AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love you too,” I tell him, and as the early morning sun washes over us, I know this is the life I was always meant to have.
Epilogue
KACEE
FIVE YEARS LATER
“Hey, hey, hey!” Parker calls out. I glance over from my spot in the lawn chair, trying to find who he could possibly be yelling at. By the time I see him, all six feet and four inches of him, he’s got a hold of eleven-year-old Evie, and he’s throwing her over his shoulder. She shrieks and squirms to get free, but fails. She might be as tall as her father one day, but right now she’s not even five feet tall yet. Just as I taught her too, she drops her weight, and he releases her. She sprints free, laughing. They’ve been playing tag for half an hour now, but considering I’m eight months pregnant with twins, I chose to tap out.
I recline in my lawn chair in the nice summer heat as Jackson sprints around the house and tackles Evie to the ground. Like his father, Jackson is going to be tall as well. He’s the same height at Evie but takes her down like she’s a sack of potatoes.
“Hey!” I call out, and they both look up at me. “No broken bones and I mean it this time. Just because we live in the woods doesn’t mean you’re being raised by wolves.”
Evie just cackles as Jackson calls back. “Sure thing, Mom!” Then rolls his sister onto her back, demanding that she call uncle, which she’l
l never do. That girl never surrenders.
Their little brother comes running over, having abandoned his strategy of hiding behind the biggest tree he could find. Christopher, almost five years old, might end up like me because he’s nowhere near as tall as Evie or Jackson were at his age. Despite his height, he’s the spitting image of his father. His features are the same, and he has dark, thick hair, just like Parker’s. His dark blue eyes stand out from his freckled little face.
“Wait for me!” Christopher calls taking a sharp turn and slamming right into Parker’s legs. Parker picks him up by the back of the shirt and sets him back onto his feet, dusting him off.
“Watch where you’re going, kid,” he tells him, laughing, and Christopher nods before setting off again.
After so many years of this, it stresses me out less to see how careless children can be, but I still watch him with an alert eye.
The youngest—or current youngest—is two-year-old, Adeline who stumbles after Christopher. She looks up to her older siblings so much. I see so much of myself in her that it’s scary. Her hair is red, something passed down from my mother’s family, and her eyes are green like mine.
Jackson slows down to let her climb onto his back. I’ve lost track of whose ‘it’ in this game of tag, but it doesn’t seem like any of them have. It takes a moment for me to realize they’re all trying to outrun Parker, who’s the size of all four of them combined and definitely won’t let them win unless I impose a mercy rule.
Watching the five of them together playing happily makes me think about how far we’ve come. How far I’ve come from who I was years ago. Penelope’s demanding offer to be her brother’s nanny ended up bringing me a lifetime of happiness, and I’ll never be able to repay her for her stubbornness.
After Evie gets Christopher up on her shoulders, she and Jackson instigate a game of chicken between their younger siblings. Parker looks at a loss before he just decides to referee the new game.
I have a family now—a very large and growing one—and I couldn’t be happier. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do—taking care of children, even better that they’re mine, and teaching them every day. Parker’s had to take on some extra work to accommodate our increased budget, but it’s good for him. Our routine is solid.
I rub my belly, feeling a tiny foot pushing against my palm. I’m not sure which twin it is, but I push back against it.
At this moment, I know I’m overjoyed. It took so much hard work to get here, but now, here I am on the mountaintop living my best life with the love of my life. I found myself up here along with a family and infinite love. Two things I thought I’d been genuinely missing, and thought I’d miss out on my whole life. As I look at Parker and the kids happily playing together, I understand what it really means to love and to be loved unconditionally in a way I’d never experienced before.
I’m suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. I stand up and try to stretch and walk toward Parker. He and our four children look at me, all of them making nearly identical faces of concern.
“Is everything okay?” Parker asks. He’s been very protective of me and regularly checks on me, which I love. I consider how far he’s come emotionally, and I’m so proud of him. I smile and spread my arms.
“I can’t keep sitting around, or these babies are going to get lazy,” I tell him with a laugh. Christopher squirms to be let down by Evie. Once she sets him on the ground, he runs to my side and takes my hand. He’s always been a mama’s boy.
“What game are we playing now?” I ask.
“We were playing chicken, but we were thinking of playing on the swings,” Christopher tells me. Adeline, still on Jackson’s shoulders, nods in agreement.
“Well, I can play on the swings,” I tell them. “I can push you if you want.”
“Yes!” he squeals, tugging at my hand to pull me over to the wooden swing set Parker built for Jackson’s eighth birthday. Parker stops us before we can get too far and kisses me on the forehead.
“I love you so much,” he says, rubbing my gigantic belly. He was so excited when we learned we were expecting again. Twins, nevertheless. I kiss him back, mouthing ‘I love you, too’ before Christopher pulls me away. A burst of happiness fills my heart, and I’m so deeply in love with everything that’s my life—on this mountain with my husband and kids—my perfect family.
