Chapter 32: EPILOGUE

Savannah held Dwight’s hand as they sat in Dr. Scott’s office. Her cheeks were hurting from the smile that was plastered on her face. Dwight was continuously rubbing her hand with his thumb. Dr. Scott looked from Dwight to Savannah and back again.

“So, I can tell from your faces that things have been good?”

Savannah looked at Dwight. “Things have been. We’ve been trying to use some of the techniques that you gave us a few weeks ago.”

“That’s good. Dwight, how have you been coping?” Dr. Scott jotted some notes onto his pad.

“I’ve been trying to relax a little. I mean, I still have my moments when I want to rush in and save her. Especially now. But I’m learning to be human and accept that I am not a superhero. That has allowed me to be in the moment with her. And the kids.”

“And how are things going for you, health wise?”

Savannah rubbed her swollen belly. “Doctors say we are fine. I’ve been in remission for two years so we thought we should try. First shot actually.” She laughed. “I mean, the chemo did take a toll on my body and we weren’t sure if I’d even be able to carry the baby to term but so far so good.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you guys decided to work it out and continue your therapy together. Last time we were here, there were some issues with Sandra. Did you want to talk about that?”

“She is trying to sue for custody saying that I was kidnapping our daughter because we were moving to Seattle. So right now, we are waiting for a court date. Of course, I’m stressed out. My attorneys say that she doesn’t have a leg to stand on, but I still hate the process. She doesn’t know about the baby.”

“Do you plan to tell her at some point?”

“Yeah. But I know that she’s going to make it hard for us. For me. And the last thing I want to do is put my wife through that extra stress. We’re looking forward to the baby.”

Dr. Scott smiled and wrote some notes.

“What’s so funny doc?”

“I’m not sure that you know how you sound when you say ‘wife.’ I’m remembering your wedding. It was quite an event.” He put his notepad on the small table next to him.

“Yes. It was. I was hoping that since we only invited fifty people it would be calm, but I should have known that with my sister being there and the kids it would be far from calm.” Savannah beamed at Dwight who placed a hand on her stomach.

“How are the kids handling the transition?”

“What? They are loving it. I don’t think we fully understood what it would mean to have three kids in the house. I don’t think we get to bed before ten anymore. But being a daddy to those boys is more than I could ask for. Yesterday, Nicholas called me Daddy.” Dwight cleared his throat. “That meant the world to me. Jake hasn’t yet but that’s okay. I’m not looking for him to. But we are getting closer. We went out the other day. Just him and I. And we had a blast. I’m sure that won’t always be the case but at least I can build that foundation with him now.”

“What about their father, Thomas?”

“I think the cancer scared him a little. I cannot explain it. But we’ve been able to agree on sharing custody. He gets them part of their Christmas break, a few other holidays and most of the summer. We have been talking about going back to Maryland, just so the boys won’t feel so uprooted all the time. Besides, my uncle is still there, and he’s been wanting to spend more time with Izzy.”

“It will definitely be after the baby is born. I don’t want her worrying about packing up a house while she’s pregnant. I may eventually have to travel, and I don’t want Savannah to be stuck with the kids all the time, so we are definitely looking at all the options.” Dwight smiled at her. “Thomas and I have had a few conversations. I had to let him know that I wasn’t going anywhere. We kind of came to a cordial place.”

Savannah nodded in agreement with her husband and shifted her gaze to Dr. Scott. “Izzy and I had a rough patch. When we first moved in together, we were fine. And then Sandra showed up wanting to see her. So, she was going with her for a while and when she came back, she would act differently towards me. Once I got pregnant, she kind of shied away from me.”

“How did you process that?”

“I didn’t want to tell Dwight right away. I mean, I gave Sandra the benefit of the doubt that maybe she wasn’t telling Izzy things. But I had to. He knows her better than I do, and he should handle it. Now, we are trying to work some things out. I let her go with me when I get things for the baby. She likes being a big sister.”

“I want you guys to remember why you chose to be together, but it was a choice. Things may get harder. In fact, that’s how life is set up sometimes. I want you to focus on each other and practice some of those strategies that we talked about last time. In two weeks, we can have a video conference. I can’t imagine having to travel just to see a therapist. I think we should start talking about what to do in case of post-partum and how Dwight can support you in that.”

“That was a good session, wasn’t it?” Dwight asked, smiling into Savannah’s eyes.

They stood in the elevator, holding hands. She rested her head against his shoulder, and he kissed the side of her face. He breathed in the vanilla scent of her hair which had grown tremendously over the past two years. He rubbed the soft skin of her hand.

She inhaled his soft cologne and pressed against the hardness of his frame. Years ago, she would have scoffed at the idea of being this happy. But she was. It poured from her body. It radiated from her pores. At night when she closed her eyes she didn’t think about her cancer. She didn’t think about Thomas. She didn’t think about all that she had lost. But she turned over and faced the man that had dared to ask her to be more than her sorrow and her fear. And her past. His sleeping face, a physical representation of the peace that flowed through her.

Dwight had asked her to want to be happy. To want to open herself and share the most intimate shadows that were her inner being with someone who was willing to receive them. And in that moment, as she stared at the light dusting of gray at his edges, as she felt the ripples through her as his thumb stroked her hand, as she felt the life inside her belly move and as she counted the times that Dwight had simply been there, she had officially surpassed being happy. She was alive.

THE END