One Snowy Morning

Epilogue

"Mommy!" my daughter, Lena, said as she launched herself at me when I walked through the door after my photo shoot late this afternoon. It was a night time shoot, so it was rather late in the evening for her to be awake.

"Hi sweetie," I said as I bent down to hug her, "What are you doing awake?" Before she answered me, I looked up to see Asher leaning against the wall.

"She wanted you to read her bedtime story to her tonight, and since tomorrow is Saturday, I figured letting her stay up a little later wouldn't hurt," he told me as he pulled me into a hug.

"Lena, why don't you go choose a story while I go get changed into something else," I wasn't done talking, but that didn't matter since she was out of my sight before I could say anything else. "It astounds me how much energy she was at nine at night."

"Five year olds have more energy than any other age I've seen," Asher replied as he pulled away from our hug, "I saved some food for you. I'll warm it up while you get changed."

"Thank you," I said after I kissed his cheek and walked up the stairs to our room. I chose to wear a light sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"Did you cook tonight?" I asked as I sat down on the barstool tucked under the counter, "This looks really good."

"You know all I can make is pasta," Asher said with light laughter, "I got this from the restaurant down the street. It's spiky chicken and veggie stir fry."

"My favorite," I said with a happy sigh, "You're the best."

"You don't have to tell me," he said with a teasing smile, "I already know. Do you want a glass of wine with it?"

"I think I'll have to pass on that," I said, giving him a look, I hoped he would understand. I found out this morning that I was pregnant after having a bit of morning sickness.

He tilted his head to the side before his eyes widened slightly, "You're pregnant?" The growing smile on his face told me that he was growing excited by the possibility, and I let out a laugh and nodded my head, while taking a bit of my chicken.

Before he could react any farther, our daughter came running into the room, "I'm ready mommy!"

"Okay sweetie," I said laughing as I stood up, "I'll be right up. Why don't you go choose a story for me to read."

She ran out of the room like lighting, which gave my husband the opportunity to react, "Holy shit."

I burst out laughing as I walked over and looped my arms around his neck, "Of all the things I expected you to say, that was not one of them."

He leaned forward and gave me a peck on the lips, "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "That was not something I was expecting to hear this evening."

"Well," I said back, "aren't you excited?"

"In addition to shock, yes," he said with a light laugh, "how long have you known?"

"Since this morning," I said back, "I haven't felt well all day."

"Well," he said slowly, "go read Lena her story, and I will get everything ready for a nice movie night so you can relax."

"That sounds wonderful," I replied pulling away and turning towards the stairs, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

I walked up the stairs and into my daughter's room to find her patiently sitting on her bed with a stuffed bunny in her lap waiting for me. I looked to see what book she chose, only to see that she didn't pick on off the shelf in the corner of her room.

"What story did you choose?" I asked sitting on the end of her bed.

"I didn't choose a book," she replied with a sheepish smile, which I returned with a small grin.

"Well, why not?" I asked her, "Do I need to find some new ones for you?"

"No, that's ok," she replied, "I was wondering if you could tell me the story of how you and dad met."

"I certainly can sweetie" I said, as that touched me in a way I did not expect, "What would you like to know?"

"Everything," she said right away, "I wanna know everything."

"Well," I said leaning up and tucking her into bed, "it all started with a picture on one snowy morning."