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Epilogue
Bella and I got married in late August in Boston so my twin brother could be there on a weekend pass from rehab. He stood there as my best man now that we were tentatively rebuilding our relationship. Sophie was Bella’s maid of honor. Her parents were there, along with my mother and other siblings. And Camp, of course. It was straightforward, done in a garden at a pub. Bella was in a sundress and I wore jeans, though she did talk me into wearing a tie. After dinner and toasts, it was just me and my bride alone in a big-ass bed in a hotel.
Perfection.
Our daughter was born on St. Patrick’s Day, and I let my wife pick her name, thinking she’d name her Lily or Ava or Lauren. Instead she picked Lucky, which I thought was kind of a kick-ass name. Lucky Jordan. It seemed right.
I stood in the kitchen of what was now our house, debating having a beer. I had bought furniture for the place, and Bella was curled up on the new sofa, Lucky nursing peacefully. My girls. God, it killed me every time. Camp was already in bed for the night, thriving in his new environment, though we made sure he still saw plenty of my mother and Charlie. He was in awe of his baby sister, repeatedly giving her kisses on the head and telling everyone, “My baby.”
Ali had lost her custody case. She had been granted supervised visits with him, which seemed fair to me. As much as it rankled, I couldn’t deny my son a relationship with his biological mother, and I prayed she wouldn’t flake again.
Sophie and Cain were living together part-time in Camden in Cain’s place on the weekends, with Sophie staying in Boston during the week. They seemed really damn happy together, which confused but thrilled me. I didn’t get their dynamic, but then again, no one probably got mine and Bella’s either. I just knew Bella was excited to have her sister around on the weekends and I had a whole new respect for my twin and his commitment to sobriety and Sophie. He had every reason to resent being around Camp and me, and yet he was working really hard on moving forward.
I figured my role was to let it play out however he wanted because I was the one who had fucked things up. I was grateful as hell that everything was as good as it was.
I went for the beer, even though I was exhausted. Lucky was only two weeks old but she was as vocal as her mother and just as demanding. Camp had been a walk in the park compared to this one. But a beer sounded damn good, and would help me sleep to boot. “Do you need anything?” I called to Bella.
“Just you,” she said.
Like seriously, could I have it any better? Nope.
The doorbell rang. Cain and Sophie were dropping by to see Lucky. I went to the door and answered it. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” I gave Sophie a hug, which she resisted slightly, but then relented. When Sophie and Cain had first started coming around to hang out with us, I’d been offended, but Bella assured me Sophie just didn’t like people touching her. She seemed to like me okay enough and she did love Bella clearly, so I was just going to keep trying with her. She didn’t have a problem touching my brother. Damn, every time we saw them those two were all over each other.
“How’s the baby?” Sophie asked, giving me a smile.
“She’s fantastic. Adorable, like her mother.” I reached out and shook Cain’s hand. “Come on in.”
“Good thing she looks like her mother instead of you,” Cain joked.
“You and I are identical twins so that’s a stupid statement.” But I knew he was kidding. The transformation in Cain in the last year was amazing. He looked healthy, happy. At peace. I felt damn grateful both for that and for him allowing me back in his life.
As they followed me into the house, I asked, “You guys want anything to drink? Water, a soft drink? Bella’s feeding Lucky in the living room.”
“I’ll take a water.” Cain followed me in to the kitchen while Sophie went directly to Bella and the baby.
“You mind if I have a beer?” I asked Cain.
“I don’t care. Drink whatever the fuck you want.”
“I’m trying to be sensitive to your feelings,” I said. “It would be a dick move to drink in front of you while you’re in recovery.”
“If I can’t handle you drinking a beer in front of me I need to go back to rehab.” He gave me a rueful look. “Don’t treat me weird. Just be normal, seriously.”
I gave him a fist bump. “Cool. I can do that.”
After grabbing both our drinks, I went over to the couch and dropped down beside Bella with a sigh. For a guy who worked nights, this lack of sleep shouldn’t be kicking my ass, but it was.
Cain said down beside Sophie just in time for Bella to say with her usual enthusiasm, “So when are you two going to get married?”
She asked them that every time we saw them. It didn’t seem to make Cain uncomfortable but Sophie always got annoyed with her sister. I waited for the usual “it’s none of your damn business” but this time the response was different.
“As a matter of fact, we’re getting married in three months,” Sophie said, totally deadpan.
“What?” Bella shrieked so loudly Lucky fussed at her breast in protest. “Shut your face.”
“Dude, is she for real?” I asked Cain.
He gave me a grin. “Yep. Doing it, man. Getting married to the girl of my dreams.”
