Page 36 of Embracing the Wild
"You really want kids that badly?"
"I want kids with you that badly. I want to give them everything I never had. A home. A family. Two parents who love each other and love them." His voice got rough with emotion. "I want to build something that lasts. Something real."
I turned to face him, straddling his lap. "We will. We'll build it together. Kids, family, a life on this mountain. All of it."
He kissed me, and it turned heated quickly. Before I knew it, he was carrying me back to the bedroom for round five.
Or was it six? I'd lost count.
Epilogue
Kim
Six months later, I stood at the front of the Vermont Historical Society's main conference room, visibly pregnant in a dress that no longer hid my growing belly. My presentation on the Burke Mountain Underground Railroad route had drawn historians from three states.
Neil sat in the front row like he had for every presentation I'd given in the past six months. He looked at me like I was the only person in the room. Like I was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.
Dr. Kimberly Fox-Parker, the name on my credentials read. Lead researcher on the Burke Mountain project.
Not an assistant. Not a footnote. Lead researcher.
After the presentation, as people crowded around to ask questions and request copies of my research, Neil waited patiently. When the room finally cleared, he pulled me against him, his hand settling protectively over my belly.
"I’m proud of you," he said.
"Thank you for being here."
"Always." He kissed me, not caring that we were still in the conference room. "Ready to go home?"
Home. The cabin on the mountain where we'd built our life. Where the nursery was ready and waiting for the baby girl we'd be meeting in three months. Where his workshop held furniture for the family we were creating. Where I woke up every morning in his arms, precious and loved and exactly where I belonged.
"Yes. Let's go home."
We drove up the mountain as the sun set, and I thought about the woman I'd been six months ago. Lost in the woods, crying on a log.
That woman was gone. In her place was someone who'd learned to take up space. To be seen. To be precious not despite her size but because of everything she was.
Neil reached over and took my hand, his wedding band catching the light. Six days after I'd returned, we'd gotten married in Kevin's backyard with his brothers and their families watching. No fancy dress, no elaborate ceremony. Just us, promising forever while I wore wildflowers in my hair and Neil looked at me like I was his entire world.
And I was. Just like he was mine.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked.
"How different my life is now. How different I am."
"Better different or worse different?"
I looked at my husband, at the life we'd created in six months, at the future growing inside me. "The best different."
"Good. Because this is just the beginning." He pulled into the driveway. The cabin lights welcomed us home. "We've got a lifetime of different ahead of us."
"I can't wait."
And I meant it. Every word.
