AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Epilogue
14 MONTHS LATER
I starein awe at the long lashes on his closed eyelids, mesmerized by their length. My gaze travels to his tiny, button nose and those small, red lips that are parted while he sleeps. I run a gentle hand over the thick, shiny brown hair that covers his little head. The emotions of today start to bubble over and tears spring to life in my eyes as I fall completely head over heels in love with my newborn son.
Brooks Charles Harrington came screaming into this world twenty minutes ago and I feel like the luckiest bastard all over again. I gaze at him while he’s cradled in my arms, swaddled in the blanket my mother crochet for him. I memorize this moment—this feeling—because I know how quickly time will take it away from me.
“You know, it would be nice if I got to hold him for more than just a second since he came out of my vagina and all,” Jenna complains from her hospital bed, and I snort at her humor. I shake my head at her, not ready to give up my son.
“You’ve carried him for almost ten months, it’s my turn now.”
“Great, so are you going to grow breast milk and feed him for the next ten months straight too?” I chuckle and give her a playful grin. The adrenaline coursing through her veins from giving birth must be the explanation for sassy Jenna right now and I fucking love it.
“You know how fucking sexy you are to me when you’re feisty, so keep it up over there and I’ll put another baby in you in exactly six weeks.” She throws Brooks’s tiny hat at me, and I laugh.
“Language, Cal. His first words don’t need to be fuck or any variation of it.”
I shrug at her, completely disagreeing. “Oh, I don’t know about that. It would make him very cultured if it was.”
“Of course you would think that,” she says sarcastically with a laugh.
“Just give me a couple more minutes with him,” I say to appease her and continue staring at my son. He’s a beautiful baby, and I wonder if he looks like Avery when she was born. The thought makes me frown and I swallow back my sadness at not being around when she was born.
“Don’t go there, Cal,” Jenna softly warns, and I look up to see her watching me with a sympathetic smile. She must have seen my demeanor change and I love that she knows me well enough to know what I’m thinking. She’s right—I can’t go there because the past is the past and I can’t dwell on it. I’m just so grateful to have been given a second chance with her and Avery.
Everything changed the day Jenna put her trust in me and came to Dubai. We needed those two weeks alone to reconnect both mentally and physically. Watching her leave gutted me and I vowed to not agree to any more international projects without her consent. We tried our hardest to see each other every two weeks, but it started to become impossible with my work schedule and delays with production. We went one month without seeing each other and it was the ultimate test for our relationship, but Jenna handled it better than I could’ve imagined. When production moved to Thailand and we were getting closer to wrapping up, I had my whole family come out for a vacation. After the last day of shooting, I proposed to Jenna on the beaches of Phuket where she said yes without hesitation.
I wanted to move her and Avery into a bigger home and when another death threat appeared, it moved the process up faster. This time, I didn’t hide the threat from Jenna and showed it to her as soon as it arrived. She trusted that I would protect her and our daughter and agreed to the move and a second bodyguard. We found the perfect home on Lake Michigan in a gated community that was closer to her parents’ house and only twenty minutes north from her condo, which Layla is staying in for the time being.
Career wise, things couldn’t be better. I won what every actor covets—an Academy Award. Since winning, I have taken a much-needed break from work, which came at the perfect time during Jenna’s pregnancy. I loved being there for every doctor’s appointment and watching her body transform each month while giving our child life. My priority is my family and I have no plans to make another movie until everyone is ready and whenever that time comes, I demand that they come with me no matter where the location is.
I stand up and bring Brooks back to my soon-to-be wife. I take my cell phone out of my pocket and start snapping photos of the two and send them to family and friends who’ve been anxiously waiting to hear the news. I get a text from Jenna’s mom letting me know she’s here with Avery.
“Your mum is on her way up with Avery,” I tell Jenna and I’m excited for Avery to meet her new baby brother. I watch Jenna kiss our son’s forehead and my chest tightens with love. Her engagement ring catches my eye, and it reminds me that we need to discuss wedding plans.
“Now that you’ve had the baby, when can we get married?” I inquire and Jenna looks up and scowls at me. We were supposed to get married last fall, but she postponed it once she found out she was expecting.
“Cal, I look like a pregnant gorilla right now. I need time, please.” I shake my head at her negative comments about herself because Jenna being pregnant lit me on fire—on a whole different level. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her and that’s usually the case when she isn’t pregnant. But this was different—I wanted to touch and kiss every part of her while she was growing our child.
“I can go get the justice of the peace and we can get married as soon as your mum arrives,” I offer with a mischievous smile. She looks at me as if I’ve gone mad and I chuckle. I know Jenna would never say yes to that, but she also knows that if she did, I would make it happen with the snap of my fingers. I don’t need a big fancy wedding and even though I know she’s mine, I still want that damn piece of paper legally binding her to me for all eternity.
“Your parents would kill us if we got married without them.” She’s right, they would, and they fell in love with Jenna as soon as they met her just like I knew they would. Her and my sisters are best friends and sometimes I think they call more frequently just to talk to her over me.
“Eh, they would get over it. We hold all the power now because we can keep their grandchildren hostage until they stop being mad at us.” She laughs and the sound wakes up Brooks, who starts to cry.
I take the baby from her and walk around the room to help calm him down. Just when he’s about to doze back to sleep, Avery comes barreling into the room with excitement, the sound startling him awake again. Jenna’s parents follow behind her and walk straight to me to see their new grandson.
“Mommy!” she screams and races toward the bed. She climbs on top of it, and Jenna embraces her in a tight hug before kissing her on the head.
“I’ve missed you, my Avery Boo. Are you ready to meet your new baby brother?” Jenna asks and Avery looks at her with wide eyes and nods.
Jenna moves over so Avery can sit right next to her, and I walk a crying Brooks slowly over to them. “Sweetheart, do you think you are strong enough to hold your new brother?” I ask and she gazes at the baby with trepidation while he continues to cry. She looks up at me and I see that she's scared.
“Don’t worry, honey. I bet he will stop crying once you hold him,” Jenna reassures her and that gives Avery the confidence she needs.
“I’m ready, Daddy, and I promise I won’t drop him.” We all laugh at her words, and I gently place him in the crook of her arms. I sit on the other side of her and wrap my arm around her back so that my hand can help hold up his head.
He continues crying while I adjust him into her arms, but soon he stops and opens his eyes. He looks up at Avery and they stare at each other. I glance over at Jenna and see she has tears in her eyes. As if sensing I’m watching her, she looks up at me and smiles. “I love you,” she whispers as the tears stream down her face.
“I love you,” I tell her and my gaze shifts to our beautiful children. “Thank you for continuing to make me the happiest man in the world.”
I lean over the top of Avery’s head and bring my lips to Jenna’s, savoring this moment with her, with our family and praying for a long, healthy, and happy future for us all.
* * *
