Knight Life In Vegas (Sin City Omegas #3)

Epilogue - 7 months later

“What if I fuck them up?”

Bryce smiled softly, wrapping an arm over my shoulder as we looked down at the three newborns Charlotte had graced my pack with. “You will, but not out of malice. It’s just an inevitability of parenthood.”

“You’re not mad?”

He shook his head. “I’m glad you have a second chance. Do I wish I got a better version of you? Of course, but I can see that you’re trying and how much you’ve changed. I’m never going to begrudge these kids getting an amazing dad. I’m finally getting that out of you again myself.”

I sighed, leaning against him. “I wasn’t lying about my commitment to doing better, but god, I’m terrified of this second chance.”

“You were afraid of the first chance, too, though, weren’t you?”

“Scared shitless,” I said with a quiet laugh. “I guess that’s my lot in life.”

“Introduce me to my new siblings.” Bryce nudged me. “I saw the photos, but meeting them in person is different. Do you know who the biological fathers are for each?”

“Fairly obvious to look at them, but yes, we did get that information from the hospital.” I scooped up my daughter, the only girl in the household besides my omega. “This is Emilia Elizabeth.”

Bryce traced gentle fingertips over her stark black hair. “Did you name her after Mom?”

“Eduardo did on my behalf.” I nodded, emotion clogging up my throat. “He does have a grandmother named Emilia, but when it came time to cast his vote for his daughter, he deliberately chose that one to also honor Emily. Elizabeth comes from Charlotte’s mother.”

“Amazing women the world lost too soon.”

My son kissed his new sister’s head. Lord, that was an odd thought. Thirty years separated them and his own daughter was older than my new children. We had never been good at avoiding complications, and strange as they might appear to the uninitiated, I loved the lives my son and I had found and woven together.

“You’ve got a lot to live up to, little lady,” Bryce said softly, standing back up with shiny eyes and a sniffle. “Nature is damn potent, making me love her already.”

“I cried all over all three at the hospital,” I confessed. “Everyone did.”

“How’s Charlotte feeling?”

“Tired, but elated.” Joy had been rebounding through the bond ever since the first baby made their appearance. I replaced Emilia in the crib after a kiss to her plump cheek, and scooped out the oldest of the triplets. “This is Marcelo Nicholas, Francisco’s biological son.”

“Family names for him, too?”

“Yes. Marcel was Francisco’s father, and Nicholas was Charlotte’s, two more wonderful people taken from the world too soon.”

Bryce sucked in a slow breath. “Your pack’s had a lot of loss.”

“We have,” I agreed. “A lot of gain, too, though.”

“You really have grown,” Bryce said with a laugh. “I’m proud of you.”

“Oh god, don’t make me cry while I’m holding a baby.” Tears snuck up anyway and Bryce hugged both of us, making sure not to squish little Marcelo. I’d been nervous Bryce might resent my new children, but those worries melted away.

“Introduce me to my other new brother, please.”

I kissed Marcelo’s cheek and laid him back down, scooping up our middle triplet. “Dylan Bryce Junior.”

“You—” Bryce’s voice caught. “You named him after me ?”

“We did.” I let Bryce take him from me, my oldest son gazing down at my youngest. Surreal didn’t even begin to cover it. “Do you mind?”

“ Mind ?” Bryce’s voice cracked hard. “I love it.”

“Oh, good.” Tension drained out of my muscles. “I was hoping you’d like it, but I wasn’t sure.”

“I’m honored.”

I kissed baby Dylan’s cheek, then Bryce’s, heedless of the fact that he was an adult now. “I love all of you more than I can stand. I’ll be remorseful forever that I couldn’t be the father you needed after I lost your mother. You deserved more than I was capable of, and I have never deserved the second chance you gave me, but I will always be grateful you chose mercy.”

“It was what we both needed.” Bryce sighed, sucking back tears. “I thought I might hate seeing you with your new children, but I’m relieved I don’t. You fought hard to stay and all I saw growing up was what was missing. I couldn’t have done otherwise as a kid, but I think I see things more clearly now. I’m proud of you, that you kept fighting when you could have given up thousands of times.”

“It wasn’t easy.” I chuckled nervously.

“I know. You’re not alone anymore, so you have to promise me you’ll do better for my brothers and sister, no matter what the future brings.”

“I will. I swear.”

“I know that, too.” Bryce’s smile filled in the few small cracks remaining from the loss of my life. I hadn’t lost him . “Are you guys going to call him Dylan Junior all the time or go for something easier?”

“We—” I swallowed past my tears. “We were thinking DJ would be cute.”

“It is. Dylan named his kid after himself?”

“If anyone was going to, he would,” I replied lightly, offering a wobbly smile as I kept pulling myself together.

“You’re not wrong about that,” Bryce said with a laugh. “Thank you for letting me meet them all early.”

“Sammy and Ollie have already met them, so it was only fair you got to as well. You might be an adult with your own pack and children, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re their brother too.”

