Off-Limits Roomates

65. Epilogue

65

Epilogue

***Ella***

S ix Years Later

Traffic was terrible as I tried my best to make it across town in time to watch the kickoff. Fish was starting his third season as a starter for a professional team and each game was just as exciting as the last. Normally, I would’ve already been at the arena, sitting with a few of the other girlfriends or wives as I waited for the game to start but I’d had an interview that morning. Tucker, Foltz, and Williams was a large firm that did a lot of corporate law but they had a small sector that did pro bono work to relieve the public defender’s office. I interviewed for that sector and it’d gone well. I was hoping I’d hear something within the week.

“We’re almost there, Ms. Daughton.” Larry, the driver that Fisher insisted I use, glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “We’ll be there before the kickoff.”

I smiled at him. “Thanks, Larry. I didn’t think the interview would go on so long.”

“That’s a good sign, isn’t it?”

“I hope so.” I ran my hands over my dress and looked up at him. “Do you think this is too much? I’ve had so much free time since passing the bar exam and Fisher’s coach said I was making him fat with all my baking so I switched to sewing. This is a lot, though, right?”

He laughed. “No, ma’am. It’s nice. Have they seen it?”

“No. I wanted it to be a surprise. I’m not a seamstress, though. I’m petrified that I’m going to sit down and bust the seams during the game.” I’d taken some material with the team colors and used it and one of Fish’s old jerseys to make a sundress. I was worried that I looked like a Pinterest fail. “Maybe I should change back into my interview uniform.”

“Don’t do that, Ms. Daughton. I think they’ll like the dress. My wife is a seamstress and you could tell me she made that dress and I’d believe it.”

“You’re sweet, Larry, but I think you might be a liar.” I laughed and looked at my phone. I was going to be cutting it close. I always gave Fish a good luck kiss before each game. I’d never missed one. “Are Vaughn and Booth already there?”

“Yes, ma’am. Vaughn went with Fisher earlier to do some last minute work on his shoulder and Booth went with them.”

Vaughn had left the game to work on the sidelines. He worked as a physical therapist for the team and stuck close by Fish to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. Booth had gone in a different direction. He taught science at a local high school but the students were begging him to coach their losing football team. All three of them had found their way into careers that they loved and it was finally my turn after years of undergrad and law school.

Of course, I was fighting an uphill battle. No matter how much a firm liked me, I knew they were seeing my stomach and debating whether or not I was worth taking a chance on. I was six months pregnant with twins and my baby bump had turned into a baby mountain. We hadn’t planned to get pregnant for another few years but apparently my birth control was only so strong when I was testing it so often. I was excited about our babies, of course, but I planned on going to work as soon as I could. I hadn’t worked so hard to become a lawyer just to give up at the first sign of hardship.

“Almost there, Ms. Daughton.”

I slipped my feet into my matching flats and fluffed my curls. I wanted to look good when I saw my men. It’d been hard to still feel sexy while growing two little beings inside me. The guys were good about showing me how much they liked my body, though. They never stopped touching me. I smiled as I thought of them and how they’d refused to let me out of bed that morning without a handful of orgasms first.

“Alright. Here we are.” Larry parked and tried to get out to open my door.

“Stay inside, Larry. I can get the door myself. Thanks for the ride!” I only struggled a little bit to get out of the car with my belly but I made it.

He’d pulled right up to the back entrance to the locker room. Inside security lines, the entrance was private and it was how I typically got in. Before I could swipe the key card that being Fish’s girlfriend had gotten me, the door swung open.

Booth let out a relieved breath when he saw me. “There you are. How’d it go, baby?”

I swooned as he took me in his arms and kissed me deep. He’d grown his beard out and it was soft against my face thanks to the beard oil he used. I pressed my body into his and groaned when he pulled away. I was in the stage of pregnancy that made me want to hump my guys nonstop. “It went well, I think. They were really nice.”

He took my hand and pulled me towards the locker room. “If they’re smart, they’ll call you back with an offer. They’d be lucky to have you. I like that dress, by the way. It’s highlighting some of my favorite parts of you.”

I struggled to keep up with his long stride and when he noticed, he picked me up. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I can walk, Booth.”

“We’re on a time crunch, baby.”

I expected him to stop outside of the locker room but knocked and someone opened the door for us and then he carried me inside. I slapped my hands over my eyes, not wanting to see any of the other guys’ nakedness. “Booth!”

He laughed and put me down. “Good choice, baby. Keep those eyes covered.”

