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“There’s more,” I grinned. “Julia Kaye, will you marry me?”
She sat up fast, throwing herself into my arms as she cried.
“Yes, yes, yes!”
What a way to start the day, and our life together. Later on, we figured out we’d probably started something else that day as well.
Nine months later our daughter Luna was born.
Epilogue
Julia
Emmett’s eyes flew to mine when he opened his cake box.
“This is… wow, Aunt Julia. It’s perfect. I can’t believe you remembered.”
I smiled through my tears as I hugged him. “Of course I remembered your bots cake,” I teased.
It was hard to believe almost fifteen years had passed since the door to Sweet Like Candy opened, and I met the man who changed my life. None of that ever would’ve happened if Emmett hadn’t been so adamant about having a custom-made robot cake. I’d made him more than a dozen cakes throughout the years, but this one was extra special because it marked the beginning of a new journey for him. The following morning, he was leaving for college. It was only ninety minutes away, but to his parents, Ryan and I, it was massive.
“Oh Lordie,” my daughter Jessa laughed, “is Mom crying?”
I stepped back from Emmett and held my fingers a teeny bit apart. “Maybe just a little,” I admitted.
“Just a little like Daddy cried when Luna graduated middle school? Or like you cried when Rosalie announced she was pregnant?”
I sniffle-laughed as I shook my head. “Both,” I admitted.
The kids both kissed me on the cheek before Emmett turned and took his robot cake into the kitchen. Jessa trailed along after him, bragging about how she’d helped me make the cake. I watched them go with a full heart and a smile.
Our families were so close and so intertwined. Ryan and I had four children: Luna, Jessa, Mason, and Kerri, while Jamie and Harrison had gone all the way with the Twilight theme. After Rosalie, Alice, Emmett, Jasper, Edward and Bella were born, she’d even gone back for one more, giving birth to Charlie. We joked that our kids were their own kind of gang, and we all loved it.
My body lit up when my husband came and wrapped his arms around me from behind. Relaxing into him, I sighed when he pushed my hair to the side and kissed my neck.
“What’s this I hear about my woman crying?” he asked.
I shook my head as I turned in his arms. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I smiled up at him.
“Happy tears,” I assured him.
“You sure?”
I nodded. “I promise.”
“Good,” he said gruffly. “You know I hate seeing you sad.”
He did, too. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to make me happy, and I was the same with him. It was why our marriage worked the way it did.
“You could kiss me and make it all better,” I said softly.
He grinned as he leaned in and did just that.
Fifteen years and four children later, every part of me still lit up for him. It didn’t get any better than that.
The End
Wheel of Fortune
1
Chloe, Age 12
“Chloe Annabelle! If you don’t adjust your behavior right now you won’t like the consequences,” my father bellowed.
I put my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “No! I’ve had it with Jackson having to be around all the time. I understand having to get along with him when Aunt Maddie and Uncle John are around but it’s not like they’re going to be there Saturday night. Since they’re not, he’s not welcome at my birthday party and that’s final,” I answered, using one of my father’s go-to lines.
Dad looked like he was about to blow his top, but if I got my way about not having Jackson at my thirteenth birthday party the following weekend, it would be worth it.
He assessed me for several seconds before he let out a long sigh. “That’s your final answer then? No Jackson?” he asked.
I held back a victorious grin as I nodded. Yes, I thought, I’d won this time. Without Jackson around the girls coming to the party wouldn’t be given the opportunity to spend the night fluttering their lashes and making goo-goo eyes at him. I was willing to risk dad’s wrath in order to avoid a replay of what had happened at my last party.
“Then you leave me no choice,” my father said sternly. “I’m done with you acting like a spoiled brat. This isn’t the first time I’ve been ashamed of your behavior where Jackson is concerned, but as of this moment, I’m over it. You are grounded for the next week and your birthday party is canceled.”
I begged and carried on for days, but my dad never backed down.
It was just another reason for me to be mad at Jackson.
* * *
Jackson
Age 13
The way Madam Aria stared at me over the purple-tinged crystal ball made me feel edgy. There was knowing in those kohl-rimmed eyes; an awareness that made me think she could read me like a book. Maybe my best friend Alec was right when he claimed she was a mind reader.
