We all break out in cheers and “congratulations” as the Moores walk back in, looking like they did not just do the deed in the laundry room.
“What’s going on?” Mrs. Moore asks.
“Baby number two will be joining our clan in May,” Tabby announces as she covers Kent’s hand that is protectively over her belly.
“Oh my gosh! That’s so exciting!” Mrs. Moore screeches as she launches herself onto her daughter-in-law.
“Congrats, you two,” Mr. Moore says with a giant grin on his face.
“What’s happening in here?” Gran Tilly asks as she walks in and looks at us. Gran Mill, Nana Betty, and PopPop Bob are all behind her.
“Tabby’s preggers again,” Clark says.
“I told you that was them in the laundry room,” Nana Betty says to PopPop. “I know what our daughter sounds like and that wasn’t her.”
All of us nearly choke as we start awkwardly laughing.
“Mom!” Mrs. Moore says with a hand on her chest as she pulls away from Tabby.
“Oh, come on. You know that we all know. This is not a state secret,” Nana says with a pointed look.
Tabby looks to Kent. “Well, I didn’t think about that time. It was the weekend before we left for the Bahamas…” She trails off with a pensive look on her face.
Kent starts laughing. “Oh my God, it might have been. Holy shit! What are we going to name the kid now? I was thinking something cool like Nassau, but now, I mean should we name them after the dryer or the laundry detergent?”
Clark starts laughing next. “Spin Cycle Moore. This poor child doesn’t stand a chance.”
Everyone is now bursting out laughing.
I look at Clark and he looks at me with a raised eyebrow and motions toward the laundry room. I shake my head. “No way,” I whisper.
“Oh, come on, everyone else has, apparently,” he says with a wink.
I bite my lip trying to stop my laughter as I shake my head.
“It’s gonna happen,” he states.
“Clark!” I scold.
He reaches over and pulls my shirt until I’m an inch away from his face. “Spin Cycle, Vera, and Ash are going to need cousins.”
My eyes widen. “No way! We aren’t even graduated yet,” I whisper yell.
He laughs. “Don’t worry, I’m not ready for that yet either, but we should get a lot of practice in first.” He gently hands Vera over to Tabby.
“Well, since I’m home for the weekend, I’m going to do some laundry,” Clark says as he reaches down and picks me up, tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carrying me toward the laundry room.
Everyone starts laughing, his siblings hoot and holler at us and I know my face is bright red when he sets me down next to the washing machine.
“Clark!” I yell but I’m also laughing.
He puts his hands on either side of my face. “Promise me that when we buy a house someday, the laundry room will be tucked away somewhere no one goes.”
I grin. “I can make that concession.”
“Good,” he says as he shuts the door. We both look up and see the tiniest little black dot on the cute photo hanging on the wall.
“It’s not a camera, right?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
He grins. “Nope, just a motion sensor. Now, about all that practicing…” He trails off as he leans down and kisses me. I still hear everyone laughing but I don’t care. I know they all love me, and I love them. But mostly, I now know that nothing else matters but the man who is now claiming me with his kiss. Together we can conquer anything. Together we are in perfectly imperfect love.
Epilogue
Six and a half months later…
Clark
“Closer and hold up those diplomas,” my mom says as she motions for us to squeeze together. Grif, Evan, Stella, Megan, and I squish together. “Perfect,” she adds as she and all our moms start snapping photos of us in caps and gowns.
“Mom, come on,” I groan as I give her my best cheesy smile.
“OK, who’s ready to party?” Kent calls out as he stands bouncing up and down because baby May finally fell asleep. I grin at my new niece. First, the fact that Kent has two daughters makes me so freaking happy. And second, I love the fact that only our immediate family knows that she’s not named after her birth month, but after the washer and dryer at our parents’ house. May Tenley Moore just arrived two weeks ago, but we are all one hundred percent in love with the little monster.
“If that means I can float in your pool while Garrett rubs my feet, I am in,” Di says as she pats her belly. Garrett wraps an arm around her shoulders. Di announced at her wedding that she was pregnant. My next nephew arrives in less than four months.
“You think five months is bad, wait till you’re ready to pop and the little stinker decides to take his time,” Tabby huffs as she pushes Vera’s stroller back and forth.
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Ash says with a grin. I swear if we had announced one more girl cousin, he might have had a breakdown.
Ash gently pats Di’s belly. “Don’t worry, Tristan Louis, I got your back,” he whispers to her belly.
Di was sure it was a girl and was ready to name her Juliet until the ultrasound showed an additional appendage. So, the kid isn’t even born yet, but he has a name in honor of our grandfather Louis. Garrett overrode naming his son Romeo but allowed the name Tristan after the epic love story of Tristan and Iseult. I can’t make this stuff up. Only Di and Garret would quarrel over boy names from epic love stories.
Brixton and Lanie look lovingly at Ash and smile.
I look over at Kylie who is tucked under Levi’s arm. They just got engaged and they look ridiculously in love. I’m happy for her. She has the dream guy, the dream house, and the dream job.
My grandparents are all here, too. It’s the perfect day. On Friday, Megan and I signed our last official paperwork for our employment with NASA. It took a few months of security clearances beyond the ones we had for our internship and human resources stuff, but we are finally ready to start working in four more weeks. Two of those weeks will be spent on the road trip that I promised to take with Evan and Grif. One of the weeks will be a trip with Megan, and then both our families are spending a week at the beach, just like we used to when we were kids.
After a few minutes of photos, we all break apart and join our families to chat for a few moments before heading to Kent’s house. He agreed to host our graduation party since he has the pool. I hug all my family members and head over to Megan.
“Well, I guess it’s official,” Megan says. “We’re real adults now.”
“Speak for yourself,” I reply with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes. “You are going to be a lifetime of trouble, aren’t you?”
“You know it,” I say with a grin as we walk to my car. Little does she know that I’m making that lifetime of trouble official tonight. I asked her dad last week for his permission because I felt like being old-school. We’re already living together, having moved into our apartment last week, which happens to be Di’s old apartment. We’re twenty minutes from work and a short walk from our parents’ homes. Now it’s time to make this legit.