EPILOGUE
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Washington, D.C.
Michaels walked into the condo, saw that the snail mail was on the table in the kitchen. “Toni?” he yelled. “You home?”
“In here,” she called back.
“Where is ‘here’?”
“The living room.”
He walked into the room. She was sitting on the couch, folding towels.
“I dried the laundry,” she said. “You mixed the dark towels with the light ones again.”
“What can I say? I’m evil through and through. Shoot me.”
He moved to where she sat, bent, and kissed her. “How was your day?”
“Not bad,” she said. “I had to do a presentation on what a wonderful job Net Force is doing for Senator Bogle’s staff.”
“Sounds easy enough.”
“Balancing a dozen spinning plates on the end of sticks sounds easy, Alex. Since I left, Net Force has trouble finding its ass with both hands.”
He laughed. “Got any plans for supper?”
“I could microwave some burritos,” she said.
“How about I order Chinese takeout? My treat.”
“Fine by me.”
He took a deep breath. It had been on his mind a lot lately, how to do this, and he was nervous about it.
“Listen,” he began, “things have been working out okay for us lately, haven’t they?”
“You have to ask?”
“No, no, I mean, I think they have, but I don’t want to take anything for granted. We’re okay, aren’t we? I mean, we’re doing all right on a personal level, right?”
“Except for you mixing the darks with the lights in the wash, we are terrific.”
He nodded. Here was the hard part.
She stopped folding the towels. “What is it, Alex? Something’s on your mind. Tell me.”
He sat down on the couch next to her. “Okay, look, I’m not the most romantic guy in the world, but—do you want to get married?”
Her eyes got wide and she grinned. “Yes, of course.”
He blew out a big sigh. “Good.”
“You thought I would turn you down?”
“I hoped not. I didn’t want to think too much about that.”
She grabbed him and hugged him, and they kissed. She broke it and leaned back. “Anyways, it was about time you got around to asking me,” she said. “Yeah? You could have asked me, you know?”
“Nope, I’m an old-fashioned girl. That’s the man’s job.”
“ ‘Old-fashioned’? You?” He laughed. “You’re a butt-kicking, hardheaded woman who looks over my shoulder at work.”
“Oh, well, you won’t have to worry about that much longer.”
He looked at her. “How come?”
“I’m going to quit work.”
“What?!”
“I intended to keep the job when I took it, but something better has come up.”
“A better job? It’s not too far away, is it? I was just getting used to having you around.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be around.” She put her hands over his shoulders, then slid them up to behind his neck. “The job is going to be something completely different.”
“Yeah? What?”
“I’m going to become a full-time mommy.”
He stared at her, stunned. “You ... you’re ... ?”
“Yep,” she said, grinning like a fool. “I’m pregnant.”
Then they were both grinning like fools.