Epilogue
Six MonthsLater
Kane suckled loudly on the bottle of breast milk I was feeding him. The sun had barely risen, and he was wide awake, his momma’s eyes shining up at me with more love and adoration than I deserved.
“You’re a good boy, Kane. Drink up, buddy,” I whisper softly, hoping to keep this short so I could climb back into bed with Logan and catch another hour of sleep before morning drills.
He’d been an easy baby. At least, that was what everyone said. And every time they did, I watched Logan stiffen, her eyes turn to slits, and she’d shake her head. The first three months had, in fact, not been easy.
But from what I had heard, it never was. At least we figured out getting him to sleep through the night. We were both struggling with taking turns at night and then trying to cope with our days.
After he finished the bottle Logan had prepared for him last night, I held him upright on my knee and gently patted his back, rubbing out three loud belches before rocking him back to sleep. Never thought I’d sing until we learned that he liked my terrible voice, so now, I sang only for him, and it soothed him straight to sleep every time within minutes.
After laying him in his crib, I tiptoed out of the room and crept into the main bedroom, where Logan was just getting out of bed.
“Not so fast.” I jumped into the bed, pulling her to my chest.
“I need to feed Kane,” she groggily mumbled, cheek on my chest.
“Already done, sweetheart. Go back to sleep.”
“Mmh. Okay. You’re the best dad,” she whispered, falling back asleep, her soft breaths brushing against my bare chest.
And she was the best mom. I knew she had been worried about knowing what to do with our son, but like everything else she did, she was a natural. Plus, if he was anything like me, he had to be smitten with her.
She was perfection.
Closing my own eyes, time flew by too quickly, and then my alarm was going off, reminding me about the spring morning drills. Logan was grumbling about it being too early.
Kane wouldn’t wake for another hour or two, so I slipped from the bed and headed into the bathroom, wishing I could spend the morning in bed with Logan, making another baby.
* * *
Sittingin my truck after practice, still trying to catch my breath, Logan sent me a picture of her and Kane, making my heart ache in a way I didn’t know was possible.
And then, my brother’s ugly mug filled the screen, the phone vibrating with the incoming call.
“You’re annoyingly on time,” I grunted at Archer, who chuckled.
“You still comin’ down this weekend to show her the house?” he asked, mentioning the house I’d bought for me and Logan a month ago after Archer sent me pictures. It filled every goddamn requirement we had.
After this season, I would be retiring and moving back to Honey Magnolia, where Archer had already arranged for me to become the coach of the high school baseball team. I was also planning on starting a little league for Kane so he could one day join if he loved the sport.
“Yeah. What kind of shape is the place in? Do I need to bring tools?” The listing’s pictures were beautiful, but I hadn’t seen the house in person and didn’t want to be blindsided.
“Looks better than the pictures, man. Kenna wants to host dinner on Saturday night after you show her the place, and Mom already got the cabin ready for you all.”
Wiping a hand down my face, I hadn’t thought about where Kane was going to sleep in the one-bedroom cabin.
“She also offered to take Kane for the night. So did Carter, Brooklyn, and Kenna.” Archer chuckled.
“Seems like he’s goin’ to be a ladies’ man this weekend,” I joked, thinking back to everyone’s reactions when they came to visit us in the hospital just six months ago, and then again how everyone fussed over him at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“The women in this family loves babies—almost like we don’t give them enough.” He snorted, speaking of his pregnant wife.
“I thought I didn’t want kids,” I told him, shifting the truck into gear so I could get home to my family.
“And then, you met her, and now, you want a whole herd of Jaxons and Logans, right? Welcome to the damn club.” Archer hit the nail right on the head.
“Somethin’ like that,” I agreed, thinking about all the children I wanted to have with Logan. At least two more—though I was hoping I could get her to agree to three. I grew up with three brothers, and it was the perfect number, but seeing as Logan was an only child, I wasn’t sure if she would be easily convinced.
“You think she’s gonna like the house?” he asked. I thought back to her three requirements on that list I was determined to check off.
“She wanted enough land for a dog to run free, a water view, and a place to raise a family. If it has those things, then she’ll love it.”
“When you gettin’ the dog?” He snorted again.
“After we move in. Don’t have room for one now.” I thought about the already crowded penthouse. Most days, I came home to Scarlett lounging in front of my TV, eating my food while holding my son.
