Charlie Ever After

Epilogues

Tanner— Six years later

"Congratulations to the University of Arizona's Veterinary Program's 2023 graduates!" The dean of the school announced before a sea of navy blue and red caps launched into the air.

As soon as the caps floated down, I could see my Charlie girl running towards me. Her red, off the shoulder summer dress was flowing behind her as she held her wide brimmed hat to her head. I could already hear her squealing and when she got close enough, I opened my arms and caught her as she leapt into me.

She squeezed me tight as I spun her around.

"I'm so proud of you!" She squealed in my ear.

I couldn't contain my happiness or the smile that was so big, it hurt.

"I couldn't have done it without you." I hugged her as close to me as space would allow and nuzzled my nose into the waves laying over her shoulder. Her familiar scent of honeysuckle drifted around me, damn near intoxicating me.

When we finally pulled apart, we just stared at each other with our wide grins until she finally pulled me away and off towards our friends and family.

When we got to the huge group of them, I scanned the crowd. I couldn't believe that all of these people were here for me.

Jillian, Mia, and April were jumping up in the air, holding a homemade Happy Grad banner.

When I got up to them, I ruffled Jillian's hair and she groaned.

"Not the hair!" She immediately ran her fingers through her curled locks and tried to fix it. For twelve years old, she sure as hell was acting like more of a teenager now.

I was glad that Mia and April still had that bit of childish magic left to them. I was definitely not looking forward to having three teenage sisters. I was just glad that I didn't live under the same roof as them anymore.

"Good job, kiddo." My dad gave me a quick hug and pat on the back before turning me over to a bursting Trish.

I had never seen her smile so big. She was bursting at the seams with proud excitement and when she hugged me, she let out a similar girlish squeal to Charlie. "I'm so proud of you Tanner." She squeezed me tight. "You did it."

When she pulled back, she tried to blink back tears.

The next round of hugs came from our group of friends, and I couldn't explain how happy I was to see them all in one place. It had been a while since we had been able to get together again as a group, far too long.

When me and Collin hugged, I tried to keep my words as quiet as possible. "Everything ready for tonight?"

He offered me a nod as he patted me on the back. "She's gonna love it. I had Scout help." He gave me a goofy grin when he pulled away and a quick thumbs up before offering me over to Scout.

"You better not break her heart or I will break your balls." She mumbled into our hug.

I choked out a laugh. "If I was going to hurt her, don't you think I would've done it by now?"

She thought over my words for a moment before offering me an innocent shrug.

My nerves were starting to bubble to the surface but I dampened them down and tried to find the excitement in what I was going to do tonight. Something I had been waiting far too long to do.

After the graduation ceremony, we all met up at a local pub for dinner. I didn't want anything fancy or overhyped. I just wanted to spend time with my family.