I'm Not Broken - TH

•epilogue•

Five years later

"Ellie come on please, it's time to go." I call as I walk out to the back yard, seeing mine and Toms foster daughter learning to shoot a bow with Haz. She's been with us for a year now, and it's only a few weeks until her adoption is official, and she will be ours. It feels like we've been waiting forever for this to happen, and now we're so close. We love her so much.
"But Haz and I are shooting!" She groans sassily. I was not expecting a seven year old to have such a big personality, but it's okay. She's also one of the sweetest girls I've ever met in my life, and she is so grateful for everything she has. It's hard to believe that she was in the system for six years.
"Yeah well Haz needs to go change before we all go to dinner." I say.
Ellie runs inside to get her shoes and jacket on, and Haz grabs the bow and arrows, putting them away. I compromised with Tom and said she could learn how to use a bow but not a gun, and she's actually gotten very good at it.
"I think I look great." He says defensively towards my comment.
"I just said that to get her to listen." I laugh.
"Three weeks until it's official. Are you excited?" He asks.
"I'm so excited." I smile. "I mean, we never expected to actually adopt.. I just wanted to Foster. She stuck to me like glue though. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I'm ready!" Ellie says from the door.
"Grab your tablet, the flight will be about an hour." I say to her.
Haz and I go inside, and I hear Tom pull the car up. We're flying to Paris for dinner, which I'm extremely excited for but also a bit confused. Why would Tom go this big just to go have dinner with everyone? It's not even anyone's birthday or anything. Although I blame it on him constantly wanting to do nice things for me, and I've been talking about going to Paris for a while now.
The front door opens, and my boyfriend walks in wearing a gorgeous navy blue suit and a nice tie. I swear he just gets more beautiful with age.
"Tom!" Ellie exclaims, running over to hug him tightly.
"Ah my little sugarplum! How was your day?" He asks her as he lifts her in his arms.
It warms my heart to see him with her. When she came to live with us, she bonded with him instantly, and that bond has only gotten stronger over time. They absolutely adore each other. It's precious.
"I got to shoot my bow with Haz!" Ellie says happily.
"Oh you did? I bet you're even better than him now." Tom laughs.
"I am." Ellie says plainly and I giggle, seeing Haz is all grumpy because he knows it's true.
Tom sets her down, and tells her to go get in the car, Haz follows out behind her and I walk up to my boyfriend, finally having a second alone with him before we have to go.
"How was your day?" He asks, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"It was good, I got a call from her case worker. Three weeks from today she will be ours." I say and his eyes light up in a way I've never seen before.
"Only three weeks?" He asks, and I nod.
He squeezes me tightly, and I can just feel how happy he is. If it's even possible for a person to love Ellie more than I do, it's him. I know the day she becomes ours will be the greatest day of his life.
"I love our little family." He mumbles.
"I do too."
We go out to the car, and get in to head to the jet. The twins are meeting us at the jet so they can go too. This is going to be so much fun, I haven't gotten to dress up nice in a while. And I love spending time with my family.
We show up at the jet, and I'm surprised to see my mum, and Toms parents waiting there too. I didn't know they were coming.
"Hey guys." I smile, hugging my mum, and then Toms parents. "What a surprise!"
"My kid takes my jet out more than I do, figured I'd join in for once." Dom laughs.
Dom found out about Tom and I shortly after we moved out and Haz took over the job of being the boss. At first he was furious with Tom for putting the mob at risk, but after a long talk with Nikki, and meeting me, he came accepting of it pretty quickly. I couldn't have a better future father in law, he's great.
"Well then let's go!" I say excitedly, walking onto the jet.
Ellie sits between the twins, showing them the games on her tablet. She adores the twins, I like that she has them around, I just know they will always be there to protect her. Along with everyone else in her life.
Toms leg bounces as he sits in his seat, he only does that when he's really nervous. I wonder what's wrong.. I know he gets a bit nervous on flights. It's probably just that.
