Sprinkle All The Way (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Epilogue

epilogue

VIOLET - 6 ⒈／⒉ YEARS LATER

“Fuck!” I yell as a group of kids on bikes come flying off the sidewalk and onto the street.

“What now?” My sister’s voice fills the car.

“Do some parents not teach their kids to look both ways before crossing the street?” I grumble, collecting myself before driving again.

“I don’t know, everyone else does it wrong but us,” Iris says. “Are you almost back?”

“Yeah, remind me why I’m the one who had to drive out of town to pick up this banner when you ordered it?” I sigh, annoyed we couldn’t make a homemade banner for my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.

“Because I had to make sure the caterers know where to put everything. You’re stopping by Gingerbreads to get the dessert right?” Iris asks, and I can hear her giving someone else directions on where to put the cheese and crackers.

“Yes, I’m almost there now. I’ll be at your place soon. Do you need anything else?” I ask her one last time.

“Just your beautiful face, see you soon.” She ends the call without a goodbye as I park on the street outside the shop .

The sign reads ‘CLOSED’ because of the party today, so I unlock the door with my keys. Walking in, I see boxes of cookies ready to go but no sign of my husband.

“Noah?” I call out, hoping he isn’t upstairs.

A second later, his head pops out from the kitchen door. He’s as handsome as always, with his dark frames and dark hair. He’s rocking a full beard these days, although it’s been trimmed for today. His plaid flannel is rolled up to show off his tattoos, and his dark jeans and boots are perfect for the early fall weather.

“Don’t be mad,” he says, playfulness in his voice. “I lost Lily.”

I stifle my laugh, this is the third time he’s ‘lost’ Lily this week. Getting into character, I step around him and through the kitchen door, giving him a small kiss on the cheek before loudly saying, “What do you mean you lost her? What happened?”

He grins at me, running his fingers through his hair like every other time before. “We were playing hide and seek and she’s too good.”

Suddenly, we hear a giggle from underneath the center table. I look at Noah with a tilt of my head, and he puts one finger over his mouth.

“I guess if I can’t find her, she’ll have to miss the party,” he says loudly as I shake my head.

Right on cue, Lily springs out from under the table. “I’m right here, Daddy!”

He pretends to be shocked as she bounces into his arms, her dark pigtails swinging as he picks her up and spins her around. I’m thankful he was able to get her dressed in the red jumpsuit I bought for her the other week. Although, I can see he wasn’t able to convince her to wear anything besides her yellow rain boots she hasn’t parted with since April. I’m certain that she’s going to ask us to turn them into winter boots by Christmas .

“Thank God we found you,” I call out, moving to his side and tucking myself into his childfree arm. “We ready to get our party on?” I ask Lily, tickling her stomach and causing her to shriek and squirm in his arm.

“Let’s go before this one hides on us again,” he says, scrunching his face at Lily. She returns his look with an equally scrunched face and I can’t believe I got this lucky.

Gingerbreads was officially reopened the day after Noah asked me to stay. On opening day, we ran out of cookies before lunch, and told everyone to come back in a few hours as we baked more. Everyone who stopped by talked about how they loved getting to eat them again at the festival, and they were all anticipating the opening. Bernice did her duty and spread the word that Noah hadn’t actually gotten arrested, which helped people be more comfortable with him. That combined with how much he opened up after me and Simon, things really turned around.

After a week of having the shop open, all the teenagers who were forced to quit because of their parents were rehired. Their friends became regulars like Noah and I were in high school, and the store quickly became a place of laughter again. Seeing the look on Noah’s face when people would come in to see him and ask about Simon or new flavors was priceless. Someone even asked for the peanut butter and jelly cookie that Ginger used to make, which Noah promised would be back soon.

It was easy to fall into a routine with him, him baking and me handling all the business aspects. We would work all day and find ourselves frantically rushing up the stairs to fall into bed. It seems like yesterday when he got down on one knee at the tree lighting and asked me to marry him. I didn’t let him get the question out before I tackled him to the ground.

Then Lily came along almost three years ago, right in time for Christmas morning. Simon was obsessed with her the moment we came through the door with her. Now he never leaves her side.

We quickly outgrew the apartment upstairs, and found a small house close to Main Street. Now it’s a space to relax or let Lily sleep while we work. Luckily the new house has three bedrooms. One for us, one for Lily, and one for the surprise I get to share with Noah tonight when we’re home. I don’t want to take the attention away from my parents, and I want a moment to celebrate with him alone.

I redirect my train of thought when Noah looks at me, worried he’ll be able to read my mind. Fortunately, he doesn’t and we head out of the shop with our copycat, her rain boots squeaking with every step.

