AllFreeNovel
Share Us
EPILOGUE
MONTY
A few months later…
“Happy birthday, Hunter!” The small crowd of well-wishers chorused as Hunter giggled, wriggling about in my arms.
“‘Fank you!” My little boy showed off his fantastic set of teeth as he flashed the entire room a beaming smile. He also clapped his hands together when I leaned him down to blow out his candles, though he failed to do it because he was doing far less blowing and far more wriggling around. Everyone laughed in response, and I felt my heart swell with pride and love. He was growing up so well, and even more importantly, he was growing up happy.
And his mother was aglow with happiness, too, even though she made a show of frowning at me disapprovingly.
“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t be giving him any sugar until after the party,” she said wryly.
I shrugged. “You don’t know it was me who gave him the candy.”Even though it completely was.
Kayla gave me that look of hers that made me just want to kiss the annoyance off her face.
Oh, who was I kidding? I pretty much always wanted to kiss her at all times, especially when she looked as pretty as she did today.
Her hair was swept back in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing a flowy shirt and some jeans. There was a slight mist of sweat on her neck from all the running around she had done today, getting everything in order for my son’s second birthday party. She had been on top of things, a supermom in every way, and of course, I assisted with all I could, including singlehandedly carrying a heavy wooden table down the stairs for the setup. I couldn’t complain, though. I was just happy to be included.
To think that a few months ago, I didn’t think this would be possible.
In fact, during the rescue, I had been nearly sure I would lose my life. It had been risky, sneaking onto Simon’s compound with limited manpower and time, but we had the element of surprise. We ambushed Simon’s men before they knew what happened, and we were able to take them out while I ran in to rescue my woman. I didn’t care about the danger and didn’t even bother waiting for backup. I had been ready to die for her, no questions asked. But for whatever reason, the big man upstairs decided to give me another chance, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to waste it.
I was going to do whatever I could do to stay in both Kayla and Hunter’s lives, which included fighting all my demons once and for all. Even if it meant I had to give therapy one last shot. I had immediately gone to a therapist Vinny highly recommended. The man was a former war vet, the grizzled kind with the manners of a porcupine, and I had to grudgingly admit that he was the best one for the job. We spent the entire first session trading barbs and shooting the shit at each other. I did that instinctively, both as a defense mechanism to avoid talking about my problems and also to test the therapist a little and find out what the guy was made of. At the next session, he told me that I had to finally get to talking about what was bothering me, or I could get the hell out of his office.
That was when I decided I liked the man.
Kayla hadn’t been so sure when they met once in passing at a restaurant. I had taken her to dinner, and he had come in there by himself, looking morose as usual. I called him over to say hi and to introduce Kayla as my girlfriend, and he said maybe three words the entire conversation before going to eat dinner by himself, outright glaring at anyone who even attempted to look at him. Kayla had looked at me doubtfully, and I shrugged, assuring her that he was a cool guy who just had a rough exterior.
Even now, he stood to the side of everyone else at the party, looking as uninterested as anything, although I knew if he were truly uninterested, he wouldn’t have come. The good doctor did not do gatherings, and the fact that he was here spoke of our friendship that had developed over the months, especially since I could tell he wasn’t crazy about the crowd.
There were about two dozen people in attendance, some of whom I hadn’t met before. In the short time that Kayla had been in town, she had made a name for herself, and I was happy to see her in her element. But then again, how could I expect anything less from my fiancée? Her face shone with her excitement, and I admired her once more, the way her face glowed with her brows set over those beautiful dark eyes and those nice lips with the pouty lower one…
“Could you stop ogling your girlfriend for five minutes so we can get this whole show on the road already and finally get to the good stuff?” I heard Santiago grouching, and I gave the man a wink.
“Fiancée,” I corrected.
“Yeah yeah, blow out your candle already.”
“Behave,” his petite wife, Lucia, said.
“Sorry, Lucy, but he’s taking way too long.”
“It’s his son’s birthday party. He can take as long as he wants. Doesn’t mean you get to bitch about it.”
“I wasn’t bitching. I was just saying….”
I leaned down and blew out the candle to end the bickering, and a round of cheers broke out.
After that, the cake was shared, and the party spread out. Kayla spotted a woman at the side, and she grabbed my hand, saying, “Oh, she’s here!”
I followed her gaze. Kayla had invited an agent who was interested in representing her book, and the woman had just shown up, looking around the room in interest. I glanced at Kayla, who waved at her and smiled. My baby was now a full-fledged writer after she finally finished the manuscript she was working on. We had celebrated when she did, and I poured her a full bottle of champagne, then took her out to the fanciest restaurant in town and bragged to everyone there that my fiancée had written a book.
“Oh, come on.” She had rolled her eyes that night, although she smiled, pleased. “I haven’t even gotten an agent yet.”
“You will,” I’d said. And truth be told, in the next few weeks, she did.
