Everywhere, All At Once

Epilogue - A Ray of Sun

"All right people, let's get this done," Kenna shouted, clapping her hands.

Her brother, who was on one side of a heavy dresser coming through Aaron's front door, snapped his eyes to hers, and boy, if looks could kill.

"I swear to God if you clap your hands at me one more time," he panted, passing by her and leading the dresser up the stairs.

Aaron appeared in the doorway holding the other side of the dresser. He was topless, sweating profusely, and when he winked at Kenna before heading up the stairs, she felt a little faint.

There had to be twenty other people milling about, being nosy, not really helping. That was typical of her family. Thirty people come to "help" move and a handful of young guys would end up exhausted on the floor by the end of the day while everyone else watched.

Her mother walked in carrying Kenna's wine rack. Kenna hadn't packed too many things up in boxes for the move into Aaron's house. It wasn't like they were moving to an empty house. She still had to figure out what to do with her fridge, her bed, her couch. Aaron had ideas about fixing up the huge attic and using it as a guest space or maybe giving it to Fiona for more privacy. Kenna had nodded and smiled, still unable to believe she was moving in with him.

A year ago, she was sure she'd spend the rest of her life alone, with only three cats and a Roomba to keep her company. He'd asked her almost as soon as they'd gotten back together. She'd still insisted on waiting because she wasn't ready. Plus her lease wouldn't be up until the summer, so it had been a logical choice. Torture, the waiting, but logical.

The two men ran back downstairs as two more brought her boxes of books into the house.

"We just have the bed," Aaron's friend, Tim, breathed. "And then we're done, save for a few small boxes."

"Oh, we'll get those," Kenna's mom chirped, and hurried off with one of her cousins to empty the rest of her uncle's trailer.

"Come here," Aaron said, pulling Kenna to him by the hand.

She grimaced at him, leaning away from his sweaty face and chest.

"You're gross."

"And you're noticeably dry. You look rather comfortable," he said with a devilish smile. "Figured you'd sit back and watch the shirtless men work, huh?"

"Two of those shirtless men are related to me, so it wasn't as fun as it sounds."

He chuckled, and leaned forward, much to her dismay, and kissed her lips. She kissed him back touching as little of him as possible and leapt away. "Take a bath, you gross man."

"But I love you," he wailed, coming at her with sweat in full force.

She darted away and hid behind Noelle who was watching them with her eyebrow raised, sipping a beer.

"Hey," Aaron said with a pout. "Where did you get that? I want one."

With a glance back at Kenna, Noelle replied, "Breah packed up a cooler in the back of Nelson's car. I'll grab you one."

"You're an angel," he said, grinning.

When she was out the door, he said to Kenna, "I still don't think she likes me."

"Oh, no, she likes you."

"You're sure?" He asked, sounding worried.

"Yup."

"You've asked her?" He sounded skeptical.

"She's my best friend," she explained. "I didn't say, 'Hey, do you like my boyfriend?' But I know she likes you. Trust me."

He sighed. "If you say so."

With a playful slap on the butt, Kenna said, "Get back to work, mister."

After the guys moved the bed into storage in the basement, everyone had a couple of slices of pizza and shared Nelson's cooler beer, then Kenna sent them on their way. She was ready to be home with just Aaron and the kids.

She wondered if it would take a lot of getting used to, especially for the kids. She was here a lot, but living with an already-made family was a little different. She was nervous, but finally ready.

"So what's for dinner?" Brayden asked, as they all settled in for the evening.

"Dinner?" Aaron asked. "You just ate seventeen pieces of pizza, and you're hungry?

The kids, and Kenna, giggled.

"I only had like four," he countered.

Aaron tilted his head at Brayden who rolled his eyes and went into the play room with his sister.

"I'm glad you're here, honey," Aaron said, slinging an arm around Kenna's shoulders where she sat beside him on the couch.

"Me too," she said, grinning up at him. "I'm excited for our next adventure."

He looked down at her, kissed her nose. "So am I."

"Dad," Brayden called and came running from the room with Fiona close behind. "There's one more thing we forgot about when we were moving Mackenzie in this morning."

Aaron stood and walked over to his children.

"What's that?" Kenna asked.

The three Reeds turned to face her, the children grinning, Aaron looking like he would pass out any second.

"Um..." She began, standing. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Fiona said, all smiles. That was a good sign, but Aaron's face kind of terrified her.

"We wanted to ask you something," Brayden said, walking over to stand on one side of his father, leaving Fiona on the opposite side.

"What is it?" Kenna asked, giving them all a heavy dose of side-eye.

Brayden dropped to one knee and a breathless laugh burst out of Kenna's mouth before she could stop it.

"We've been wanting to ask you this for a long time," Brayden said, clearly practiced, and Kenna's heart thundered in her chest.

Fiona dropped to one knee. "But we haven't had the right moment until now," she said.

After a moment, both kids looked up at Aaron who was staring at her, still looking like he wanted to vomit.

Fiona elbowed her dad in the leg and he started, smiling nervously down at Kenna. Pulling something from his pocket, he stepped toward her, took her hand, and dropped to one knee with his kids. Biting his bottom lip, he opened the small box that was suddenly in his hands, and Kenna swayed on the spot.

The kids clasped their hands together before them and said together, loud and clear, "Miss Mackenzie, will you marry our dad?"

The room spun for a second before Kenna dropped to her knees too, crying, and kissed Brayden's head, then Fiona's, then threw her arms around Aaron's neck.

"Are you serious?" Kenna said.

"As a heart attack," Aaron said, bringing his arms around her.

"Oh my God," she sobbed, and pulled back, let herself really look at the ring in the box, a princess cut diamond that was way too big and probably way too expensive, on a white gold band and a sapphire on either side. "Holy shit."

The kids laughed, but Aaron stared at her, waiting, still looking worried.

"Will you?" Aaron breathed. "Marry me, Kenna?"

She laughed through a sob and nodded. "Yes," she said, and the kids cheered, and Aaron's face regained its color. "Of course," she told him when he slid the perfectly-sized ring onto her finger. "An even bigger adventure," she added, laughing.

He smiled so big, his eyes shining. "I love you," Aaron said, kissing her, not caring that his children watched. "I love you so much."

"Holy crap," she said, to another chorus of laughs. "I love you, too."