Inseparable
Page 19
Epilogue
Dane leaned over and kissed my cheek before knocking on the door.
“You ready?” He whispered in my ear. I nodded and smiled as Laurel opened the door.
“About time! We thought we were going to have to start without you.” She joked, ushering us inside. “Now, give me another look at that lovely ring.” She smiled reaching for my hand. The single half carat princess cut diamond sparkled in the light. “Stunning.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Go into the living room. Everyone is already here.” I grinned, knowing everyone meant my family, Dane’s family, our friends, everyone who was important to us was here to celebrate our engagement.
So much has happened in the fourteen months since Steffy was found. Dane was still cancer free, his last two check-ups returning nothing out of the ordinary, and Steffy was nearly a completely different person.
I glanced at the mature young woman sitting in an armchair, dressed in a beautiful knee length plum shift dress, and I struggled to picture her as the same person she was a year ago. Her blue eyes lit up as she spotted us, her smile enough to bring tears to my eyes. She stood and walked over to us.
“Lil, you look beautiful.” She smiled, hugging me. “You don’t look too bad either, Dane.” She joked. He laughed, and kissed his sister on the cheek.
“How are you, Steff? You look really good.” I smiled, holding her hand out to get a better look at her. She blushed at my attention.
“I’m good, Lil.” She smiled. “Congratulations to both of you, too.” She added.
“Thanks.” I smiled, glancing at Dane. He nodded. “I wanted to ask you something. If it’s something you don’t feel up to, we understand, but I’d love for you to be my maid of honor.”
Steffy’s eyes widened. “Really? Oh my gosh, I would love that!” She cried, almost knocking me over with another hug. “Thank you!”
“Nothing would make us happier than having you up there beside me on our wedding day.” I laughed, regaining my balance.
“Have you guys set a date yet?” She asked excitedly.
“The fourth of November this year.” Dane replied, squeezing my waist. “And I can’t wait.” He murmured, kissing my lips.
“Well I’m so excited for you both. I’m going to tell mom.” She smiled at us, before disappearing into the small crowd.
“See seems really good.” I whispered to Dane. He nodded.
“Mom said she’s still having nightmares, and panic attacks, but she’s getting there slowly.” Dane shrugged. “She’s been through a lot, and it’s a slow process, you know?” I nodded. I admired Steffy and her ability to work through everything.
“Lil!”
I looked up and saw Kella and Fraser heading toward us, her long high waist dress showing off her growing baby bump beautifully. She and Fraser had married four months ago, in a very intimate wedding reception in Spain. I had the honor of being her bridesmaid, and Dane was Fraser’s best man, the two of them becoming very close friends in the months following Steffy’s rescue.
“Kella, Hey.” I smiled, reaching out to touch her stomach. Kella rolled her eyes, which made me laugh. I could see how happy she was. “You look beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, Kel.” I said sincerely. She grinned, rubbing her stomach.
“He keeps kicking me.” She giggled, raising an eyebrow. I gasped.
“He? You’re having a boy!” I cried, hugging her. She laughed.
“We found out yesterday. Tyler Derek Garrison the fourth.” She said, her dark eyes glowing with pride. Fraser gently touched her stomach, his head cocked to the side.
“That’s fantastic news.” Dane smiled, shaking Fraser’s hand, who grinned.
“This will be you soon, Hansen.” He joked. I glanced at Dane, wondering if this was the perfect time to tell them. We had planned to wait until twelve weeks before telling everyone, mostly because I was terrified of something going wrong, especially being twins. It wouldn’t be too much longer before I started showing though, and I wasn’t sure I could wait another three whole weeks. Dane shook his head, a movement that caught Kella’s eye.
“What, are you two…Holy shit.” She gasped, covering her mouth, “Lil are you pregnant?” She hissed.
“Shh!” I hushed, taking her hand, narrowing my eyes at her. This is not how I wanted everyone to find out. Glancing around, to make sure nobody was around, I leaned in. “We are nine weeks, with twins.” I whispered.
“Oh Lil!” Kella cried, hugging me. I tried to hush her so as not to draw attention to us, which was proving to be hard. “Shit, Lil, I’m sorry. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” She shut her mouth and shook her head to mimic her silence.
“What’s going on here?” Mom asked curiously, sneaking up from behind me, her arms spinning me so she could hug me.
“Mom.” I grinned, hugging her back, and then hugging Anna. “I didn’t see you guys arrive.” I added.
“I’ve been here for an hour.” Mum replied. “Who do you think helped prepare all this food?” She asked. Laughing, I grabbed a sandwich from a passing platter.
“And It’s lovely.” I said, taking a big bite.
“Your father not here?” She asked casually, glancing around. I shook my head. We had spoken a few times over the last few months, but it felt weird having him here, after what he did to mom.
“Kella, how’s bubs going?” Mom asked, smiling at Kella’s stomach. She eyed Dane and I “I’m hoping these two don’t make me wait too long to be a grandma.” She added, winking.
Kella giggled, rubbing her stomach. “He’s going well thanks, and maybe you won’t have to wait long at all.” I shot her a look, and her eyes went wide. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to me. Mom looked from Kella, to me and then at Dane. Her jaw dropped.
“Lily, are you…” Her voice trailed off as she began putting things together in her mind. Little things, like the bug I’d had for the last couple of weeks, and my sudden ‘detox’ from alcohol. I began to realize there was no hope that this was going to stay a secret.
“Well I guess we should make this a double celebration.” I said to Dane.
“Shouldn’t that be triple celebration?” Piped up Kella. I glared at her as mom squealed next to me.
“Lily are you having triplets?” She screamed, causing several people, including Danes family, to spin around in surprise.
“Mom.” I hissed, my face flushing. A silence had hushed over the room. Sighing, I grabbed Danes hand, leading him to the front of the room.
“We were going to leave this a few more weeks before announcing, but Dane and I are expecting twins.” I said, smiling at Dane. He grinned back at me, leaning down to kiss me gently. Everyone began to cheer, and suddenly we were engulfed by people wanting to congratulate us.
As the crowd and excitement died away, I noticed Steffy sitting alone, smiling wistfully at us. I caught her eye and winked. She walked over and hugged me.
“I’m going to be an Aunt.” She whispered, smiling through her tears.
“You are.” I agreed, squeezing her hand. “You’re going to be a wonderful Aunt.”
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
/> Missy Johnson, Inseparable