Page 141 of Implode

“It’s a hell yes.”

“Good,” I say, sitting us back up again. “I was thinking of going when you hit your second trimester.”

“I’m so excited.”

I smile. “So am I.”

Claire goes back to examining the board, moving her fingers over the tube of vanilla cupcake lip gloss. “I thought you hated my lip gloss.”

“I only hated it when you would taunt me with it and test my self-restraint limits.”

“I never did that.”

“Lies,” I say with a chuckle. “So, we now own joint stock in the company that produces your favorite flavor.”

“Of course we do,” she laughs, shaking her head at me. “You are one of a kind, Nic Hoffman.”

She touches the patch of green straw I glued down. It is the same kind of filler you put in baskets for Easter. On top of the fake grass is a yellow excavator sticker. “You have a liking for construction vehicles?”

I chuckle over her sense of humor. “I want to design and build a house with you.” I watch as her expression changes and then moisture fills her eyes. “Don’t cry, baby. This is a happy moment in time.”

“I know. I just…” She pauses to collect herself. “I’m just overcome with emotion.”

I squeeze her hands. “I have a building company picked out and some potential plots of land we could buy. But my vision is for us to have a house we can raise children in.”

“Children?”

“Assuming you want more. I want a place that is ours, where we can grow old together. I want a house that will be made into a place we can call home.”

Claire wraps her arms around me. “I want for our children what I never really had.”

“I know, baby.”

She pulls back to look into my eyes. I can get lost in hers. “I love the idea of having our own place. Butyouare my home, Nic.”

I kiss her lips and we roll onto the quilt. I never imagined I could be this happy with a life I never thought I wanted. I’m just glad I met a girl who could make me see all that I was missing out on and get me to take a chance on her.

Seeing the sunlight coat Claire’s skin and the way her eyes crinkle when she is truly happy just lets me know that I found my person. Without any doubt or reservation, I know with confidence that Claire is the one.My one.

My girl leans up on an elbow to look at me. “You are the first person in my life who has ever tried to catch me when I fall.”

“I’ll always catch you. I love you, Claire.”

“I’m going to love spending forever with you.”

I soak in her beauty, pressing my lips against hers. “Forever won’t be long enough.”

EPILOGUE

NIC

“So this is happening,” I say, more as a statement than as a question.

Graham sighs as he pulls into the parking lot at Soulful Mind in Seattle. I can tell by the way he is tapping his fingers manically along the steering wheel that we are sharing similar thoughts about this whole thing. “I just hope it isn’t too soon, and there’s no major relapse.”

He just got back from his three-week honeymoon in Fiji and is already starting to regress back to looking stressed. I had the luxury of spending a much-needed break with Claire in Paris, showing her all of the sights. She went completely into tourist mode with her vision board as guidance, and needed to be reined in a few times. I assured her we can go back anytime she wants.

“All of her therapists claim she is ready.” I’m mainly talking out loud, trying to convince myself that this is what is best for our baby sister, Penny, who insists on getting out of the facility as soon as possible. “She’ll be enrolled in a maintenance program, and we can always hire someone to watch out for her.”

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