Fearless (The Willowdale Village Collection #2)

Epilogue

LENA GRAVES

10 YEARS LATER…

I consulted the checklist in front of me, letting out a frustrated groan. Why had I made so many plans? Better yet, why had I offered to help with so many things? Or bake for all these freakin’ events—for free, mind you? Because I’d been in the holiday mood. Clearly, I needed to tamper down my excitement for next year.

“What’s wrong, gorgeous?” Connery asked, coming to stand behind me. Falling snow gathered on the windowsills outside, and the stained glass snowflake art the kids had made at school made light dance across the marble counters. All of which were covered in baking plans and supplies.

“So, remember when I was making holiday plans?” I slid the calendar out from under the checklist. “And I agreed to host Christmas Eve here for family and then Christmas Day for anyone from the pack? And remember when I said, ‘no one needs to bring anything, we’ll make all the food’? Oh! And do you remember when I volunteered to bake for six events plus two school charity drives all within the next week? And do you remember when I also said, ‘we can shop closer to Christmas’ and now we are days away and have nothing? Because I’m just remembering all of that.”

Connery chuckled against my neck and slowly turned me to face him. “First of all, yes. I remember all of that. I even remember asking if it was too much, but I’ll hold back on an ‘I told you so.’”

I smiled at him as I smoothed my hand over his chest. “You can have this one, don’t worry.”

Connery pressed his forehead to mine and inhaled. “Okay, here’s the deal—Christmas presents are already bought. Ari is wrapping them upstairs while the kids are at school. And no, we didn’t forget the grab bag gifts. He has labels for everything.”

Relief filled my chest.

“Second, Liam already hired catering from Galena for Christmas Day and then invited the restaurant owners to stay and enjoy themselves.” He chuckled at the way my body melted against him. “For Christmas Eve, Macon and I will handle the cooking. And the kids already have outfits for both days, so that’s another thing you can check off.”

“Creator, you guys are amazing.” I sighed happily. “So all I need to do is bake for eight events? I can do that.” The bakery was only open every other day this month, and I’d just tell the staff I wouldn’t be in until after the holidays—with one exception. “Oh, and I’ll need to go to the bakery the night of the Christmas Festival. Okay, that’s totally doable.”

“Feeling better?” Connery asked.

“So much better.” I nodded. “Now I just need to make a plan for baking and enjoy the holidays, which after this year we desperately need.”

“How are you feeling?” he asked sincerely. Only two weeks ago I’d been super sick with flu-like symptoms, and while I was feeling better, I still wasn’t back to my normal self.

“Exhausted,” I admitted. “I wish these kids wouldn’t keep bringing home stuff from school.”

“Speaking of…” Liam passed through the kitchen, holding his cell phone and car keys. “I’m going to pick up the girls. Apparently Jane has a fever, Claire has thrown up, and Anna almost fainted in gym class.”

“Shit, let me grab my shoes. I’ll come with you,” Connery said. I felt an echo of his worry until I really considered the situation and what Liam was saying.

I offered Liam a dry look. “That seems oddly good timing since the girls were just talking about how they wished holiday break started today instead of tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I thought that was odd too.” He chuckled knowingly. “I already told Macon. He’s coming back from the park with the twins now.”

“Alright.” I sighed. “I’ll tell Ari to finish up the presents so that no one sees them—mainly the girls.”

“Sounds good.” He dipped me in a quick kiss as Connery threw on his jacket.

“Love you both!” I called out as the door closed, shaking my head in amusement. Those girls had their dads absolutely wrapped around their fingers in the most adorable way.

Anna, Jane, and Claire had just turned nine, but they had the attitude and sass of teenagers. They were the eldest, so they truly thought they ran the show—which was particularly funny when they thought they could pull a fast one on us like this.

All of them happening to get sick in a matter of hours, when they’d been perfectly fine this morning? Possible, but unlikely.

We had no idea what to expect when we found out we were pregnant the first time except that the gestation period would be shorter—and it was exactly the six month range we’d assumed. By early autumn we had three newborns and not a single idea of how to handle it. We learned quickly, though, and nine years later they were happy and healthy rabbit shifters.

As I strode through the hallway, my gaze fell on a photo of the girls, and I smiled at the way they had their arms thrown around one another. Thick as thieves, those three. Jane’s curly bright pink hair sat piled on top of her head, whereas Anna’s long straight blue hair hung down to her waist. Both styles very different to Claire’s lavender hair, which was pulled into an intricate braid. Each had such a specific style, and as they got older they seemed to come into it more and more.

It was both hard and amazing to watch them grow up so fast.

“Mom!”

I turned toward the door and crouched down, ready for the five year old that barreled into me. “Hey you, how was the park?” I pulled back from the hug, ruffling the snow out of his black hair. His smile was bright as he started to pull snow out of his pocket and hand it to me, making me squeak in surprise.

