What It Seems | Wattys 2023

Epilogue

Adalynne fumbled with her ring finger, staring at the rock that was wrapped around her long, skinny digit. She was wide awake at an odd three AM after a long day at work at the clinic she worked at as an intern as a cardiologist.

She got up from her shared big king-sized bed and stood on the hardwood floors. It was cold and her slippers were all the way in their closet.

Adalynne crept downstairs slowly but surely. She saw her husband sitting at the kitchen table with a laptop in front of his face. He had a cup of tea sitting on the table. There were spreaded papers everywhere and she couldn't help but feel sorry for Baylor for the lack of sleep he has.

She rested her hands on his bare shoulders and massaged them. It woke him up a bit and he sat up straight.

"Babe, you should come to bed," she said as she watched him slide his finger across the built-in mouse on his laptop.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked curiously.

She yawned. "I'm not feeling well."

Baylor stretched and closed his laptop. He left the papers in a stack and stood from the table. He slid the chair back across the carpeted floor and stood up to comfort his wife.

"C'mon, Mrs. Parker." Baylor had her hand in his. She followed him to their bedroom that was down the hall a little bit.

"I found us a house," Baylor noted as he rubbed his wife's back.

She picked her head up to look at him. "Really? What's it look like?" she asked with a bright smile that Baylor adored.

"That, my dear, is a surprise." He kissed her forehead.

Baylor watched her slowly fall asleep. To this day, since he asked her to marry him on their fourth anniversary in October, he couldn't believe how far they've came. He never got the image of her facial expression out of his head when he proposed; neither the way she looked when she walked down the isle, nor the first dance they took as a married couple.

But what he really loved was the way Adalynne chose him, out of all people in the world, she chose Baylor's heart.

And Adalynne knew that was the best decision she ever made in her life.