Tell Me You Love Me {Student/Teacher}

Tell Me You Love Me-Epilogue

                                                                        One Year Later

I sit at a picnic table at the park, simply watching the activity that is going on around me. As I watch Jerod run around in the grass with our son, it's still hard for me to believe that Collin is one year old already. I owe so much to him, and he's still so little. He brought Jerod and I together and made us both realize that we were much happier together than apart. He has taught me that there is no from of love more pure or more strong, than that of a mother. Cars start pulling up as our family and friends start to arrive for Collin's birthday party.

My mom and dad arrive first with arm loads of presents. I laugh and point to the table we have put out for all of his gifts. "Mom, you do know that he is only one kid right?" I ask as I gesture to the many packages that both my mom and dad are holding.

She just laughs and waves it off. "You only turn one once. Besides, he's my only grandson, I can't help but spoil him. Where is my favorite boy?" My mom asks. I point out in the grass where Collin is laying with Jerod tickling him, causing him to laugh so hard that I can't help but smile. My mom and dad quickly go over to see Collin.

Carissa and Scott walk over and I get up to greet them. "Where do you want this?" Carissa asks, holding up the present she is carrying.

I point to the little table. "Right there is fine. And Scott, I'll take this from you." He laughs and hands me the carrier he is holding. I try not to wake the sleeping infant out of her car seat. I look down at my beautiful niece, Layla. She is only a month old, but she is still the most beautiful baby girl ever, with Carissa's wide eyes and Scott's dark hair, she is sure to break more than a few hearts someday. My mom notices the arrival of her granddaughter and kisses Collin, before coming over to see Layla. I hand the baby over to my mom, who gladly takes her, as I notice a very familiar car pull up.

I practically run and meet Addley half way, pulling her into a giant hug. I haven't seen my best friend in almost 8 months. We hold eachother for a minute, both trying not to cry. "I've missed you so much!" She says, a wide smile spreading across her face. Luke comes up behind her, carrying many presents.

"Addley, how many presents did you buy? You guys are going to have my son spoiled rotten." I laugh, knowing that it's already too late to worry about that.

"Oh be quiet Lily, I haven't seen him in eight months. Last time I saw him, he slept all of the time. Now look at him, he's running around." I smile, watching the child that has become my whole world laugh and play with the people around him.

Luke comes back over to us and I hug him, so glad to finally see him again. "Austin just called me. He's on his way. He says he's bringing his new girlfriend." Luke announces. It makes me happy to know that Austin has found someone to be happy with.

As if on cue, Austin's car pulls up and him and a very pretty red headed girl get out of the car. I can't help myself as I run over to him. He stops and smiles, holding out his arms for me to jump in to. He hugs me, picking my feet up off of the ground and spinning me around. "I missed you so much!" He practically yells, even though he's only a couple of feet away. He then wraps his arm around the girl's waist. "This is Jade. She's my new girlfriend." We share a quick hello and I smile, loving the fact that we are all together again. "Where's the little man?" Austin asks, looking around for my son.

I turn to where him and Jerod are standing. "Collin. Come here baby, come to Mommy." I squat down and open my arms as my son comes flying into them. I sweep him up and give him several hugs and kisses. "This is my favorite person in the whole world, Collin." I turn to look at my son. "Can you say hi?" He simply smiles at everyone and squirms to get down. I let him go and watch him run back to Jerod and my dad.

After a while, Jerod straps Collin into the high-chair that we brought with us. We gather around him and sing "Happy Birthday." I laugh and take pictures as my son smears icing all over his face and through his hair. "It just became bath night." I state, not caring that it's going to be impossible to get all of the icing out of his ears. Jerod and I sit together and help Collin open his presents, although he seems to like the wrapping paper more than the gifts themselves. After a while, our rambunctious baby takes off again, running and playing with anyone who will pay attention to him. Which, of course, is everyone at the party.

As the party winds down and people start to leave, Jerod comes up to me with our son in his arms. I take Collin from him. My baby smiles up at me with his big brown eyes and I smile as he rests his very tired head on my shoulder. Jerod leans down and kisses me. "I love you." He whispers, running a hand through Collin's dark hair.

"I love you more." I whisper back to my boyfriend. My life has changed in more ways than I can imagine. I'm still in college and Jerod is still teaching. We are both still young and we still have struggles. I always said that I only wanted kids after I got married. However, the decision to keep Collin is one that no one has ever regretted. Our son is the center of our worlds and we love him more than anything. Nothing has ever been easy. Mine and Jerod's relationship was never easy and having a baby as a teenager was no where near easy. We are both also aware of the fact that our lives in the future will be difficult. But we have both seen first hand that while it may not be easy, it's worth it.

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Well, there it is. I'm kind of sad to see this story end. It was a lot of fun to write and I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks everyone for reading and following my story! You all rock!! Love you all! ♥♥