8 You're Set For Life!

Molly had a hard time believing she wasn't living in a dream. But come Saturday morning, the lottery ticket and the website were still there saying she won and she had proof of calling the redemption number in her call log. It had actually happened.

She wasn't the only one struggling either. Calvin came over as soon as he finished work and demanded to see proof.

"Unbelievable! Mol, you're set for life!" he exclaimed in a state of shock.

"I know! I can build my dream house…quit my job…travel…the sky's the limit. I honestly don't even know where to start," Molly admitted. "It's a lot to take in. My entire life changed in an instant."

"OUR entire lives. This means we won't have to save up so much for our wedding so we can get married sooner."

Whoa. They had discussed getting married but not in extensive detail! It was more like a distant wish for someday when things were more financially stable for both of them. Not that it would be a problem now.

Sometimes Molly had wondered if it was ever going to happen. They had been together for nearly three years now and he barely brought up the idea of getting married someday a few months ago.

Seeing her parents' terrible relationship growing up had left much to be desired but the stupid, romantic part of her who read too many novels dreamed of love. She used to think it would never happen because there was nothing particularly special about her but then she met Calvin. Putting aside her inhibitions about marriage would be possible if it was with him.

She smiled happily at him. "You mean it?"

"Yeah! All I have to do is get a ring and I'll propose properly. But for now, we should go celebrate your amazing good luck. My treat," he offered.

Molly stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Sounds great to me! Let me get my coat."

They headed out holding hands and chatting excitedly about what to add on their dream house now that it could be made a reality and potential vacation destinations for the next time Calvin had time off. This definitely needed to be celebrated by going on a trip!

They went to one of their favorite restaurants together and the mood was so high throughout the meal that it seemed like he was far more passionate than usual when they went back to his apartment and made love afterward. She gratefully soaked up the love and let herself get carried away.

It still amazed her that someone like him could love someone like her. At times like this, she felt like the luckiest woman in the world even without factoring in her recent lottery win.

Would she ever stop feeling like this was all too good to be true? Everything was going suspiciously well for her right now, as if she had some sort of guardian angel or fairy godmother. The plain Jane managed to snag a handsome prince and more money than she could ever spend after a lifetime of mediocrity and obscurity. That didn't happen every day.

If her father could see her now, he would flip! Not that Molly planned to tell him. Getting involved with him in any capacity was a bad idea.

Still. The daughter he always deemed worthless had become richer than he would ever be overnight. The world was at her feet now! But that raised the question of what on earth she was going to do with herself having all that free time.

Molly had wanted to be a teacher but she was burned out. As a courtesy, she would finish the school year because they probably couldn't find someone to replace her anytime soon and she didn't want to let her students down but she needed a serious break.

Maybe she could finally try to write a novel. Learn to paint. Become fluent in another language. The sky was the limit!

Her mind raced with possibilities as Calvin snoozed curled up next to her. When she finally did fall asleep, she didn't have a nightmare at all for the first time in months. It seemed that her amazing news had done her stressed-out brain a favor.

To make things even better, she got to spend all day Sunday with her boyfriend, though she did have to run home and feed the cats so they ended up hanging out at her place after that. Normally, she didn't get to have him with her for almost the entire weekend so she was on top of the world.

Concentrating on teaching come Monday morning was nearly impossible. All she could think about was going to fill out that paperwork and claim her check.

When Molly arrived at the address she had been given, there was one person working the desk. A rather odd person too. He was very tall—he had at least half a foot on Calvin if not more—and was deathly pale with white hair and red eyes. Actually red eyes!

She had never met an albino person before. It was surprising enough to find an albino cat. She did her best not to stare while she collected herself. She had been so surprised by this man's appearance she had momentarily forgotten why she was here.

"Hi, I'm Molly Shannon and I called in on Friday about winning the jackpot?"

Why did that have to come out as a question? She sounded so stupid but she was still caught off-guard by this giant albino.

The man smiled at her, unfazed by her staring. "Could you please present your ticket? I have to make sure it is authentic before I can get you your paperwork."

"…yeah. Hang on." Molly rummaged around in her purse before handing it over.

He briefly looked it over front and back before handing it back to her. "This is definitely a jackpot-winning ticket! Please fill out the paperwork so I can get you that check and make sure everything is in order for when the IRS comes after you for taxes."

She took the stack of papers and clipboard she had been given and was amazed by how much she had to fill out. She supposed that money matters could not be taken lightly. Since she was accepting it all as a lump sum, she needed to see an accountant about paying her taxes on it immediately so she wouldn't get in trouble.

They wouldn't be able to come after her for more later the way they would if she was accepting it in installments. It was crazy to think about that much sitting in the bank but she planned to open more accounts and split it up a little.

Molly had done research on her lunch break about what to do after winning the lottery and wanted to be sure this would indeed last her a lifetime rather than losing it all in the first five years like the articles she read warned her about. She wasn't much of a spendthrift anyway so aside from building a house, not working for a while, and going on a few more vacations, she didn't plan on doing anything big.

As long as she didn't do anything crazy or fall for any scams there was absolutely no reason she shouldn't be able to live her life and raise a family in comfort without ever having to work again. She might want to go back to teaching someday though when she was less burned out.

When she finished filling out her paperwork, she handed it back to the albino employee. He briefly looked it over before declaring her good to go. "Be sure to take this with you when you go see an accountant. Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Molly told him with a bright smile as he wrote her a check.

She clutched it to her chest as she left and squealed, momentarily abandoning decorum to jump in the air as well. She needed to get it to the bank this very minute before something could happen to it!

She didn't breathe again properly until that was taken care of and she could see her new account balance on her phone's banking app. It was beautiful beyond description and still felt like a dream but there it was. The numbers didn't lie.

Molly floated through the next few days in a daze. She met with an accountant, began looking into plots of land to buy, and researched contractors to potentially build her dream house. She also submitted her resignation that would be valid at the end of the schoolyear.

Everything was falling into place for her. Calvin proposed at the end of the week by taking her out to a beautiful snowy park. The ring wasn't what she would have chosen for herself but she was too happy to have it to care about that.

They began planning to get married the following summer since their new house couldn't begin construction until the snowy season ended and it would probably take about six months. They wanted to be settled in their new home before they had to worry about such things.

Despite all of the changes that were happening, nothing felt too different because she was still dragging herself out of bed to teach unruly third graders like always. At least not until spring break rolled around and she and Calvin took a wonderful trip to Cancun. She never would have been able to afford that on a teacher's salary…at least not without saving for it for a very long time.

Not long after they got back, construction began on the house and she was able to monitor its progress. That made things feel a lot more real.