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EPILOGUE
ELLIOT—AROUND TWO YEARS LATER
Evanand I sat in the hammock, snuggled up in the fuzzy blanket with a creepy dinosaur on it that Ev still thought was incredible two years after his toddler-self had picked it out. Liz tried to get rid of it a few months later, but by then, he was already way too attached to say goodbye.
“This one’s Sticky, this one’s Stickly, this one’s Sticko, this one’s Sticker, this one’s Stickster, and this one’s Stickery,” Evan explained, holding up one stick after another as he introduced them to me. He was going through a naming phase—everything had a name, and every person had about a hundred nicknames. “Did you hear me, Dadster?” he checked.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I heard. Those sticks all have awesome names, Evster.”
He grinned, and I grinned back.
Honestly, I’d only been listening halfway.
Liz was inside, taking a pregnancy test on the sly, while I entertained our kid. Or while he entertained me, I guess.
“I need to find some rocks,” Ev declared, worming his way out of the hammock. I barely managed to shove a hand over my balls in protection before his little knee crushed them.
“Sounds good,” I agreed.
He named them as he dug through the small layer of snow to pick them out of the graveled area just in front of our lawn. “Orangey, Grayey, Rocky…”
The door opened, and I nearly jumped off the hammock. My feet hit the floor quickly, and I found a flush-faced, excited Liz staring out at me with her lip between her teeth.
“Well?” I demanded.
“I’m pregnant,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me.
I caught her, shock and excitement tearing through me. There was a pee-stick in her hand, up against my shoulder, and I couldn’t have cared less because she was pregnant.
Ev was going to be a big brother. We’d have another little rugrat running around soon. And this time, I’d get to snuggle him even when he was tiny and fragile.
Fuck, what would I do with a newborn?
I must’ve asked that out loud, because Liz laughed. “You’re going to be great with him,” she promised. “Just like you are with Ev. You know you’re his favorite person on the planet.”
“I know,” I mumbled into her hair. “I love you so damned much.”
“I love you too.” She squeezed me back. “Should we tell Ev?”
“I already heard you, Momster!” Evan called from where he was still looking at rocks. “What’s pregnant?”
Liz and I exchanged looks. We’d had to perfect our silent communication skills as a new couple with a toddler running around, but we’d had plenty of time. Liz had started teaching classes at a dance studio in the evenings five days a week, and I had started working as a substitute teacher once a week or so after I figured out all of the asset management shit. Some of the bigger things, we still paid someone else to handle, but I’d gotten good at all of the smaller things.
Our main focus was our family; us, and Evan. No matter what else we needed to deal with, we took care of each other.
And now, we were going to have one more person to look after.
My hand brushed Liz’s abdomen, and I leaned in to kiss her on the lips.
“Momster? What’s pregnant?” Ev demanded.
The little dude had a big temper, and already growled like a fiend even when he was in his human form.
“It means you’re going to have a little brother,” Liz called out to Evan, smiling against my lips.
I kissed her again.
“Okay.” Ev didn’t seem too concerned about that.
