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“Oh,” Mikey replies. I can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. Moments pass in the most awkward, most pressing silence as I wait for the real reaction. The shock will wear off in a second or two. But the outburst I had been fearing never comes. “Why’d you leave Momma before I was born?”
“Because I didn’t know about you kiddo. And your mom and I didn’t know how to find each other for a long time.”
“But then you did,” Mikey concludes.
“Yes, then we did,” I tell him. “But I wanted to make sure that he was a good enough guy to be in your life before we told you.”
Mikey nods, his understanding far beyond that of most five-year-olds. “But he’s a great guy!”
We all chuckle. “You’re right, baby, he is a great guy.”
“I love your mother more than anything in the world, Mikey. And I love you just as much. I’m ready to be your dad for life, if you’ll have me,” Kace says, a hint of vulnerability in his voice.
“Except you get two more dads on top of that,” Finn adds with a playful wink.
Mikey knows not to tell anyone about our complex relationship. He’s a bright kid. I taught him kindness and tolerance from the very beginning, and he’s been our fiercest protector. Whoever asks, Mikey knows to refer to Finn and Elias as his uncles and Kace’s best friends.
“I like having three dads,” he finally concludes, then looks at Kace and smiles. “And I like that you’re not a stranger anymore.”
Just like that, one of my deepest fears has dissolved like droplets of rain vanishing in the water. All the pressure, all the doubts… gone. Forever gone, as Mikey embraces his father and pours every ounce of love he’s been saving precisely for this moment.
I can tell that he’s relieved, too. Mikey likes the security and the comfort of our uncanny family unit just as much as I do. We’re not big fans of radical changes, my son and me.
It feels good to see them like this.
Tears of joy spring to my eyes as Finn and Elias both kiss Mikey, and we do a proper group hug. Three amazing men, one brilliant little boy, and me. The woman who almost lost it all and got plenty more back when she finally owned up to her mistakes. The woman who found an extraordinary and greatest kind of love when she least expected it.
The woman whose water just broke.
“Oh, shit,” I whisper as I take a step back, feeling the liquid pour down my thighs.
Kace is the first to realize what’s happening. He stares at me for what feels like the longest second of our lives, then takes the car keys out of his pocket.
“Fellas, we need to get to the hospital.”
Epilogue II
Amaya
One year can go by in a blink when you’re ridiculously happy while doing double-Dutch down the learning curve of life. It’s been a rollercoaster, but not one I’ll ever regret getting on.
We have a beautiful baby girl now. Her name is Amber, and she’s got fire in her hair and emeralds in her eyes. Finn is obviously over the moon. Kace is thrilled and head over heels with her. Elias is adorably protective of her.
And Mikey… man, he’s the best older brother Amber could ever ask for. She’s as lucky as her mom where these strapping lads are concerned.
It's been hard. Weird, at times. But wonderful, nonetheless.
Mira is Amber’s godmother and visits often. Tanya is a constant presence and a huge help. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t thank the stars for having brought me to this place, to this specific moment in time and space. I could drown in all this happiness, all this love, to be honest.
I feel safe here in every way. The safest I’ve ever felt.
Derrick’s sentencing hearing concluded last week. He’ll be spending the next ten years in a medium-security prison in Southern California. Ramada is out on bail. She got away with time served on the bribery charges, but the SEC is now looking into her financials for a slew of irregularities. She may go to jail, after all. Or she might get away with it. I don’t know. She’s got her daddy’s money to fall back on, anyway.
None of that matters, though. She’s a pariah in the fintech industry, and nobody wants to even be associated with her. She was banned from the estate, too, and the guys even took out a restraining order against her, just to be sure.
Either way, those troubles will never haunt us again.
We are thriving. The estate is expanding its services, and I’ve been branching out with my own brand. Kace, Finn, and Elias have actively supported this endeavor, which only makes me love them more—I wasn’t sure that was even possible, yet here we are. Aside from the Golden Sequoia Estate’s yoga studio, I’ve been preparing for a grand opening in Sacramento, too.