That woman needed to have her own kid and eat her own damn food.
“Alright. See you Saturday. I’ll try to keep the hounds at bay on Friday, but no promises. Mom is so excited to have all of us back in the same town again. It’s good to see her so happy.”
Logan barely spoke about her mom, other than how hard her absence was from her life and these milestone moments, so it made me want to be closer to mine before it was too late. Logan often urged me to spend more time with my family.
“See you Saturday, Archie. Say hi to Kenna for me.” He mumbled his agreement and ended the call. A few minutes later, I was pulling into the parking garage below my building.
Now, I just had to convince Logan to go to Honey Magnolia for the weekend.
* * *
Logan
Kane loved sleeping in his car seat. Every time we put him in it, he went straight to sleep without any fuss. Jax had been oddly silent on the ride over to Honey Magnolia, his fingers drumming against the leather steering wheel. He softly hummed the tune to the old country song under his breath, careful not to wake Kane.
“Why the sudden trip?” I asked for the tenth time since he asked if we could go visit his family earlier this week.
“Look, they call me every day, and I just couldn’t say no anymore.” I caught the slightest grin tugging at his lips.
“Calling about Kane?” I asked, knowing Kane’s grandma sure did love him a lot more than I ever expected.
“And us, of course, but yeah, mostly him. Oh, and Kenna’s pregnant, so they wanted to have an announcement dinner Saturday night.”
“Aw! I’m so happy for them! Were you supposed to tell me if there’s going to be a dinner?” I asked, but he just shrugged.
“They know better than to ask me to keep secrets.”
He really could not keep a secret. But it was another thing I loved about him.
An hour later, we rolled into Honey Magnolia. The big Magnolia trees were in full bloom for the spring. I really loved it here. It was quiet, peaceful, and possibly the perfect place to raise Kane with the rest of Jax’s family here. But I’d been worried about bringing it up because it would likely be the end of his baseball career.
I didn’t want to be the reason he gave up something he loved so much, so I left the ball in his field.
“Everyone’s offered to take him for the night if you want to have a break,” he mentioned as we pulled up in front of the cozy cabin he’d first brought me to last year. It was the place I’d told him I was pregnant for the first time, and the same place I’d tell him again.
He didn’t know that I was six weeks pregnant with our second child.
The whole idea of it all freaked me out. We were so far from my freaking ten-year plan—still no ring on my finger, no home to fill with kids, and no dog, but I had the man I was hopelessly in love with, so what else did I need?
“And there’s my mother now,” he groaned, sliding a hand through his dark hair. “Tell me now if I must put my foot down,” he whispered, and I shook my head with laughter.
“Let him go. It’s just one night, and we’ll be right here if anything goes wrong. We can just run over.” His eyes went wide with the realization that I was the one letting him go, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything because his mother was already slowly opening Kane’s door and sighing at how cute he was.
“You make the cutest babies,” she sighed, watching his sleeping face.
We really did.
“Thanks, Mom. I get it that you love my son, but what about me?” Jax joked, getting out of the car and hugging his mother. I rounded the truck, and she also pulled me in for a squeeze, warming my heart, like she always knew how to do.
She’d taken me in as one of her kids, filling a hole that had been gaping open for far too long in my chest.
“I’ve missed you both so much! Now, about my grandson. Can I take him for the night—give you two some time to make me another one?” She laughed, and Jaxon cringed.
“Jeez, Ma. What the hell?” he exclaimed, waking Kane.
I unbuckled Kane from his car seat, kissing his chubby cheeks before handing him over to grandma, who squealed with delight.
“He’s all yours. Bottles are in the bag, and he goes to bed at about nine at night and wakes up at sunrise.” She slung his bag over her shoulder and cooed at him.
“We’re goin’ to have so much fun, aren’t we, Kane? Just wait until Grandpappy sees how big you’ve gotten.” She waved at us over her shoulder as she left, hopping onto a golf cart and slowly driving back to her house.
“When did she get that?” I asked, referencing the new golf cart.
“Dad got it for her for her birthday. She uses it to go visit Archer and check everything on the ranch.” I nodded, helping him bring our bags into the small cabin.
“Since it’s just us tonight, how about pizza and a movie?” I asked, and he grinned.
