I watch as Jules undresses, her movements unhurried, unselfconscious. She crosses the room to the dresser, opening one of the drawers she once left empty. I never filled them. I never could. Even when I thought she might never come back, I left them untouched. Waiting. Hoping.
Now they’re full again. Just like the space in my chest that used to ache.
She pulls on a soft pajama top, then sits beside me on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair over one shoulder.
“Do you ever wonder where we’d be right now if I hadn’t kissed you that night?” she asks quietly. “If I hadn’t stayed?”
I shake my head. “Not once.”
Jules smiles, but there’s something wistful in her eyes. “I keep thinking about it. That glass of wine. That moment. If I hadn’t taken the chance… I would’ve missed all ofthis.”
I reach for her hand, lace my fingers through hers. “I think we’d have found our way back, no matter what. You and me, we’re inevitable.”
She exhales a soft laugh. “We should paint the ceiling. It’s so… bland.”
“Let’s paint the ceiling.”
She laughs again, then climbs into my lap, her legs curling around me, her arms looping behind my neck. Her body molds to mine like it never left.
“You folded my thong the next morning,” she says with a smirk.
“I did,” I admit, my cheeks heating.
“I used to think you were so… rigid,” she muses. “But you’re not. You like order and calm, the way I like chaos and color. We’re opposites, but maybe that’s why we work. You ground me. And I pull you off the ground, just enough.”
I slide my fingers into her hair, savoring every word. “We make each other better.”
“I want to get married soon,” she says, her voice softer now. “Something small. But sentimental.”
I tilt my head. “Small like… living room small? Or courthouse small?”
She grins. “What if we got married on Christmas Day? Just a few people. A tree. Some lights. Tate in a little suit. Our family—together.”
Emotion gathers in my throat, thick and real. “I love it.”
“That’s only two weeks away,” she warns playfully.
“We’ll figure it out,” I promise.
Her forehead rests against mine as she sighs. “We will, won’t we?”
I kiss her then, slow and sure. “We always do.”
And in that kiss, in that breath of warmth and hope and history, I know it’s true. No matter what happens next, she is the brightest thing in my sky. My beginning and my homecoming. My only always.
Epilogue
Jules
I swallow hard as I start the timer on my phone. In three minutes, we’ll know. Three minutes to find out if I’m pregnant, and somehow, the anticipation is heavier than I expected.
“I’m so nervous,” I murmur, curling into Corbin’s chest, where his heartbeat drums a steady rhythm beneath my ear.
He holds me tighter. “It’s going to be okay.”
“We talked about waiting a little longer…” My voice falters.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says softly. “We both want this. And we’re already great parents to Tate.”
