Epilogue: a year later
“What time is the reservation?” Heather was sitting at her dressing table, putting on earrings, while Uri stood behind her, tying his tie. She looked at him appraisingly.
He looked at his watch. “In forty-five minutes.”
“Okay, I’m going to go check and make sure Tiffany has everything she needs for the evening.” She stood to move past him, but he blocked her and wrapped her in a crushing hug.
“I love you, you know that, don’t you?” He whispered into her ear, sending tingles straight to her toes.
She leaned up and kissed him. “Yes, I know. I love you too, Uri.” Wrapping her arms around his neck and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, she asked, “You don’t regret anything, do you?”
He laughed, a hearty rumbling sound that Heather loved. “As if I had a choice. The first time I saw you, I was a goner.” He swooped down for another kiss. “Of course I don’t regret a single moment of it.”
“Good.” She swatted his butt, as she moved around him to go downstairs and check on Tiffany.
Tiffany was sitting on the couch, holding a bundle of blankets, cooing to it softly.
“Can you think of anything that I might’ve forgotten, Tiff?” Heather asked, as she came into the room.
“I’ve got the pediatrician’s number on speed dial, the bottles are prepared, diapers are at the ready, I know where the baby Tylenol and the gas drops are kept. I think I’ve got it. Remember, I live with you guys? I pretty much know the routine by now.” She reassured the new mother, patiently.
“I’m just checking.”
“Go out, and enjoy y’all’s date. I got this.”
Uri came down the stairs, humming softly. “You ready, Heather? I’m pretty sure Tiffany has this under control.”
Heather rolled her eyes, and said, “I was just making sure. Yeah, I’m ready.”
On the way to the restaurant, Heather reflected on how much her life had changed in the past year. They had gotten married in the small chapel at her mother’s nursing home so she could attend. Luckily, she had been lucid that day and enjoyed the proceedings immensely. They had bought a house, in the same neighborhood where Heather already lived, although they’d been able to buy one of the big houses, so she wasn’t relegated to the garage anymore. Tiffany had moved in, and since the house was so big, she wasn’t constantly underfoot. She was working as a freelance commercial artist, having started with advertisements for Heather’s ballet school. Heather’s school was going well, once she got a class started, word of mouth spread, and now she was booked full, for her part-time schedule. She was enjoying working with the little girls, watching them bloom into budding dancers. They were getting ready for their first recital, and everybody was excited.
The baby had been unexpected but welcomed. When Heather had told Uri she was pregnant, he’d wept with unabashed joy. He was the greatest father and the most understanding husband, and Heather looked forward to spending the rest of her life with him.
They still took daily walks in the park with Taco and baby Noah and had even found a church to visit every week that Uri didn’t think was “a travesty to spirituality.” Uri had bought a cabin in the woods outside of the city, about an hour and a half away, so he could be a part of nature and to meditate, when the park wasn't enough.
Uri pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, and rested his hand on her thigh, interrupting her reverie. “Why are you so quiet, over there?”
“Just thinking…So much has changed in the past year. It’s overwhelming sometimes, in a good way." She looked at his beautiful face lit by streetlights.
Cupping her face lightly in his hand, he looked at her with love pouring out of his eyes. "I think about it too. An eternity of more of the same, shlepping around, trying to get humans to listen to me tell them what they should do, or spending the rest of my life with the woman I love and my family?" He pulled her close, covering her mouth with warm kisses. "I never knew love until I met you, Heather. You are the closest thing to Heaven I ever want."