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She smiles shyly, “Thank you.”
I make a circle with my finger, “Let me see the back.”
When she turns around, my cock throbs nearly to the point of pain. The dress has a low back, covering just above her ass. Her skin is flawless.
“Fucking gorgeous. We better go before I change my mind.”
I stroke her naked back while we walk to the elevator. She shivers beneath my touch and fuck me, I love that.
She’s surprised, to say the least when we pull into the parking lot of Xander’s bar.
“I might be overdressed.”
“You’re not,” I assure her as we walk to the door. She spots the sign that reads ‘Closed for Private Event.’
“They're closed. We will have to go somewhere else.”
I chuckle as I open the door for her and escort her inside. When we make it to the bar area, she gasps, completely shocked as she takes in her friends and family.
People rush over to hug her, “Congratulations and Happy Birthday,” Dad says as he pulls her in for an embrace.
When they separate, she looks at the twinkling lights overhead, “Did you do this?” She asks me.
I nod, “Anything for you.”
Mercy reaches for her and whispers something I can’t hear in her ear. When she pulls back, Ivy has tears rolling down her cheeks, “Thank you, Mom.”
I'm taken aback when Mercy reaches for me and asks to speak to me privately. I look at my dad, and he smiles, “It’s fine. I trust you with my wife.”
I try to play it cool as I follow Mercy to the bar, but my heart feels like it might explode. Things have been good for the last three years with both of them, but I keep my distance from her. I am very aware of not crossing a boundary and being respectful of the past I’ll never forget.
She orders two whiskeys, and when the bartender sets them down, she raises her glass to mine, “Congratulations, Nash.”
“Thank you.”
“You aren’t the same man you were eighteen years ago. You’ve changed. I’ve never seen my daughter this happy. Thank you. But I need you to do something for me.”
I nod, “Anything.”
She takes a deep breath, “I forgave you a long time ago. Your dad has forgiven you. It’s time for you to forgive yourself.”
Shaking my head, “I don’t know how you know, but I can’t.”
Reaching out, she touches my arm affectionately, “I see it every time you look at me. You punish yourself by reliving that night. Set yourself free, Nash. The judge didn’t give you life in prison. You gave that to yourself. The prison doors are wide open, walk out.”
EPILOGUE TWO
IVY
Ten Years Later…
I stand behind the Christmas tree watching my husband play with our twins. We adopted them at birth three years ago. I was concerned that we wouldn’t have the bond with them that their birth mother could have. That concern was put to rest the second we held them for the first time. They were in the hospital for months after they were born. Mackenzie and Madison are identical twins. Both of them were born addicted to heroin. It was a painful experience to watch them suffer so much. That combined with them being born three months early meant a lengthy hospital stay.
I watch my husband playing with our carbon copy three-year-old girls and my heart is filled with joy. Nash was concerned that he might not be a good father. I know his heart, so I wasn’t. Holding them both on his lap, he’s telling them to keep it down so Mommy can sleep.
Mommy.
I never dreamed I’d have a husband and two children. As much as I wanted a successful art career, I craved this so much more. People posting online that they finally got an‘Ivy Lexington painting’never gets old. But this right here, is the perfect life. We have problems from time to time. We argue. Nash is a dominating pain in the ass sometimes. Still, the good outweighs the bad by far.