“Nolan,” Macon said, walking into the foyer and carefully kicking his boots off so as not to disturb our other son, who was sleeping on his shoulder. “Go get a towel from the mud room and help clean the water up. I’m sure Mommy loves the snow, but it's melting, buddy.”

“Oh!” He looked down and sprinted toward the mud room. Nolan was the definition of excitement and curiosity; he loved doing and helping. Nothing squashed that innate sense of wonder, and I really hoped he kept it his entire life.

"James fell asleep?” I asked, smoothing my hand through his blonde hair. While we didn’t know for sure, I was nearly positive that James was a dragon shifter and that Nolan was a wolf shifter. It’s what my magic was telling me, and I’d learned to listen to it.

“On the way home. He’s so tired, also a bit warm and feverish.” Macon frowned.

“Maybe the girls really are sick,” I said softly, taking James from him. “I’ll take him upstairs and get him some medicine if you want to get Nolan lunch. There’s some stuff in the fridge.”

“Sounds good.” He dipped his head and brushed his lips against mine. I sighed into it happily, James shifting slightly from me pressing toward Macon. “You look beautiful today, bunny.”

And then he was gone, helping Nolan. Shaking my head at his sweet words, I trailed up the stairs with James sleeping soundly in my arms. I swear, while nearly a decade had passed, the intensity of emotion and love I had for these men had only grown.

Five kids in ten years was as exhausting as it sounded, despite them being spaced out by five years between each labor and delivery. We wanted at least a few more, but we were in no rush. Considering the short duration of the pregnancy and the amount of babies each yielded, my mates had insisted on not rushing things—even choosing to do other wonderful amazing things to my body during my mating heat each year rather than sex.

Although, that was usually hard for all of us because as I learned, I was not only really into the dirty talk but my men had more than a little bit of a breeding kink. But as they emphasized to me time and time again, my health and happiness came first. It was something I loved so much about them, even if at the time—mainly during my mating heat—I was cranky about it.

When I reached the second floor of the house, I carried James into his space-themed bedroom and tucked him into bed after taking off his shoes and coat. I placed a thermometer under his arm and eyed the low grade fever, deciding to hold off on giving him medicine and let the fever run its course. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, I stared down at my son for a moment longer before stepping out of the room, keeping the door open so I’d hear if he woke up.

As I reached the third floor of the house, I walked into our family office, which among other things held a worktable for the kids to do their schoolwork. Ari looked up at me with a bright smile as he finished taping one last present, the black and red wrapping paper neat and folded so perfectly that I had no idea how he did it. Seriously, I sucked so much at wrapping presents.

“The girls are all sick and heading home from school,” I said, walking around the table as he put aside the last gift. He boosted me onto the surface. “Thanks for wrapping all those. I know that probably took a lot of time.”

Ari shrugged, flashing me a smile. “I sort of enjoy it, I won’t lie.” And I was so glad that he did. “You think they’re faking it?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed, looking toward the window. “They’re pulling up now. Let’s see how they get out of that car.” Because I’d be able to tell everything from that.

Ari helped me off the table as we both went to the window, eyeing the black SUV that parked right in front of our house. Liam and Connery got out first, and when the side door opened to reveal my daughters, I busted out laughing. Not only were they not sick, but they were carrying bags from the diner, chatting happily with big smiles on their faces.

“Little liars!”

“I don’t blame them,” Ari admitted. “Who has school days before Christmas?”

“True.” I held his hand and nodded toward the stairs. “Let's go see them.”

As we made our way downstairs, James stumbled out of his room. Ari scooped him up, letting him fall back asleep in his arms. I let out a hum, making a mental note to put some soup on for dinner just in case his throat was bothering him.

“You three do not look sick!” I called out. The triplets froze, all staring at me with wide, gold eyes.

“We felt sick but now we feel better!” Anna hurried to explain.

“It is a miracle from the Creator!” Claire added, flashing a big smile.

“We didn’t want to risk getting any of the other kids sick,” Jane agreed before spotting James. Frowning, she moved forward and looked him over. “Wait, he’s actually sick.”

I hummed in agreement and messed with her hair. “Alright, since all three of you are playing hooky, you’re going to help me bake for these upcoming events. Eat your lunch and then we’re getting to work.”

As we made our way into the kitchen and breakfast area, I found my other mates and Nolan already eating lunch. The room grew loud with teasing comments about the girls not being sick as I sat down on an island chair, absorbing the noise and chaos. But also the joy—so much joy. We were surrounded by so much love, and there was absolutely nothing I would trade this for.

I had been fearless enough to take hold of the happiness right within reach…and now it was mine, forever.