Normal People - Strange Encounters Book Two

Epilogue

"Spence, I need you to zip me up!" Amelia hollered from the bedroom. She spun in the mirror, shimmying in an attempt to reach the zipper on her dress. Spencer laughed as he walked into the room, leaning on the doorframe. 

"I could, orrr.. I could watch you do this little dance all afternoon," he chuckled. 

"I mean yeah, you could, and then we could be late to my godson's first birthday. Which, ya know, might not look great on my end," she retorted, giving him a stern glance. He raised his hands in mercy as he made his way over to her, zipping up her dress before reaching his arms around her. He gazed at her in the mirror, watching as she fixed her hair.

"You look beautiful."

Amelia smiled, spinning in his arms as she looped her hands behind his neck and pulled him toward her for a kiss. 

"Thanks baby. Now let's get going, we might actually be on time for once." 

Amelia walked into the living room reaching for her purse. The sunlight caught the diamond of her engagement band, causing it to gleam in the light. She paused for a moment, smiling.

They'd been married for nearly two years now but Amelia still got butterflies anytime she stopped to admire her ring, or was called Mrs. Vernand-Reid in public. Being able to call Spencer her husband was such a little gesture in the grand scheme of things, but it was something that she knew she'd never get sick of. Getting to introduce him as 'And this is my husband, Spencer' at her work Christmas party had filled her with pride, and they'd been married nearly a year at that point. 

Spencer walked into the living room behind Amelia, stopping to watch her. He loved catching her looking at her wedding ring. He noticed she did it often, probably more frequently than she realized. He'd also noticed that she'd picked up the habit of fidgeting with her wedding band when she was nervous now and not the gold band on her thumb. Seeing how she looked at the ring, the ring he'd so painstakingly picked out and helped create, always made him happy. He wasn't one for archaic institutions like marriage, one of the reasons he was glad Amelia had agreed to hyphenate her name, but he couldn't help but admit that knowing she wore that ring so proudly, letting everyone know that she was his, filled him with a joy that left a dumb grin on his face. 

It may have been sheer luck, but two years later and Amelia and Spencer still seemed to be in the honeymoon phase of, well, everything. While they were barely together for a year before getting married, this fall would be three years together. Sure, they'd had their ups and downs, but it was nothing that kept them upset for more than a few hours and they never went to bed angry. Adjusting to life together had been simple, almost effortless. Amelia didn't take a single day for granted, and woke up every morning feeling overwhelmingly grateful for the life she'd ended up in. 

"Baby, we gotta go."

♡

Later that afternoon, in the sweltering June sun, Amelia hid under an umbrella munching on a hotdog and catching up with JJ and Emily while watching Spencer run around the yard with Michael in his arms, Henry and Jack in tow.

"Mikey loves his big brother, huh?" Emily mused, watching the scene unfold.

"You have no idea. At this age, Henry was so quiet, but Mikey.. god, he's never quiet," JJ chuckled. 

"They all love their Uncle Pence, too," Emily laughed, using the nickname Spencer had inherited from Jack when he was learning to say his name. Amelia chuckled, nodding in agreement. 

"The feeling is more than mutual. Spencer learned three new magic tricks last night just to show them."

"He's unbelievable," JJ shook her head. Amelia just smiled, watching the way he rolled up his sleeves as he sat cross-legged in the grass to play with the kids. As if he felt Amelia's glance he looked towards her, beaming, and mouthed 'hi'. She mouthed it back with a giggle.