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“Kiss the girl!” Mom cries, laughing and smiling.
Brian plans to be a good son-in-law because he immediately follows Mom’s instructions.
We kiss with love pumping through us.
EPILOGUE
THREE WEEKS LATER
Brian
I stand in the mirror, looking over my shoulder at the tattoo, smiling as I reflect on the past few weeks.
Evie laughed when she learned that Keith and his uncle were arrested for criminal conspiracy. Then she put her hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t laugh at somebody else’s misfortune.”
I grabbed her and kissed her. When she collapsed against me and threw her arms around my shoulders, I reflected I was the luckiest man alive for the hundredth time that day.
“It’s healing well,” she says, emerging from the walk-in shower with a towel wrapped around her middle and another on her head. I reach out and snatch the towel away, revealing her breasts and her body. She laughs and slaps me on the stomach, then falls against me when I pull her into my arms. Cradling her naked body close to mine, I smooth my hand across her cheek, kissing her tenderly.
“You know the rule. No towels allowed.”
“Since when is that a rule?”
“Since about five seconds ago.”
She laughs, then leans in for a kiss. She does it super confidently, but then I feel her falter. Her expression becomes more serious when she leans back in my arms, gazing up at me.
“I learned something interesting last night,” she says quietly, “when I was at Kelly’s for the movie night.”
It was one of the only evenings we hadn’t spent together these past three weeks. Since Brian and Janine gave their blessing, my woman’s been living with me. We spend time drawing together, making love, reading, watching movies, discussing the future, and just being together.
“Oh yeah?” I ask.
“Hmm… It’s something I’ve always dreamed about.”
She tilts her head, sassy as hell. Our crush game has become a mainstay in our relationship. Reaching down, I give her a love tap, a light kiss of a spank. If I do it any firmer, I’ll get obsessed with her ass, the rippling, the perfection.
“What did you learn?” I growl.
“I’m pregnant.”
I cheer loudly, my smile so wide my cheeks ache. I keep grinning, knowing that I’ll never forget this feeling, this sudden certainty, this explosion of love. I was sure before, but this is like feeling it all over again—coming home, looking at my woman, knowing I loved her immediately.
“I already love them,” I say, laughing crazily. “Our little son or daughter. So much.”
When she blinks, tears flow down her cheeks. “Me too. So much. You’re going to be the best dad.”
“I was about to say the thing.”
“Okay. Modest?” She grins.
I chuckle, kissing away her tears. “About you. You’re going to be the best mom.”
EPILOGUE
THREE YEARS LATER
Evie
“Don’t be such a baby,” I tease Kelly.
She winces as I guide the tattoo gun over her arm, filling in the rose petal. She grins over at Lena, sitting in her playpen in the corner of the studio. There are no sharp objects near her, nothing that could hurt her, and I’ve triple-checked that she can’t escape the pen, but I still glance over every few moments.
“You hear that, Lena?” Kelly says.
“Baby, baby,” Lena yells, cuddling her teddy bear.
“I think she agrees,” I say, laughing.
Kelly looks at Lena for a moment, then glances at me with a giant grin. It’s my and Brian’s wedding anniversary tomorrow, and Kelly’s been in a very reflective mood.
“I still can’t get over that she’s yours and Brian’s daughter. All those times you talked about having a perfect family with your man…”
“It’s fine. You can say you never believed me.”
“I thought it was just crazy crush talk.”
“So did I, for a long time,” I say, “but somewhere along the way, it stopped being about the crush.”
I won’t mention that Brian and I still have fun with the crush stuff, but that’s all it is—fun, not the point.
“Something real took its place,” I say, looking at Lena with her dark hair, more black than brown, just like Brian’s was before it turned silver.
She has his eyes too, or maybe it’s the same love in them when she looks up at me.
“Mommy!” she yells, and Kelly and I laugh at her sheer cuteness.
“Seriously, I’m so happy for you,” Kelly says.
“And you’re sure you don’t mind watching her tomorrow?”
Mom and Dad are in Malta on holiday. They’ve been so supportive these past few years, their confidence visibly growing with each milestone: the wedding, Lena, day after day of love and belonging. They’d demand to care for their granddaughter if they weren’t away.
“You’re kidding, right?” Kelly says with a grin. “Try and stop me.”
“Stop, stop,” Lena echoes in her cuter-than-cute toddler voice.
“I didn’t realize I was such a good teacher,” Kelly jokes. “Lena, what about Aunt Kelly is the best person ever?”
“Aunt… Kell… best ever!” Lena grins, doing her best.
