Frigid Affair(49)

It was hard to talk when my lips were trembling. I hadn’t seen this coming, but I wasn’t surprised. If I ever felt like I was meant to be somewhere it was in his arms. I nodded quickly and sunk down on the shower floor with him. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

We didn’t know where we were going to end up, but at least we knew we’d be together.

Jensen and I spent two more days in Anchorage so he could work with the police investigators to help them identify the criminals. Each time he walked out the door I worried he wasn’t coming back. I suppose after everything I’d been through it was natural to assume things were too good to be true. I kept imagining them being taken away from me, yet he always came back to us.

That following week we moved everything back from Bob and Eve’s to the cabin. They tried to apologize for jumping the gun and contacting the authorities. After I’d calmed down I understood their concern, but knew Jensen would never be able to get past almost losing us because of their mistake.

I contacted the local realty company and managed to send their firm a ton of pictures of the interior and exterior for the listing to get my cabin and property on the market. It was time to come out into the world again. I had reasons to want to stop hiding.

On the day I settled on my property, we made a pit stop to the court house and got married. June and her husband served as our witnesses, while Christopher ran around knocking over chairs and trying to escape the room. Thankfully, I’d shopped online for properties in Wyoming ever since putting my cabin up for sale. We’d both gotten accustom to country living and being around nature, so a nice piece of property where we could have livestock would fit our needs perfectly. I’d found us the perfect spot. It was twenty acres of land, half wooden, with a modular home already sitting on it. We had plenty of space to build something else, or to add to the existing home. I couldn’t remember being so in love, so excited and hopeful. My life was finally in a good place. I was starting over for the second time, but I wasn’t alone. It was reassuring.

Moving day was a little emotional. We’d rented two pull along trailers and loaded my entire cabin in each. Christopher was in the truck with his father, while I followed behind them in mine with the dog. The drive to Wyoming would take us a about a week with a toddler, so we anticipated making pit stops whenever we had to in order to keep Christopher comfortable.

A new start awaited us; one that would offer Christopher a chance to have friends and grow up surrounded by nature. We’d still have snow, but also nice weather to go along with it. Being in the lower forty eight would offer us means to take road trips, maybe even one to Pennsylvania. For now, I was happy to get to where we were going and finally just be married and content. Our honeymoon would consist of unpacking, painting, and making our home a place we could be comfortable in.

I’ll never forget pulling up to our mailbox and seeing Jensen jump out of the truck in front of me. Christopher happened to be riding with me at the time. He was shaking his seat while screaming, trying to break free. I hurried and got him out, watching as he ran in the direction of his father. Jensen waited until I reached them. He put his arm around me and stared down the long dirt road. “Our future awaits us, Mrs. Weatherly. Are you ready for this?”

“We can’t turn back now. I’m so ready for this.”

He kissed me tenderly on the lips. “I love you guys. This is what forever looks like. Just the three of us.”

“Four,” I corrected, while pointing to my belly. “Soon to be four.”

“What?” He surprisingly asked. “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “Yep. I took a test last night when we stopped at the hotel. It was killing me not to tell you, but I knew it would be more special doing it at our new home.”

“We’re having another kid?” He seemed elated, while crouching down and speaking directly to Christopher. “You’re going to be a big brother, buddy. Is that cool?”

Christopher nodded and pointed down the road. “Come on. Go.”

Jensen turned to me and held out his hand. “Come on, Mommy. We’ll come back and get the trucks in a little bit. Let’s go check out our new home.”

If there was a heaven out there somewhere this is what mine would have looked like. For the first time since they were gone I could feel my family with me. I hoped they were guarding over us from wherever they were, celebrating in the journey I’d been on, and the future I could finally look forward to.





EPILOGUE


3 years later


“Make sure you have your coat!” I yelled from the kitchen. The sound of little feet running let me know where my little two year old daughter was hiding to prevent from having her diaper changed, just like her brother has always done, while Jensen helped get Christopher ready for his first day of kindergarten.

I spotted him walking into the kitchen with his arms extended, a little girl with brown curly hair trying to wriggle her way free. “I found this one behind the couch. She’s loaded. You might want to bury that one once you get it off.”

I took our daughter in my arms and handed Jensen a lunchbox with an embroidered name on it. “Here. Don’t let him forget this. Please snap a picture for me. I’m never going to have her changed in time to see him get on the bus.”

“You change the diaper, I’ll stall the bus.” He kissed me quickly on the cheek and headed out the door to chase after Christopher.