“We don’t get delivery out here, but I’ll go into town and get a half cheese and half Hawaiian. Shouldn’t take me more than thirty minutes. Just enough time for you to have a bath and wait for me in those sexy pajamas I saw you pack.” He winked on his way out.
Thirty minutes later, I was waiting for him in my new sexy pajamas on the couch with a movie waiting to be played.
“You look edible,” Jaxon groaned, walking into the house and setting the pizza down on the coffee table before bending down and pecking me on the lips. “I’ll be five minutes.” He took off running, chucking his clothes as he went. The shower ran for two minutes before he was running back to me in my favorite pair of gray sweatpants.
We devoured the pizza, and then called his mom to check on Kane before settling in for the movie. An hour in, his lips were trailing up my jaw, his tongue tracing a pattern up to my ear, where he nibbled on my lobe.
“Jax,” I moaned, closing my eyes and arching my head back.
“Let’s make another baby, Logan,” he whispered in my ear. My stomach somersaulted.
“About that,” I started, pulling back to look into his eyes. I saw it the second he sensed my hesitation.
“You don’t want anymore?” I shook my head quickly, and he paused, his hands encircling my wrists, his lips dangerously close to my chest.
“I’m already pregnant, Jaxon.” He threw his head back and laughed before falling silent and kissing me speechless.
“You amaze me every fuckin’ day, Logan. How far along are you?”
“Six weeks, so don’t go telling everyone just yet.” He rolled his eyes and sighed.
“You know I hate secrets.”
“And I know just how to make you forget,” I teased, taking off my top. His eyes darkened with desire.
“Yes, you do, sweetheart. Yes, you do.”
* * *
The next morning,Jaxon was pulling me out of bed and urging me to shower so we could somewhere.
“I’m tired and sore. Can’t it wait?” I asked leaning against him in the shower as he soaped up my body.
“Nope, it can’t, and if you don’t help me, I’m going to make you sorer.” My body erupted in flames of desire for him. He couldn’t threaten me with sex.
Ten minutes later, he was helping me into the truck, and we were zooming toward his parents’ house, and then past it.
“What about Kane?” I asked, looking out the window.
“This is a surprise for us, sweetheart,” he told me. Reaching over, he linked our hands together on my leg. I watched the scenery fly by, and then suddenly, we were slowing down and turning onto a secluded drive that wound up to a big, country home with a white, wrap-around porch.
“What is this place, Jax?” I asked just as he put the truck into park and shut it off.
He pulled out a familiar, crumpled-up piece of paper from his pocket. It was my list. My ten-year checklist. He handed it to me, and I saw two new check marks.
Find love. Check
Get married.
Buy a house, preferably on the water, with lots of land for all the kids and dogs I want. Check.
Rescue a dog.
Fall pregnant with the man of my dreams. Check.
Raise a beautiful family. Check.
I looked at him through my blurry vision, and he nodded, his lips pulling into a soft smile. “It’s ours. A house on the water with lots of land,” he whispered, his voice full of more emotion than I could handle.
Tears rolled down my cheeks. God, this beautiful man.
“I told you I’d check everythin’ off that list slowly. Next, I’m puttin’ a damn ring on your finger, Logan. You can’t keep havin’ my babies without bein’ my wife.”
I choked on a cry and a short laugh.
“I love you more than words could ever describe,” I told him, taking his hand and pressing it to my shaking lips.
“Come look at our home, sweetheart. Look at the place we are goin’ to raise our beautiful family.” He helped me out of the truck and stood behind me, his arms wrapping around my body, holding me to him. “Can you see it?”
“See what?” I whispered, trying to take everything in. The big house, porch, acres of land, water view—he actually did it.
“In that tree,” he pointed toward a big, old tree, and I follow his hand, “I’m going to hang a tire swing for the kids. Over there,” he pointed again, “I’m going to make a field to play whatever sport the kids want. And over there,” he pointed in yet another direction, “the dogs are going to chase the kids. Tell me you can see it, sweetheart?”
I nodded. “I see it, Jax. I see it!” I exclaimed, tears running down my cheeks. I saw my future with him clear as day.
Turning me in his arms, he wiped at my tears with his fingers and then kissed the wetness away with his soft lips. Tilting my head up, I pressed my lips to his, and for once, I prayed that I stole his breath away, too.
THE END