“Our family is weird.” Bryce set DJ back in the crib. “I love it, though. I’m really glad I gave you a second chance so I could be part of it.”

I hugged him fiercely. The work between us would never be done, but each day I showed up made things a little lighter. I wasn’t going to stop being there for him no matter how many other children I had.

“Are you sad none of the triplets are your biological child?”

“I already have you. I don’t need another.”

“It would be okay if you were disappointed.”

“I’m not. How could I be disappointed when I already have you for a son? I love them, but things will always be different with you. Your mother would be so proud of the man you’ve grown into. I wish so much that she were here to see it.”

Bryce wiped away a tear that escaped. “She’d be proud of you too. I wish she was here so she could meet my pack and my kids, but I’m so fucking glad you were brave enough to let Charlotte in. I know nothing would be the same if Mom was still here, but I think she would be happy for both of us.”

I clung to that. The nursery walls were filled with photos, including one of Emily holding baby Bryce. It was a picture I had taken in the hospital. She was grinning ear to ear despite her exhaustion. The walls held plenty of memories: parents and grandparents the children would never meet, and all the loved ones they would meet soon. The whole house was full of photos, faces I was getting more familiar with over time. My family had been so small, and now it was overflowing.

“Princess delivery,” Dylan announced, carrying Charlotte into the nursery. “She’s freshly laundered.”

Charlotte laughed. “Is that what we’re calling having a bath now?”

“Yep.” Dylan beamed and kissed the tip of her nose before carefully depositing her in the rocking chair she used to feed the babies.

“I’ll leave you to it,” said Bryce, pulling me into another hug.

“Good to see you, Son,” said Dylan with a shit-eating grin.

“Don’t do that.” Bryce laughed. “You’re only three years older than me.”

“Spoilsport.”

Bryce dipped down to kiss the top of Charlotte’s head. “Congratulations again. The babies are adorable.”

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him, positively beatific.

I walked my oldest son down, waved as he drove off, and then rerouted back to the nursery, settling on the plush stool next to Charlotte while she fed Marcelo. Dylan had departed, presumably on the assumption that I would be returning.

“How are you?” I asked quietly.

“Overwhelmed in the best way. I love them all so much.”

I kissed her temple and gently cupped Marcelo’s head. “Me too. You make very beautiful babies.”

“They’re so cute I want to cry.”

Emilia did so on her behalf, tiny whines of neh coming out. I moved automatically to pick her up. “My goodness, little lady. Are you hungry?”

“Good thing I have two boobs.” Charlotte laughed. “Can you help me rearrange them?”

“Of course.” The prenatal classes had given us a few tips and tricks for managing multiple babies. I settled each one at Charlotte’s side on top of the feeding pillow so they could access a breast without being on top of each other. Hopefully DJ had a bit more patience.

“Do you know what’s the strangest thing?” she asked.

“What?”

“A year ago I couldn’t have imagined a fraction of this. You and I were both so broken.”

“To be healed is to be loved. It’s hard to believe all of this hinged on a moment of bravery. I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet for being so brave.”

“Sometimes I’m still surprised I was. I thought Andrew had broken something in me forever and I might never have a chance at the life I truly wanted.” She gazed down at the babies, her thumbs stroking their little heads. “I only made that step because of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“With the others, it felt like I needed them, and I didn’t think I deserved it. With you… you needed me , and it felt so selfish to consider not being there for you. It opened me up to everything.”

“I’ve never been so grateful I was pathetic enough to induce that type of guilt in you.”

Charlotte laughed again, the sound sweet. “I needed to start out with something that wasn’t for me. At least not exclusively. I lied to myself that being with you wasn’t about me, but sometimes lying is what gets you through until you find the truth.”

I turned her toward me, kissing slowly, absorbing every ounce of her quiet passion. “I love you an impossible amount.”

“I love you too.”

“Do you love us an impossible amount?” Dylan asked, the rest of the pack sweeping in.

“You ask that as if I have any other choice. Now get over here in a group hug.”

“Oh my god. I’m going to faint,” said Dylan. “Did Rain-Beau just ask for a group hug?”

“First time for everything,” Francisco said with a chuckle. All of them crowded around, mindful of the babies, but crushing me between them.

“Our pack is pretty fucking cool,” said Dylan.

“No argument here,” replied Eduardo. He scooped DJ out of the crib, cradling him. “Fate did a damn good job.”

I couldn’t argue either. For all that I had railed against it, fate had given me everything I could need and more. Maybe I would never truly deserve all these blessings, but I was going to work every day to be worthy of them.

I glanced up with the photo of Emily and Bryce, astonished by how much love I was capable of feeling. Not everyone got a second chance, but Charlotte and I had. Maybe I did deserve it. We all did, and I never would’ve seen it if not for the omega fate had thrown in my path right when I was ready for her, even if I hadn’t known it yet.