Moving In With The Enemy

Epilogue ~ "You're My Whole World"

2 years later.....

Walker POV:

Today has to be perfect.

I've been so busy getting ready for this day for weeks and it has to be tonight, otherwise she'll start to really suspect something's up.

Annie's graduating from her masters program today and I've never been more proud of her. Her brain is massive, every time I see her she's reading something or doing some more research. I swear we have a pile of library books in the corner of our office that never gets any smaller.

She's applied to PhD programs far and wide, but I have a feeling she'll stay at Brown for that too. Which I don't have any issues with, I don't want to change anything about our lives.

Well.....I'd like to change one thing, hopefully today is the right day to do it.

I finished my MBA a few months ago and graduated in the fall semester, it was a surreal experience. Now I had a full-time job at an office downtown. I'm starting with marketing but I want to get up to investment banking and trust. That's where I know what I'm doing and hopefully with a few years and the right connections I can get there and really provide for the two of us.

Annie keeps saying she's staying in school because she has no idea what she's doing outside of it. But I think it's the opposite, school and academia is where she thrives, her eyes light up when she understands things and learns stuff. As much as she's worn out and exhausted, she's doing what she wants and that makes me happy.

The thought that she might have the word 'Doctor' in front of her name one day is insane. But also......a little bit hot.

Life treated us well, I held down the nine-to-five and the groceries, Annie held down housekeeping and her schoolwork. We made it work for us, there were times when it felt like we had completely opposite lives and schedules, but that just made our time together that much more special.

Every single day I get to come home to the most amazing woman I know, I get to watch her dance with her headphones in because she has her music up too loud and can't hear me coming. I watch her reorganize something once every single day. I've come to realize we like exactly zero percent of the same TV and movies, but whenever she watches trashy reality TV I can't help but watch it with her.

I never used to understand how long term relationships even worked before Annie, I was convinced there was no way to keep coming home to the same girl day after day and still love her the same way. 

I'm starting to love her more, if you can believe that.

Annie's changed over the past two years. She's sure of herself, not afraid to speak up for what she wants and she's calm. She doesn't spiral and pace, think weird things and then chew her hangnails until they bleed. Instead she's talking to me when she feels that way, learning how not to turn things into big deals. I'm proud of her for all of that.

Her parents were in our apartment this morning, her mom helped her get ready and me, Jesse and her dad watched football to give them their space. Her parents were over every so often, every time they'd come with a bunch of food. We were all going to Annie's graduation together and then to dinner afterwards. 

This day is incredibly important for her and the most important thing for her is to have her family with her. They've kind of become my family too considering they see me way more than my own. They were the ones that came to my graduation in the fall.

I called her dad a few weeks ago to ask for some advice, something specifically about Annie and it was important to me that I got his input.

"Laddies and Gentlemen, boys and girls," I hear her mom's voice as she steps down the hall. "May I present, Annika Cook, MD!" She exclaims and I watch the most beautiful girl in the world walk down the hallway.