Twenty five years went by after that first positive pregnancy test. That is crazy to think about! Maya and Ethan sat on their back porch, watching their own grand children play in the yard. They both were feeling very humble, feeling the love all around them.
Sofia had married her college boyfriend and had two kids of her very own. Isabella had become a physical therapist and was engaged to a fantastic guy. Lucas was currently in college, he is studying engineering, and he has a serious girlfriend he even brought home for Thanksgiving.
"Can you believe this is our life now?" Maya asked, with her hand in Ethan's.
"Sometimes I still can't," he admitted. "Sometimes I still feel like that scared twenty year old kid, wondering how we were going to make all of this work."
"But we did end up making it work, thankfully."
"We did. It was not easy. God knows it was not easy. But we did it together."
Their oldest grand child, Sofia's daughter Emma, ran up to the porch. "Grandma, Grandpa, we want you guys to come play with us!"
"We are coming, sweetheart," Maya said, letting Emma pull her up from her chair.
As they walked across the yard, Ethan pulled Maya close and said "I love you, Mrs. Carter. I have loved you since we were kids ourselves. and I will love you until the day I die."
"I love you too, Mr. Carter. Thank you for this life. Thank you for never giving up on us."
"I would never give up on us," he promised. "Not then, not now, not ever. Okay?"
They joined their grand children in the yard, their own children watching from the porch, and Maya felt a profound sense of gratitude wash over her.
They had been so young when they started this journey together. They were so scared, so unprepared, so certain they would fail. Everyone had doubted them, sometimes they even doubted themselves.
But they have proven everyone wrong. They had built a life together, a family, a love that had endured through every challenge but still stayed true and strong.
They had started with nothing but each other and a positive pregnancy test. And they have created these three successful, happy children; grand children who filled their home with laughter and warmth; a marriage that had weathered every storm but still remained standing.
As the sun had set over their backyard, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink, Maya looked around at her family; her whole, beautiful, very chaotic, but so perfect family. Maya knew that every struggle had been worth it to get to this point.
They had made it. Against all odds, they made it.
And they would absolutely do it all over again in a heartbeat.
THE END!
Thank you so much for reading. This is currently my first book and first try at writing. I hope you enjoyed it. I can't wait to write, hopefully, many more books!
-Ashley Wilson