EPILOGUE

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"Because in exchange you give me peace of mind. Baby, you could take all my time. All I needed was a piece. All I needed was peace. Someone that's gone listen to me..."

- Peace of Mind by PARTYNEXTDOOR

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"I have a surprise for you," Payton said to Aubrey. Cyrus smiled knowingly and winked at Payton through the rear view mirror.

Aubrey shook her head with a smile. "Enough with the surprises. You've been surprising me all week. I don't need anything else. We haven't even made it home to see our kids yet," she giggled. Cyrus had just picked them up from the airport. Their honeymoon was in Cancun and they had been there all week. It would've been longer, but they had children to tend to.

"Well, too bad," a devilish smile blessed Payton's face just as Cyrus pulled into the parking lot. Aubrey looked up and her eyebrows furrowed when she realized where they were.

"What are we do—"

"Just get out and go inside," he said, a laugh playing in his voice. Payton got out of the car and reached out his hand so he could help her out. She stopped and looked at the building in front of her before looking back at him. He nodded to urge her on as she took her first step. Aubrey tenaciously walked to the front door and opened it. Everything was in the same state it was when she left. Although, there were now painting supplies, ladders, and tools lying around, clearly implying a renovation.

"You never said what you were gonna' do with this place," she whispered as she walked around before heading to the back.

"Yea, I don't know yet. It all depends," he called after her.

"Depends?" she kissed her teeth playfully. "Depends on what, Pay?" she laughed when she emerged back out to the front.

"On what my wife wants to do with it..." he whispered in a sing song voice and her head immediately whipped around so she could get a good look at him.

"What do you mean?" her words were slow.

"It's yours. In your name. If you wanna' tear it down and build it from the ground up. Do it. Whatever. You name it. Do it. Daddy-O's diner now belongs to Aubrey Hampton."

It took her a few seconds to process everything he had just said, but when she did a sudden burst of energy flowed through her body. A gasp left her mouth before she ran to jump into his arms. "You are the best! I love you so freaking much! I can't believe you did this for me!" she screamed in his ear.

Payton chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Anything for you. I want all of your dreams to come true," he whispered and Aubrey smiled before pulling back. She looked around in awe and tugged at his hand so they could look and walk around.

Aubrey went on-and-on about the plans for her new restaurant. She was trying to figure out a good name for it and what would be on the menu, who she would hire. How the setup would be. The price list. Everything was hitting her like a train. She was so excited to get started. She just couldn't believe he would do all this for her.

After a hour or so Payton finally managed to get her out of the building and back into the car. "Remember, we have kids waiting for us back home. I'm sure they're excited to see you," he teased. She blushed in realization that her joy had made her forget that she'd even been away from her babies for this long.

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