"Just a one hour flight." I say to him.
"What?" He says.
"You're nervous." I say looking down to his leg which comes to a halt. "It's just an hour. It'll be fine."
"Oh- yeah. Not that bad." He smiles.
The jet takes off, and everyone chats as we fly. I play with Toms fingers, kind of disassociating myself from the group. I love them all, but this week specifically Tom has been very busy, and we haven't gotten to have much alone time.
"I love you." I mutter quietly to him, and I can see that my words still affect him when a blush rises on his cheeks.
"I love you too."
_____
The jet lands, and its sunset in Paris. It's my first time here, and I'm so excited. Ellie gets off the jet, and walks over to me, grabbing my hand. We go over to the car, and get in. Tom gets in the car with us and two other cars take everyone else.
"It's so pretty here." Ellie comments.
The most she's seen before she came with us is the outside of the orphanage, and Tom and I can't wait to show her the entire world.
We get to the restaurant, and I'm in awe of how gorgeous it is. It's a rooftop restaurant that looks out over Paris, you can even see the Eiffel Tower! It's lit up beautifully in the darkening sky. This is an even more amazing view than what I was expecting.. I really can't believe I'm here..
"Tom.. this is amazing." I say as we sit down.
"Yeah it is." He nods.
I steal a quick kiss from him, which makes him smile like crazy. Ugh he's so cute.
"Ellie your dress is very pretty." Nikki comments.
"Thanks! Mum and I went shopping yesterday and got it!" She says and I feel my heart literally skip a beat.
She just called me mum.
"I mean um- Chloe." She giggles and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace as I kiss her head.
"I can't believe you just called me mum." I say in a high pitch.
"I'm sorry-"
"No no no sweetie." I shake my head. "Please don't be sorry, I want you to call me mum. I am your mum."
A smile grows on her face, and she leans back in to hug me again. I hold her tightly, and everyone smiles at the interaction. Finally. she finally sees me as her mum.
"Well now I'm jealous." Tom mutters and everyone around the table laughs.
We get our food and eat, while Haz does most of the talking. I swear he could talk for days straight if we let him. Good thing is it keeps Ellie busy. Her and Haz are best of friends.
"You champagne Mr. Holland." The waiter says as he reaches our table and Tom shakes his head frantically.
"Uh no- no I'm good thanks you can take that back." He says quickly, and the waiter nods, awkwardly walking away.
"What was that about?" I ask him.
"I just decided I didn't want champagne is all." He shrugs. "I'm gonna head to the bathroom. I'll be right back."
He gets up, and leaves the table. I turn to Haz with confusion, wanting to know what's wrong.
"Did something happen at work today?" I ask.
"Uh no- nothing." He shakes his head. "He's fine."
"He's being weird..." I shrug.
Tom comes back to the table, and the night goes on. He seems a little more put together now, but I can just tell something is wrong. He doesn't act like this.. it's not how he is.
Dinner comes to an end, and we all prepare to go back to our hotel rooms. Just as we're about to get in the car, my mum walks up to us.
"I think my granddaughter and I need to have a slumber party." She says and Ellie cheers excitedly.
"Can I?" She asks.
"Of course." I smile, and hand my mum her overnight bag. It works perfectly, cause Tom and I desperately need some alone time.
"Night mum, night dad." Ellie says and Tom is quick to scoop her up, kissing her cheek.
"Goodnight sugarplum." He says, and hands her off to my mum.
We get in the car, and I can see the joy radiating off of him that she finally called him dad.
"I'm a dad." He says with a giggle.
"A great one." I smile.
He leans over, kissing my lips softly. This is the first time he's seemed like himself tonight. The driver takes us through Paris towards our hotel. The streets are beautiful. I really love it here. We will definitely be visiting more often.
We get to the hotel, and we grab our few bags, checking in and going up to our room. Of course Tom went all out, getting us the nicest suite in the building. It has to be costing him a ton, especially because this was a last minute trip. Not that money is a concern for him though.
I fall back on the big and fluffy white bed, looking out the window to once again have an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. Tom sits next to me, and I turn to him.
