head. “No? We’re getting married. Why do I need clothes?”
Brian’s eyes darkened. “Fair enough. Do you want to call Knox?”
Katie shook her head again. “No, I will leave him a message. I don’t want anyone stopping us. This is our happily ever after, and I am going to make damn sure that we get it!”
“What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“You stalked me and then lied about it,” she replied deadpan.
Brian opened his mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. “Fair enough.”
When Knox came into the sheriff's office the next morning, he learned that his deputy had taken a short leave of absence. Apparently, she was off chasing her happily ever after.
The End.
EPILOGUE for Katie & Brian
“Sweetheart, you have to push, one more big one, and he will be out.”
Lucy, the new nurse practitioner, encouraged Katie, but she was exhausted after ten hours of labor. Brian was sweating at her side, wondering what in the hell he could have been thinking. Why had he wanted kids in the first place? It clearly was a mistake, and he was being punished.
“You can do it, Katie,” he rasped through dry lips.
“This is all your fault!” Katie raged at him. “Our baby is huge because of you! We couldn’t have a normal-size baby!”
The nurse had to turn away to hide her smile. Brian looked stricken.
“I am sorry!”
But it didn’t matter. Another contraction was upon her, and Katie was screaming while the nurse was telling her to bear down while pushing, and then the little head was crowning.
Brian was feeling woozy and maybe wonderful. And then, Katie started screaming again, and her nails were digging into his palms. He prayed that this might be it for her because she really sounded like she was dying. The nurse practitioner was saying they were doing so well, and then there was a cry.
A great lusty sound and the pretty nurse was saying that their son was indeed a healthy young man, and Katie was crying, and Brian was feeling woozy again.
“Did I miss anything?” Dr. Young walked in just as Brian’s eyes rolled, and he fell backward to the floor. “Oh shit!”
Lucy took care of the baby while Dr. Young helped Brian.
“What are you going to name him?” Lucy asked Katie as she brought the wrapped infant over to Katie.
“Joel Brian Williams,” Katie said, taking her baby into her arms. “He’s perfect, isn’t he?”
Lucy smiled at Katie as she began to take her vitals. “The most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Happy birthday, Joel.”
Dr. Young had managed to get Brian back in a chair and was having him sip some juice.
“You did really well there,” he said, complimenting Lucy. Katie watched as Lucy’s cheeks flushed with pleasure. It looked like Dr. Young might just have found someone right for him after all.
EPILOGUE for Julio & Natalie
It was the third time that night that cries had awakened them.
Natalie moved to get up, but he stopped her.
“No, I will get her. Stay here.” He kissed Natalie’s brow, then rose and went to the bedroom across the hall and picked up their daughter from her crib.
Her bedroom was every little girl's fantasy. Fairies and ponies scattered on the floor where she had left them, board books, dress-up clothes, and toys galore.
“Lilly, what is the trouble?”
“Dadda, Dadda!” At just over eighteen months, she didn’t have a lot of language, but she could clearly say, Dada.
“Baby, why aren’t you sleeping?”
Julio moved her over to the changing table and proceeded to change her soiled diaper. He then carried Lilly into his and Natalie’s bedroom. It wasn’t often that they allowed her inside their room. But at this point, they were both so exhausted that it hardly mattered.
Lilly was nursing a little in the evening, and Natalie lifted her arms to take Lilly and see if perhaps she could try and get her to latch on.
“Julio, did you feel her face? She is rather hot.” Natalie sat up and held Lilly against her. The baby whimpered and buried her face into her mother’s neck.
Julio grabbed a thermometer, and sure enough, Lilly was running a little bit of a fever. They grabbed some pain reliever and snuggled her into bed with them.
“It will be morning soon. It’s a good thing that you aren’t going far into work,” Natalie said with a yawn.
Julio smiled faintly, “The living room?”
Natalie laughed, “Yes! Do you regret buying Alice and Reena’s house?”
Julio shook his head, “Not at all. Especially now that the expansion is done. I