EPILOGUE
“IHADA feeling I should have ordered an extra box this year,” Miri said, wistfully patting the rounded top of her abdomen with one hand as she polished off the last of the sufganiyot from the teal box with the other.
Her husband of almost a year now wisely said nothing.
“There was just no way I could have known, though,” she sighed. “Everything is so hit-or-miss right now, and I haven’t had them for almost a year, so two boxes felt like too much a risk.”
Beyond that, she really didn’t need to be eating another box of doughnuts almost entirely to herself, even if she was eight months pregnant.
After spending the first night of Hanukkah with her friends in the city, she and Benjamin had returned to Aspen for the holiday, stopping for doughnuts on the way to their airport.
Normally, doctors advised against a woman in her late stage of pregnancy flying, but Benjamin had allayed their fears by insisting that a doctor accompany them on the trip, and only then after a pre-takeoff checkup and approval. He was concerned of what might happen, on the off chance they got snowed in.
Miri didn’t mind. She understood and appreciated it, even. Benjamin would always be serious about keeping his family safe. There was no other way he could be.
And it had certainly been known to happen.
If it did, they would be prepared. He always was.
He was going to be an amazing father.
Miri had no doubts.
He was kind and thoughtful, strong and determined, attentive and adoring.
Everything she could hope for her child and more.
And he had been entirely correct about the foundation’s reaction—to both his endowment and her gala.
The endowment had made jaws drop. Her gala had made eyes sparkle.
Not only had she secured her position with the foundation, but she had also earned a reputation as one of the best and brightest on staff—in both mind and body, because of the flawless dress she’d worn.
Her Secret Garden gala held the new record for most funds raised, as well as made the front page of the society section in the Los Angeles Times.
Offering just the right mix of exclusivity, unexpectedness and photo opportunities, both the press and attendees had had a field day with it. It even briefly trended in top hashtags in Los Angeles.
And to make matters even better, she’d looked fantastic in every photo, the two-toned silver and gold long-sleeved body-contouring dress she’d worn popping and glittering against the all-black attire of the man who refused to leave her side throughout the entire night.
The event was the most talked about thing around foundation offices for months afterward, with many of the large donors going out of their way to let Miri know how much they looked forward to what she would be putting together for them the following year.
Even after the buzz died down a bit, she remained one of the most popular staff members—her dreams of happy hours and work friendships blossoming beyond her imaginings.
And all of the recognition had even come with a little salary bump, too—not that money was something she had to worry about anymore.
Not since she had become the wife of one of the richest men in the world.
They were married a month after the gala and Miri found out she was pregnant the following March. Since then, her husband had hardly left her side, taking out an office building across the street from the foundation so he could work nearby.
Her work necessitated they spend most of their time in LA, but for Hanukkah only Aspen felt right. It was their first tradition, a celebration of their own special miracle that had occurred.
She couldn’t wait for their baby to be born, so they could join in the celebration, too.
Of course, by the way they were flipping around in her womb in reaction to the doughnuts, she couldn’t exactly say they weren’t participating already.
Sighing, she decided that she really should have bought more.
Wrapping his arms around her from behind, teal flashed in the corner of her eyes as Benjamin said into her hair, “I knew,” and placed a second box of doughnuts on the counter.
Spinning around in his arms, she smiled up into his laughing blue eyes, and he caught her lips with his.
Heat filled her, as it always did when they kissed. He tasted like sugar and stability and a special world for the two—soon to be three—of them, with no end in sight.
