Pieces of Me (The Wilder Brothers #9)

BONUS EPILOGUE

Gabriel

The crowd chanted our names, their voices reverberating throughout the stadium. I closed my eyes as the shouts of the crowd washed over me, and I let myself sway to the beat of the drums.

Kiera increased the tempo, and I swayed a little bit more, before opening my eyes, guitar in hand.

I looked over at Joshua, his grin wide, then over at Rocky, who continued to sway, her face glowing.

“What if I were to run?” I began, and the crowd went wild.

We began the first few chords of Echoes of Goodbye, and I looked up to the rafters, knowing that Mal wasn’t there, he had never been, yet I still allowed the warmth of what could have been wash over me.

And then I sang.

People shouted, singing along with every single word that Briar and I had written together.

My Briar. The woman that I loved. My wife.

I was never going to get over saying my wife.

We let the song continue, as David went in for backup vocals, Joshua adding his. And then Rocky and Kiera sang along as well, each of us blending our voices for the person who wasn’t here with us.

And the crowd indeed went wild.

Everything felt right, as if this was where I was meant to be. I looked over to the side stage, and smiled, even as I sang.

Briar stood there in jeans that hugged her curves, a cropped top, a long flowing shirt, and had Maisie on her hip. Maisie waved her little chubby hand at me, and I waved back.

I had no idea how we had ended up with a toddler. Time did indeed move far too quickly.

The crowd noticed my wave, and they cheered even louder. Some of them might have thought I was waving to them, but others knew that my family was here tonight. The Wilders were here to watch Wilder. Of course, everything felt as if I were exactly where I needed to be because I was with the people who meant the most to me.

As we finished the final chord, and everyone screamed, I began to make my way over to the side of the stage as Rocky ramped up the crowd. I moved forward and pushed my guitar to my back as I wrapped my arm around Briar’s waist and took her mouth with mine.

She laughed, before kissing me back, and Maisie tapped both of our cheeks with her hands.

“My turn. My turn.”

I kissed Maisie on the cheek, then the other cheek, and then blew raspberries on her belly.

She laughed, clapping her hands.

“How’s my little girl doing?”

She couldn’t quite hear me with her ear protection on, but she still smiled and leaned to kiss my cheek. Then she rubbed the stubble and grimaced.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Briar. “Everyone’s a critic.”

“I think you look hot with a beard. Just saying.”

“I think you look edible right now,” I muttered, grateful that Maisie couldn’t hear us.

Even though the band was waiting for me, I took a few more seconds to place my hand over Briar’s stomach.

Her eyes went wide. “Gabriel,” she snapped, even though a smile played on her face.

“I can’t help it. I’m all caveman with my woman and shit.”

“Shit!” Maisie shouted, and Briar narrowed her gaze at me. Apparently our daughter had learned how to take off her ear protection. Damn kid.

“Do not let this baby have their first word be a curse word like Maisie’s was.”

Maisie’s first word had indeed been shit. It could have been worse. Much worse. And I was pretty sure that it was my brother’s fault that Maisie cursed, not mine.

And that was what I was going to stick with.

“Come on, you know what you have to do.”

Briar’s face drained of color, before she swallowed hard. “Only for you, Gabriel Wilder.”

We weren’t ready to announce the pregnancy yet, and with the outfit that she was wearing, it hid it quite well. Our family knew, of course, as well as the band, but the world didn’t need to know yet.

Every day was another way of finding balance when it came to our lives with the media, the fans, and the world.

We didn’t always do it right. Sometimes we did indeed have to run from paparazzi. Or hide Maisie’s face from photographers who didn’t understand the meaning of no. But usually we had a decent balance. A lot of the usual photographers did their best not to get photos of our daughter. They knew the rules, and if they wanted to stay anywhere near us without a restraining order, they were going to respect our privacy. So, they didn’t snap pics of our kid, and we let them take photos of us as we left a restaurant in New York.

It was an odd way to live, but we were making it work.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way, honestly. Because this was the way that we had paved for ourselves. Parents, musicians, rock gods, and Wilders.

Brooks came over, a shit-eating grin on his face as he held out his hands. “Okay, give me my niece. You guys have work to do.”

Maisie immediately jumped into his arms without a care for her safety. Of course, Uncle Brooks would always be there to catch her. He lifted her up into the air, tossed her once more as Briar let out a shocked gasp. Then my brother pushed me toward the stage.

“They’re waiting on you both. Go.”

“Maybe we should change our minds and do something else,” Briar said, and I scowled at her.

“Oh no you don’t. It’s time. You promised yourself.”

“I hate you and love you right now.”

“Oh Gabriel, your cult is waiting,” Kiera called out, and the fans screamed even louder, stomping their feet.

“Wilder! Wilder!”

“Okay, my Wilder, let’s go.”

“Ashford. I’m an Ashford.”

“Well so am I, Babe. We’re both. But you’ve promised yourself you’d do this. Now let’s go.”

And as I strummed the first note of the song, everyone squealed impossibly louder. And I made my way onto the stage, Briar at my side.

I wasn’t sure I could even hear my thoughts over the sounds of the crowd. The band grinned, each of them taking their positions, as I went up to the mic.

“As you know, my lovely wife here writes some of the best songs out there. Don’t you think?”

The crowd cheered.

“And because she lost a bet, I’m forcing her to sing our song.”

Again, people shrieked, and it felt as though the rafters vibrated.

We had won the Grammy together the last year because of the song we had written together, Echoes of Goodbye. But we’d won another Grammy for Stay for Me.

And Briar and I had never sung it together. She wasn’t on the album as a singer, but songwriter, and had sung it outside of our studio, but now she was singing in front of the world.

Because she indeed had lost a bet. A naked one.

And yet I knew she was blushing from head to toe, and I couldn’t wait to find out for myself later.

“Okay, wife of mine.”

Another cheer.

“You sure do like claiming me,” Briar teased.

The crowd had gone insane at this point.

“He’s a menace,” Kiera called out.

“Ridiculous,” Rocky agreed.

“I’m a little jealous. I guess I should go find a wife,” Joshua added.

“I’ll be your wife!” somebody called from the front row, and others added in their offers.

“Well, you’re in it now,” David said with a laugh, as he began to play a soft melody.

“Are you ready, Baby?” I asked, and Briar nodded. “Always.”

“Staying is only easy if you have nowhere else to run,” I began, and she leaned forward, her beautiful alto voice joining mine, and the crowd went wild.

And I once again fell in love with my best friend’s sister, my wife, the mother of my child, and the last piece I’d been missing—even though she’d been there all along.