Taylor

Epilogue

I grabbed the last loaf of Hawaiian rolls and went as fast as I could walk to the front of the store. The quicker I got out of there the better—there were too many people doing last-minute shopping and I hated that I was one of them. Damn Luke for forgetting the one thing he said he'd bring. The thought immediately made me feel guilty. For all I knew, he hadn't been feeling very well.

When I got to the house, everyone was already there: Luke and Will, Sara and her date named Felix, Emily, and the newest addition, 7-month-old Addison, who was sitting in Emily's lap.

"How's my favorite niece?" I asked the little bald baby who grinned a gummy grin.

"She's been grumpy," Emily said in exasperation. "I've been giving Luke and Will a little break and she's been non-stop grumpy. That smile is the first smile she's given since she's gotten here."

"That's because Uncle Taylor hasn't been here to cheer her up. Let me have her." I took Addison from Emily and went into the kitchen where Fynn was cooking the rolls we had just brought home.

"You should have picked up another pack of soda while you were in there," Fynn told me as he gave Addison and me a kiss on the cheek.

"You should have come in with me so I didn't have to suffer alone. I was trying to get out of there as fast as I could and I'm not a mind reader. You should have told me you wanted soda."

He shook his head. "You're supposed to just know because we've been together for a year now."

I gave him a flat look just as Addison cooed and made a half giggle noise.

"See? She agrees," Fynn took Addison from me and gave her a toy that was sitting on the counter. He looked extra adorable holding Addison; he would make a perfect dad. But I wasn't so sure about myself. Maybe I didn't ever want kids. Maybe just Uncle was good enough for me.

"Do you want kids?" I asked.

His eyes widened in surprise. "I never really thought about it. I do enjoy having them around." He shrugged.

"I've always seen myself as just Uncle Taylor."

"Yeah, when you have a beautiful little niece like this, how can you not be fine with just uncle? Then you get to spoil the kid and hand them back. That sounds perfect." He grinned at Addison and kissed her chunky little cheek again before cooing at the little girl and making a face. Even just something as simple as that had my heart squeazing happily. He was just so perfect.

"Come here," I told him as I headed to the sliding glass door that went to the backyard. I opened the hanging blinds and pulled the door open. When he stepped outside, his eyebrows raised. Sitting on the outside table was a bouquet of roses, some of the petals were sprinkled along the table to make it look romantic. I handed Addison a little black felt box while Fynn wasn't looking. When he finally turned his gaze back, his mouth slowly fell.

"What's that? How did you get that?" He asked the little girl. She waved it around in the air and he took it from her hand, looking at me in the process. "What's this?"

"It's yours. if you want it, I mean." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. It was a lame proposal, not what I would have preferred; but what I learned about Fynn over the past year was he liked simple and discreet most of the time. He wouldn't want an audience or a big show.

He handed Addison to me and opened the box with a huge grin. "Really? Is this... are you...."

"Will you marry me, Fynn?"

"Yes! Yes, of course!" He stuck the ring on his finger then gave me a long passionate kiss, not pulling away until Addison slapped him in the face.