Page 90 of Chase Our Forever

I’m quiet as she insists we order another round of beers before she even thinks about riding the famous bull at Slopes. I enjoy watching her interact with my loved ones, feeling incredibly grateful that of all the towns she could’ve ended up in, she ended up in mine.

Falling in love with Liv was unexpected. Little by little, she chipped away at the defense I’d put in place until she became my entire world. It didn’t take long for her to become a part of every future I imagined for Clara and me.

I’ll make sure I wake up every morning grateful that I’ll get to know three great loves in my lifetime. First Selena’s, then Clara’s, and now…Liv’s.

My sunshine on a cloudy day. The person who showed me you can find love even at your lowest point. I don’t know what I did to ever deserve her, but now that I have her, I’m never letting go. She and Clara are my family, one I hope to add on to one day,if that’s something Liv wants. My future looks brighter because of her.

I’ve spent years running away from the pain of loving someone. Liv made me want to stop running. For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to run. I wanted to chase. A forever with her and Clara is everything I want. I’m so excited for a future with her by my side.

I can’t wait to chase our forever.

EPILOGUE - LIV - TWO YEARS LATER

“Merry Christmas!” Clara yells as I walk into the living room. I stifle a yawn, somehow still tired even though Dean let me sleep in. Maybe it’s because he kept me up into the early hours of the morning, giving me an early Christmas gift in the form of his face between my thighs.

Clara’s body runs into mine as she wraps me up tightly in a hug. I lift her from the ground and wrap my arms around her, smiling at the candy cane pajamas she’s wearing. They match the same ones Dean and I have on. “Merry Christmas, Clare Bear. Did you get any sleep, or were you too excited?”

Clara grins at me. “I think I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes.”

This makes me laugh as I carry her to the Christmas tree. Dean’s in the kitchen making us some coffee while Clara and I take a seat in front of the tree.

“We should open presents!” Clara declares, moving from my side and picking up one of her gifts from under the tree. She shakes it slightly, trying to figure out what’s inside. I laugh, letting her shake it. There’s no way she’ll figure out what’s in there.

“Let’s wait for your dad, and then we can get to opening the gifts,” I tell her, my eyes finding Dean in the kitchen. Even in the cheesy candy cane PJs, he looks incredibly good this morning. There are some times I look at him and wonder how he’s all mine.

His eyes catch mine as he puts a dollop of whipped cream on top of my coffee, just how I like it. “Clara, are you trying to open gifts without me?” Dean calls, his tone teasing as he walks to the living room.

Honey bounds after him, a stuffed Santa hat toy in her mouth. It appears Honey gave her perfect puppy dog face to either Dean or Clara and got one of her gifts early.

“No, Daddy. You’re just taking forever.”

I try not to laugh at her comment, but it doesn’t work. At five, she’s sassier than ever. She’s growing up so fast that it makes me a little sad. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was confidently climbing into my lap at Wake and Bake and insisting I do her hair.

Now, two years later, I’m having to beg her to sit still long enough to do her hair.

Dean stops in front of me, holding out the mug of coffee. “Here you go, my wife,” he says sweetly, dragging out the last word.

I smile, taking the coffee from him. “Thank you, husband.”

We got married two months ago, surrounded by those we loved most. It was the most perfect fall day where there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the trees at our venue showed off by creating a beautiful backdrop of reds, yellows, and oranges.

Having Clara walk me down the aisle to marry Dean was one of the best days of my life. Something tells me that today might be up there as another one of my favorite days because of a gift I’ve been excitedly waiting to give to Dean.

Dean leans in to give me a chaste kiss on the lips before he takes a seat next to me on the couch. Clara bounces on the balls of her feet in front of us in anticipation.

“Is it time?” she asks, her eyes ping-ponging between me and Dean.

“Go ahead and open one,” Dean says, placing his coffee mug on the coffee table and pulling out his phone to snap a few photos to send to his family. We’ve got a big Christmas Day dinner with them this afternoon where there will be even more gifts, but it’s nice to have a quiet morning with just us before getting together with everyone.

Clara opening one gift turns into her opening all of hers. This is my third Christmas here in Sutten, and with each new one, I get more over-the-top with gifts. I can’t help it. I didn’t have anyone to spoil with gifts growing up, so now that I have people in my life who I care about and who care about me, I like to go a little overboard.

Now that Clara’s in kindergarten, my free time is spent working at Bluebird Books. Ty, the owner, pays me more than what I’m qualified for, but he refuses to listen every time I tell him that. Dean is very insistent on me using whatever I make at Bluebird for fun, so I use it to spoil those I love most.

Dean’s breath tickles my neck as he leans in. “I don’t know if you picked out enough art supplies for her.”

I give him a smile. “She’s a budding artist. She deserves all the art supplies.”

This makes him laugh as he looks back to Clara. She’s already spread out all of the different art supplies she received on the floor so she can get a better look at them all. “How long until she starts requesting for Pippa and Camden to display her work at the gallery portion of Wake and Bake?”

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