Page 101 of The Plus Ones
Chase pops out behind them. “S’up, guys?”
“Oh, you know,” Keaton says, standing up and pulling me up with him. “Just Roxy being Roxy.”
He picks up our beers, and we follow the McKays inside.
I get another flash of images and feelings, this time of our whole future life together.
Kids and dogs and friends and family. A wedding with strings of warm white lights, and for once I know for certain who my date will be. Parties and play dates and holidays. Messes and triumphs and untranslatable words and perfect moments of silence. I want it all with this man, and I’m going to give him everything I have to give.
I reach behind myself so he can take my hand. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “We don’t have to stay behind to help clean up, do we?”
“Hell no. Nina and Bernadette are on clean-up duty. We’re going to your place to have sex in one hour.”
He hands me my beer. “Prepare your uterus for greatness, future wife.”
“Prepare your penis for battle, future husband.” We clink bottles again.
“God, I love you. We’re going to break every bed we sleep in.”
EPILOGUE – Keaton
**Two Years Later**
“It’s a square!” Bernie yells out. “WALL-E!”
“How do you getWALL-Efrom a square?” Matt mutters, thoroughly amused by her.
“He has a square body!”
“Oh my gosh, draw faster!” their daughter Harriet blurts out.
Finn ignores them and continues carefully drawing another square on the upright dry erase board while the sand from the one-minute hourglass falls.
“It’s a TV!” Vince offers. “Poltergeist!”
“That’s not a family movie!” Nina hisses from across the room.
“It’s about a family! It’s fun!”
“Is that a book?” Harriet jumps up. “The Jungle Book! Harry Potter! The Secret Garden! Alice in Wonderland! Nancy Drew!”
Finn keeps shaking his head and frowning at Harriet.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!Draw something else! Something different! Oh my God, is anyone going to help me out?”
“It’s a recipe book!” Graziella McKay shouts. “Ratatouille!”
“If it wasRatatouille,he’d draw a rat.” Sean nudges his wife.
“You don’t know this! He’s a clever boy!”
“Oh, it’s a box!WALL-E!” Bernie covers her husband’s mouth before he can make fun of her. “I love that movie.”
Finn signals for them to keep going.
“Is it a toy box?” Harriet squeals. “Toy Story! Toy Story Two!Oh no, is itToy Story Three? That one’s sad!”
Finn keeps shaking his head and signaling to keep going.
