Eva
Years Later

“It came,” Liam says, holding up an envelope. 

“Oh dear,” I mutter, looking down at my daughter Penelope napping on my lap. 

“I can take her while you open it,” Liam offers.

“No…I don’t even know if I want to open it.”

“Bullshit! You worked hard, and I won’t let you shrug it off.”

The first few years I spent on the mountain, I was content taking care of our homestead. Then a bug bit me, and I decided to go back to college. 

Thankfully, there were several good options for online education, and I was able to graduate with a bachelors in only two years because I’d already had so many credits from my prestigious high school. 

After graduation, the bug kept biting, and I found myself taking the LSAT, which Liam is holding the results to. 

“Just tell me! Be gentle.”

He opens the envelope, scans the page, and cracks a wide grin. “Is 172 good? I think it’s good.”

“You’re joking!” I gasp. Penelope stirs, and I comb her hair, trying to soothe her again. 

“My baby’s going to be a lawyer, and pretty soon, I’ll get to stay at home and kick my feet up,” Liam boasts. 

“Don’t get your hopes up. I think I’ll be drawn to a lot of nonprofit cases.”

“That’s fine with me, baby.”

“Momma, Momma!” Little Liam comes rushing into the room. “The goat is gonna have her baby!”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, Momma, she’s breathing all heavy like you do when you carry all the groceries in at once.”

We giggle as we make our way out to the barn, Penelope now asleep in my arms. 

He’s already been wrong three times, but he’s bound to be right once, and sure enough, Petunia is deep in labor. 

Liam, my husband, not my son, helps her along, and by nightfall, we have a new addition to the homestead. 

Little Liam makes it his mission to care for momma goat, giving her vegetable scraps and making sure she’s properly hydrated. It warms my heart that he’s caring like his father, and I have no doubt that one day, he’ll make a great husband. 

We enjoy stew for dinner, then we sit in the family room to play Uno, as we do most nights. 

Liam expanded the cabin by over one thousand square feet, which is more than enough for our growing family. Not that my parents listened. We were out of town when they had a crew come in to build us a surprise guesthouse. Liam was fuming mad, but he calmed when he realized they weren’t being snobby. They were just trying to help. 

Penelope crawls across the floor as we play, exploring the world we’ve created for her, and I can’t help but feel a sense of peace. We may not be living in a multi-million dollar penthouse in the city like my sister Mabel, but we’re happy, and that’s enough. 

After we get the kids to bed, Liam turns to me and says, “Are you set on grad school yet?”

I shrug. “I don’t think I’ll be going.”

“Why the hell not?”

I take his hand and press it to my stomach. 

His brow lifts. “Again?”

Nodding, I say, “Again.”

“Well, that’s great, but I’m not letting you give up on your dream.”

“But my children deserve all of me.”

“And they’ll get all of you. To make this work, you’re giving up on chores. I’m hiring a maid and they’ll live in the guest house. There isn’t a single thing you won’t do outside of parenting, school, and satisfying my insatiable desire for you.”

“But—”

“No buts. They’ll help around the house, and they’ll help with the kids, but they won’t replace you. I promise.”

“But do you really think I can go to school like this?”

“If you want, yeah. You’re already smart as a whip, and you’ll have all the support you need. You’re starting early in your pregnancy, so you should at least get to finish one semester, and if you need to take a semester off, that’s fine, but you’re going.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I was worried, but you always seem to understand and have the answers I need.”

We crawl into bed and cuddle in each other’s arms. I can’t say I wasn’t scared when I first married Liam. I was terrified. But settling down with him was the right thing to do. 

I love Liam and our little family from now until forever. Nothing’s going to take them from me, because every year that goes by we grow stronger.

And I have no doubt that the best is yet to come.

The End

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