I gasped when he stepped away from me. “Booth? What are you doing?”

“There’s a lady in here, assholes! Put your dicks away!” I recognized Coach McDonald’s voice and winced. He was a scary man when things weren’t going his way. “Well, don’t you look pretty, Ella.”

I still had my eyes covered. “Booth brought me in here, Coach. Blame him if you’re upset about the intrusion.”

“I like how fast you threw him under the bus.” He’d never gotten over Booth turning him down. He wanted Booth on his team but Booth wanted to help kids more than he wanted to play ball.

“Hey, Ella. Looking good, ma.”

“Are you in here to see a real man, Ella?”

“Get rid of that loser’s jersey, momma. I’ll let you wear mine instead!”

I grinned at Fish’s teammates called out things to me to get under my guys’ skin. The other players loved watching Fish get cranky over me and they knew it’d only gotten worse since I’d gotten pregnant. “Hello, boys. I hope you’re bringing home another win today. It’s wrong to disappoint a pregnant lady.”

“Don’t even talk to these assholes, Ella Rae.” Fish’s voice came from somewhere in front of me. “Come here, sweetheart.”

I smiled as he pulled me into his arms and hugged me. “Let me give you your kiss and get out of here.”

“There’s something I have to do before you can go.” He let me go. “Count to five and open your eyes, Ella.”

I did what he said and when I opened my eyes I screamed. Booth, Vaughn, and Fisher were kneeling on one knee in front of me, a beautiful diamond sparkling up at me from the ring box in Fish’s hand. I covered my mouth and let out a hysterical sounding laugh. “What are you doing?”

The entire team was watching and tears filled my eyes when I saw one of them holding a tablet with my mom’s face filling the screen. As I watched, Booth’s mom edged my mom out of the frame and wiped her eyes.

“We love you, Ella Rae. We’ve known you were the woman we wanted to marry for a very long time. Nearly every wish we’ve ever had has come true because of you. We wanted to wait for you to finish law school before we did this and the dates just added up for today to be the day.” Fish grinned up at me with tears in his eyes.

“Six years ago today, you called me and asked me for a place to stay.” Vaughn’s eyes were suspiciously moist, too. “You started all of this that day, Ella Rae. You came into our lives and changed everything. You’ve made every day special since that day.”

“I knew I loved you the first time you baked us cookies with our names on them.” Booth’s smile was bigger than I’d ever seen it, except maybe the day I told them I was pregnant. “You make life fun, Ella. You make it special. You’re going to be the best mom to all the kids we have and you’re going to be the best wife. Make us the happiest men ever and marry us, baby.”

I laughed through my tears as the team around us broke out in cheers. I moved to kneel in front of them and Fish jumped to his feet and stopped me.

“It’s still a locker room floor, Ella Rae. We can kneel on it. You can’t.” Fish wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. “Marry us, baby.”

I nodded and peppered kisses all over his face. “Yes! It took you long enough to ask!”

Booth and Vaughn took their turns holding and kissing me until Coach McDonald cleared his throat and tapped his watch. “We can be a little late but if we don’t get out there soon, they’re going to think we’re too scared to face them.”

Fish slipped the beautiful ring on my finger and pointed at the tablet where my mom’s face had taken center stage again. “You’ve got guests waiting in our box for you, Ella Rae.”

I gasped. “They’re here?!”

Booth took my hand and nodded. “Our moms are very excited to see you, baby.”

“Dad, too.” Vaughn winced. “Plus his new girlfriend. Of course, that means your mom had to bring a date, too.”

“Not even our parents' obnoxious dating habits can ruin this. We’re getting married!” I kissed Fish again and brushed my nose over his. “Go out there and bring home another win, fiance.”

He cupped my belly and grinned. “For you.”

Booth picked me up again and carried me out of the locker room to a chorus of cheers and calls from the rest of Fish’s team. He and Vaughn stopped just outside so we could watch the team run down the ramp to the field. It was one of my favorite parts. The crowd always went crazy when they saw Fish and his team. Their excitement was almost as wild as mine.

“This is the best day ever.” I sighed wistfully and rested my head on Booth’s shoulder.

Vaughn slid his hand up my thigh and winked. “It’ll be even better later. Celebration sex with you is my favorite. Along with makeup sex. And angry sex. And sleepy morning sex. Pretty much any sex.”

“Our parents are all staying the night at the house tonight.” Booth laughed at the crestfallen look on Vaughn’s face. “Which is why I got us a room for the night.”

“God, I love you guys.”