I wrote this final chapter as a birthday present for a friend on wattpad (I had thought about writing an epilogue all along but just didn't feel like doing it when I first finished the story).

Epilogue – Week 243

Wednesday morning

I wake up early today, even before my despised alarm clock, which is very unusual for me.

Jay is still fast asleep next to me. So, instead of staying in bed, which would only result in me waking him up by tossing and turning while trying to find a somewhat comfortable position, I carefully unwrap myself from his embrace and get up. I slip in my sea blue silk bathrobe before I quietly exit the room and take the stairs down to the ground floor.

In the bright and spacious kitchen, I make myself a coffee. Then I sit down at the counter and enjoy the view out of the window into the garden as well as my hot drink.

After spending quite some time watching a few small birds looking for food in the neatly cut grass, my eyes fall on the pictures on the wall next to the fridge.

Although we have kept most of the rather fancy decorations Jay's father had put up all over the house, the kitchen wall is just a huge mess of photos, tickets to concerts and sport events, and other memorabilia.

Just like the finisher medal from my first triathlon.

When I started my studies at the Ninjago Institute of Technology that autumn almost five years ago, I got accepted into the NIT Swim Team. But, just as he had suggested on the night of my graduation, Jay somehow managed to convince me to meet him in the mornings for a run across the campus, which eventually got me into triathlon with Jay as my coach.

I don't mean to brag, but we have quite a few real medals and awards from my swimming and triathlon competitions as well as from Jay's athletics, but this little plastic item still means a lot to me as it represents the first result of a joint effort between the two of us.

The first of many.

After my first year of college, Cole moved out of his and Jay's shared apartment to live with his girlfriend (who, by the way, is now his wife). And a few months later, I moved in with my boyfriend. After Cole had left, I had started to stay over on most nights anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference.

Except for the fact that I saved the rent for my dorm room. Jay wouldn't let me pay him anything for my room, but I still insisted on keeping my job at the campus bookshop to pay my share of the groceries and utility bills.

And I enjoyed the work, especially as Jay would always visit the shop during my shifts to have a coffee with me. Just as he did when we first met.

But the last five years were not all sunshine and roses. We also made it through some very difficult times.

During Jay's final (and my third) year of college, his father unexpectedly passed away.

While promoting his new movie, Cliff Gordon suffered a stroke during a press conference, and he died a few days later, without having regained consciousness.

We were both there when it happened. Jay completely broke down. I have never seen him as devastated as he was back then, never before and never since.

As a child, he and his father had had a very difficult relationship, but in the last couple of years, they had been rather close.

And even more so after Jay and I had started dating. Cliff has always been very kind to me and I know that his father being supportive of us had meant a lot to him.

He took a break from college and went back home to take care of things and recover from the shock.

I did as much as I could to help him. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take time off from my own studies, so I could only go and see him on the weekends.

We even almost broke up.

Almost.

Because in the end, it made us realise what - or who - were most important to us, and we came out stronger than we were before.

And here we are now, living in his late father's mansion, running our own little business together.

During his studies, Jay had very soon decided to focus on Electrical Engineering and, using the results he obtained with the electric circuit form his first year, developed a completely new and highly efficient power source for small electronic items.

Despite the break, Jay still graduated a few months before me. Afterwards, he and Ed Walker set up a small company – Walker Gordon Technologies – and got his invention patented.

My name was also on the patent as I helped him find the right materials and built the casing.

And when I graduated in Mechanical Engineering shortly after, Jay asked me to officially join them as partner, offering me two options – to rename the firm to Smith Walker Gordon Technologies, or to get married and keep the company name as it was (okay, his proposal was 'slightly' more romantic than that). And of course, I chose the second option.

As I remember our wedding, I can hear footsteps coming down the stairs.

Jay soon enters the kitchen and wraps his arms around me from behind.

"Good morning, beautiful." He places a kiss on my cheek. "Why are you up so early?" He asks, apparently surprised. Usually, he is the one to get up first, while I am not a morning person at all. Never been and probably never will be.

"Someone wouldn't let me sleep." I say accusingly. "She was kicking all night."

Yes, we've been married for over half a year now and are expecting our first child in a few weeks. We've just found out that it's a girl, and we couldn't be happier.

"No, my little one. You should never ever wake up mummy." He jokes, gently rubbing my swollen stomach. "And she has to be fit for an important meeting today."

"At least baby's asleep now." I sigh, holding my side. "Why can't she sleep at night like normal people?"

Well, I probably need get used to sleep deprivation anyway.

My husband's eyes fall on the almost empty mug on the counter. "You probably shouldn't..."

"It's decaf." I swivel around on the stool to kiss him on the lips. "I can't wait to have proper coffee again." I state, suppressing a yawn.

"Are you sure you're up for the meeting?" He asks, concern in his voice. "We can reschedule."

I shake my head. "No, I am fine. Really." I smile at him. "Stop worrying about us. And I want to see this deal finalised before I have to go on maternity leave."

We are having lunch with some representatives of Borg Industries, the biggest name in Ninjago for all sorts of electronics. They are interested in using a larger version of our power source in their new robot lines. Today, we are going to meet with the company's CEO, Borg's daughter PIXAL, and the CTO Zane Julien (who is also her husband), plus a couple of attorneys.

My phone buzzes and I check the new message. "Sky is going to meet us directly at the restaurant." I tell Jay.

My best friend – also sister-in-law and mother of the cutest little nephew one could ever imagine – received her MBA from Ninjago City University and is now running her father's restaurant business.

When Jay and Ed set up this company, she did a huge amount of work for us, so we've now hired her again to help negotiating the conditions of this deal for us.

"Okay." Jay nods. "Ed should be here at 11:30, so the three of us can drive to the city together."

While the Walkers have retired as housekeepers, we have offered them to stay in their little cottage on the estate. They are like family to both of us now. And, as her honorary grandparents, they are almost as excited about the baby as we are.

"Don't forget, we've promised Lloyd to drop by the comic book store this afternoon after the meeting." I remind my husband. "He's finally going to introduce us to his girlfriend."

"Shall we embarrass him?" Jay smirks. "Ask him when he's going to pop the question..."

"It was sooo funny watching you trying to answer all of his questions when we started dating." I laugh. "Maybe we should remind him that he's promised to babysit for us..."

"That even might impress his girlfriend." Jay joins in.

Throughout the years, we've kept in contact with our 'little' friend – who is way taller than me by now and has a part-time job at Doomsday Comix – and also with Rufus, who still runs the comic book store, despite his plans to retire years ago.

As we had promised, they both were guests at our wedding. After all, they were our first mutual friends.

And we never miss an opportunity to go back to that very special place for us.