Page 81 of The Vegas Rerun
After her story tapers off, I help her into bed, tucking her in tight.
“Can I have a kiss?” she asks, yawning.
I bend down and kiss her forehead.
“Goodnight, baby,” I say.
“Night, Mama,” she says.
She turns to Joshua next, reaching her arms up.
He doesn’t hesitate. He leans in, kissing her soft curls.
“Goodnight, princess,” he says.
“Night, Daddy,” she mumbles sleepily, her thumb slipping into her mouth.
Joshua turns away quickly. I see him blink several times as he heads to the balcony and slides the door open. I give him a moment and then I give Autumn one last look, and I follow him outside.
The night air is cooler now, the sky dotted with stars. The park is quieting down, but the distant twinkle of music still plays, floating on the breeze. Joshua is gripping the railing, his back to me, his shoulders tense.
I walk up behind him and slide my arms around his waist.
“She said it again,” he murmurs.
“I know.”
He turns, and the look in his eyes floors me.
“I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear that until she said it. Molly,” he says, his voice breaking slightly.
“I know,” I say again, this time more softly, placing a hand on his chest where his heart is racing. “I know.”
“I missed so much,” he whispers. “So many firsts. Her first steps. Her first words. Her first birthday. I missed all of it.”
“You’re here now. That’s what matters. You’ll be here for her first day at school, her graduation, her first boyfriend.”
“Not until she’s at least thirty,” he says. “And even then, I don’t know if I’ll be ready for her to have a boyfriend.”
We both laugh and then Joshua swallows hard and turns serious again.
“I want to be the best father I can be. I want to give her the world,” he says. “I want to give both of you and our new baby the world.”
“We don’t want the world, Joshua. We just want you. The four of us, that is our world now.”
He tugs me closer, wrapping his arms around me tightly.
“I love you, Molly.”
“I love you, too.”
He kisses me then, a slow and deep kiss, one full of every promise I didn’t even know I was waiting to hear. And as fireworks burst in the distance, lighting the sky with shimmering reds and golds and silvers, I know one thing for sure: this is the start of forever.
EPILOGUE
MOLLY
The Nevada sunspills over the desert like liquid gold, lighting up the mountains in the distance and painting the edges of the strip with a warm, honeyed glow. From the balcony of our hotel suite, I can see it all—Vegas in its chaotic, glittering glory. Neon signs flash like confetti, people bustle along the sidewalks in everything from tuxedos and ballgowns to sarongs and flip flops. Music thumps from an open-air bar across the street, and for a moment, I just take it in. All of it.