A few hours later, Iris’s house is packed with friends and family all here to celebrate my parents. She’s been running around making sure all the food is being refilled, even though I told her it’s literally the caterers job. Luckily, I haven’t had much time to talk to her with all the tasks she keeps sending me on. When I found out I was pregnant with Lily she knew the moment I stepped into her house, which shot my whole announcement plan out the window.

I’m worried if I talk to her for too long today I’m going to spill the beans before I get the chance to tell Noah. I’ve successfully been able to ditch any alcoholic drinks he’s given me, and no one noticed when I spit my champagne into my glass, all too focused on my parents. If I was to tell Noah I wasn’t drinking he would know something was up, since I usually have one or two drinks at these types of events. He’s also on Lily duty since I’m helping Iris host. He and Jacob have her and Ava distracted outside with the bouncy castle. Ava is one of Lily’s favorite people, and I can hear her squeals of joy coming in through the open back door as I close my eyes and soak up the sounds around me.

“What are you doing?” Iris’s voice makes me jump as she comes up out of nowhere and I drop the sparkling water I was pouring into an unlabeled plastic cup.

“Shit, Iris. Don’t sneak up on me,” I say, grabbing a handful of cocktail napkins to soak up the spilled water.

“Sorry, you were standing here for a minute, it was weird,” she tells me, seeing the mess I’ve made on the drinks table. “Oh my god, are you pregnant?” she whisper-yells, stepping closer to me and picking up the can of sparkling water.

My mouth drops open and I’m speechless as she gasps and covers her mouth. I should have told Noah this morning and avoided her all day. If I ever get pregnant again I’m blocking her until I want to tell her.

“How the fuck?” is all I can manage, pulling her down the hall so no one else overhears us and posts about it on the town’s Facebook page.

“You never drink sparkling water,” she says, holding up the can. “So that means, you were pouring it into a cup so it looked bubbly like an alcoholic drink so no one knew you weren’t drinking. There’s no way you wouldn’t drink at this; hell, I started drinking at eleven. A day filled with everyone in town? I need some assistance there.”

“You should be a detective not an eye doctor,” I laugh, grabbing the can from her hand and taking a sip. The fizziness of the water hits my tongue and I almost gag, water should never be bubbly and I remember why I hate this stuff.

“Vi, I’m so happy for you!” she shouts, pulling me into a quick hug before pushing me away. “Wait, does anyone know? ”

I shake my head. “No, I was going to tell Noah after the party. I didn’t want to distract from Mom and Dad’s day,” I tell her.

“Well that won’t do, go grab him and take him upstairs. Jacob can watch Lily,” Iris says, giving me no say in the matter when she takes my hand and drags me through the crowd of people to where our husbands and daughters are.

“Noah, can you help Violet grab something from upstairs?” she asks.

He clearly doesn’t suspect anything when he spins around and follows me into the house and upstairs. He’s going on about how Lily was trying to do flips in the bouncy castle, and maybe we should think about putting her into gymnastics so she doesn’t hurt herself while my heart is acting like it’s about to flip out of my chest. I don’t understand why I’m so nervous to tell him. When I got pregnant with Lily he was so ecstatic, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be now. We weren’t trying, but I never started taking birth control again after Lily and we ran out of condoms.

He’s still talking when I pull him into Iris’s spare room and shut the door behind me.

“What are we getting?” He looks around, confused when he doesn’t see any boxes laying around.

“Actually, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I say, trying to figure out how to tell him without blurting it out.

“Okay well now I’m worried. What’s wrong?” He’s standing in front of me in a flash, warm hands on my shoulders and traveling down my arms to intertwine his hands with mine.

“I’m pregnant,” spills out of my mouth instead of the carefully crafted introduction and easing into I had been rehearsing for the last two minutes.

He doesn’t say anything, he just scoops me in his arms and guides my legs around his body as he spins me around cheering. The instant relief floods through my body and I throw my head back, letting my hair fly in the wind.

“When did you find out?” he asks, finally coming to a stop and keeping me tucked in his arms.

“This morning, right after you left and before I went to get the banner,” I tell him.

“I’m so excited, Violet. I can’t wait to raise another kid with you,” he says through the widest smile, kissing me and holding me closer to him.

We stay like that for a bit longer, making out in a guest room like two teenagers before returning to the party.

When we get outside, Lily tumbles out of the bouncy castle and Noah catches her right before she smacks her head on the ground. Looking at the two of them as he scoops her in his arms fills my heart with so much joy, and I can’t wait to grow our family more. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have found a place where I truly belong.

THE END