Sweet Consumption

Epilogue

"Libby! Libby!" A toddler boy cries as he waddles into the room. His bright blonde hair is sticking up all over the place and his fingers are covered in what looks like blood. My immediate reaction is to run to him, but I'm stopped by my mother who steps in front of me, halting my progress.

“Oh, no you don't!" she shouts, indicating my dress.

"But, Mom, he's hurt!" I reply, panicked at all the blood smeared on his arms. 

"Then I'll check him out, not you,” she tells me sternly and turns around to inspect the boy. Tears are streaming down his mocha colored face and I wonder where his mother is.

The thought has barely entered my mind when Sasha comes careening through the door. "There you are!" She sighs, relieved. She crouches next to my mother and they both calm him down enough to realize that it's not blood, but icing.

"Cri let me tate, I jut wat to tate,” he cries between hiccups.

"I'm sure Chris did let you taste, Parker, but I'll bet he didn't want you taking a whole handful. Let's get you to the restroom so we can clean you up. We don't want to get icing all over the pretty ring pillow, now do we?" Sasha directs him calmly and takes his hand, his face sullen.

She smiles apologetically back at me as she leaves the room and I can only smile fondly back. Ever since Sasha got pregnant, our lives have been a whirlwind of activity. John and her had only been married a couple of months and thought they would have more time to start a family, but a missed pill changed everything they had planned. It only took them six months after her moving to California for him to propose and then a year later, Parker was born. And all I could think the entire time was I couldn't wait to begin that life with Collin. 

My mother shakes her head. "How that reminds me of your brother. He couldn't keep his hands out of anything when he was little." She pauses and looks thoughtful. "Of course, he really can't keep his hands out of anything now, either." 

I laugh and turn back around to the mirror to adjust my veil. Collin wasn't as eager to get married after his recent annulment, so we decided to wait a few years before we started our own family. I also decided to wait a while before I moved in with him, taking that time to get to know each other and be a regular couple before we took our relationship to the next step. Our first few months together moved so quickly, I wanted to slow things down and take the time to really enjoy every part of our relationship. 

It wasn't until four months ago that Collin decided he couldn't wait anymore. He took me to a wonderful restaurant, then had something set up on the beach behind his house. Thankfully, the wind wasn't blowing, so the large candles were still lit around the petal covered blanket. There was a white box sitting on the blanket that housed a large heart-shaped cupcake with the ring sitting right on top of some icing. It still brings a smile to my face, thinking about his words that night.

"Olivia, since the first moment I saw you after you ran into my car, I knew you were different. You were unlike anyone I’d ever met and I remember clearly the instant I fell in love with you." He holds out the cupcake. "You brought a rather amusing cupcake to my hotel with a butchered lion painted on it.”