with Lucas. I laughed as she threw the clipboard on the bed in frustration, and then she turned to see me. She stared, blubbering like a proud mother with no words to give, staring at my white lace dress.

“Hope, you look… I can’t even put into words your beauty,” Amanda’s voice trails in as she enters from the hallway. She and Isaac were invited today, but mostly because Amanda had been a dedicated friend to me over the past few months.

“She looks divine.” Lucas abandoned his spot perched at the bay window and walked over to me, taking my hand to help me up. I stood in my dress as he squeezed my hand, "What's the fuss about the caterers? It's a dinner party for ten people." He questions Maria as I sucked in my lips.

“Actually, it’s eleven. I invited the minister.” Lucas seemed more confused by my choice, but I had specifics as to why, “Prevents you from talking about sex in front of my toddler?” He nodded in silent agreement.

"Plus, he's come all this way he might as well get a meal out of it," Maria adds, “that’s if we even have food to serve,” She mumbles angrily. She’d taken charge of the smaller details of my wedding, and I even teased her about getting a headset. I knew it also distracted her from her daughter’s absence from today.

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