"What's going on?" I ask. "You've been acting weird.."
"Nothing." He shakes his head, and I lift my brow.
"Really? Because I can tell when you're lying, and you're definitely lying." I state.
He groans, standing from his seat next to me.
"I'm a coward." He mutters as he paces the room.
"And why do you think that?" I ask.
"Because I've never been scared to do anything in my life. I have faced some of the scariest shit any person could ever face, and here I am with my first normal life decision and I'm scared to do it." He explains.
I walk over to him, grabbing his hand to calm him down.
"Is this about adopting Ellie? You're not having second thoughts are you?" I ask with concern and his eyes widen.
"No! Absolutely not!" He exclaims.
"Then tell me what's going on.. please. I can't stand when you keep secrets from me and you know that." I sigh.
Tom leads me out onto the deck outside our room that overlooks the city. It's a little cold, but not too terrible.
"Since I was sixteen, I knew I wanted to take you here, that Paris would be our place." He says. "I've been planning this night for a very very long time.. but it's just not going the way I wanted it to."
"Why not? It was wonderful. I had a great time." I encourage him.
"Because you make me nervous, even after all these years." He states and I rest my hand on his cheek lovingly, running my thumb across his skin. "And I'm scared to mess this up."
"Tom it's a trip to Paris, there's really nothing you could do to mess it up." I laugh lightly. How could he think he could mess anything up when we're in freaking Paris!
"It's not the trip I'm worried about messing up.." he says quietly.
"Then what is it?" I question.
I see his breathing get shaky, and I feel a raindrop hit my nose. We should probably get inside, but if I interrupt him now, he may not just spit out whatever is bothering him. He reaches into his jacket pocket, and as he pulls something out it falls straight out of his hand and off the balcony.
"No!" He yells, quickly running into the room and out the door.
I follow behind him, all the way down to the exit of the hotel. It's pouring down rain now, yet he still runs straight out into it. What the hell was in his pocket?!
"Tom!" I groan, ripping off my heels because I can't keep up with his stride. "Tom where are you going?!"
I stop in my tracks when I see what he picks up from the ground. A bright, silver engagement ring sits in his hand. He looks up to me, hair soaking wet and rain still pouring directly onto us.
"This is not how I wanted this to go." He laughs. "But you know what? Nothing else about us is traditional."
He gets down on one knee, his eye slightly squinting as a raindrop hits it. I giggle at the situation, but also feel tears welling in my eyes at the moment.
"Chloe, I have been terrified of this moment for a very long time, because you are quite honestly way too good for me." He laughs. "But I've also been looking forward to this moment, because of how good you are for me, and how good we are together. Our love started that awkward day when I accidentally met you in the girls bathroom.. and I haven't stopped embarrassing myself in front of you since then- yet you still love me. You have accepted me for every flaw, and every struggle. you gave me a purpose in this life, and I want to spend every breathing moment of my life trying to fulfill that purpose. Chloe.. sweetheart, will you marry me?"
I can feel every emotion at once, coursing through my veins. And as the Paris rain pours down on us, I know there is only one truly fitting answer to his question.
"Of course." 
He stands to his feet, grabbing my face in his hands and presses his lips to mine in a deep passionate kiss that brings butterflies to my stomach. His proposal was perfect. It was messy, and funny, and cheesy, and loving. Everything I love about him.
"We should get out of this rain." He says and I shake my head.
"Let me live in this moment just a little bit longer." I say.
He slides the ring on my finger, and it becomes real. The goofy boy I was best friends with through high school, the boy that saved my life, the boy that took me in and scared me to death with his life, the boy who I fell in love with- will now be my husband.

A/N: and that's the end! I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I did. Thank you for reading!

My new book will be posted Sunday, and I hope you all will check it out!