And when we finally fall together, when he buries his face against my neck with a quiet groan, and my name spills from his lips… I know.
This isn’t just something fleeting.
This is everything.
40
Nervous Bugs in my Tummy
Epilogue
Theo
It’s a quiet evening,the kind that settles in so naturally it feels like it’s always been this way.
I’m stretched out on the sofa, a book open in my hands, but I haven’t turned a page in the last five minutes. Because instead of reading, I’m watching them.
Ivy and Lucy are sitting on the floor, surrounded by a rainbow explosion of coloured pencils, markers, and glitter glue. Ivy is carefully shading in a section of Lucy’s drawing, while Lucy chatters away, waving her crayon like a conductor’s baton.
Tomorrow is her sixth birthday, and she’s creating a very detailed picture of all the things she hopes to get.
So far, there’s a scooter, a mountain of presents, a suspiciously large cake, and—
I squint. “Is that a pony?”
Lucy looks up at me, all wide-eyed innocence. “Yes.”
I raise a brow. “And where, exactly, are we keeping this pony?”
Lucy beams. “In Uncle Jasper’s garden, of course.”
I blink. “Oh. Of course.”
Ivy snorts, trying (and failing) to cover her laugh with a cough.
“Lucy,” I say, leaning forward, trying to find the gentlest way to break this to her, “I don’t think Uncle Jasper wants a pony in his garden.”
Lucy frowns like I’ve just suggested something outrageous. “But he has loads of space! And he doesn’t use the garden.”
I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. “I’m not sure that’s how it works, Ladybug.”
Lucy crosses her arms. “I bet if Ivy asked, he’d say yes.”
I whip my head toward Ivy, who is suddenly very invested in shading a flower, her lips twitching.
“Oh no,” I mutter, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”
Ivy finally looks up, all sweetness and innocence. “I mean… I could ask.”
“No.”
She grins. “But imagine how fun it would be.”
I groan. “Why are you like this?”
Lucy brightens. “So that’s a maybe?”
“No, that’s a no.”
