Epilogue
OLLIE
Vic knew how to throw a Halloween party. We'd had every intention of attending the inaugural party at his new place, but Blake had been sick that weekend, and we'd stayed home with the babies and a fresh batch of spicy vegetable soup.
We could hear the party from where we parked two blocks away.
Blake bopped along with "The Monster Mash" as he unbuckled Rebecca from her car seat.
I eased my little sweet peapod from his car seat and shut the door before walking in front of the SUV to pay the parking meter, ignoring the way the bottom of my banana costume poked me in the calves with each step.
No way was I letting the damn thing slip between my legs until we had to pose for pictures.
Rebecca was our little tomato, and Blake was a bunch of grapes, though from the back, he looked more like an eggplant. I tried not to think about his eggplant as I followed him down the street and up the wrought-iron framed steps to an old brick mansion converted into apartments.
Despite the cheery porch light, the interior was dark, spooky, and draped in cobwebs. "I can barely see," Blake muttered. "This has to be a code violation."
"It's only for toni-i-ight." Vic stepped out from behind a black curtain with a flourish, and Blake jumped. "Heya, Bestie!"
"Don't do that to me!" Blake turned and handed me Rebecca and then tapped Vic's chest with his fist. "You scared me half to death!"
"Blake, this is a Halloween party. What did you expect?" Vic pulled him into a hug. In his platform heels, he was only an inch shorter than Blake.
"There are children present," Blake muttered.
"I know!" Vic squealed and shoved his face between our twins' heads, almost butting up against my chest. "Hiya, twinsies! You both look so cute!"
Rebecca stared at him in awe. Elias gripped the thin yellow fabric of my costume in his fist and twisted it, pulling out at least one of my chest hairs. I winced and took a step back, into someone else.
"Sorry," I muttered as a group of twenty-somethings dressed as a goth motorcycle gang shook Vic's hand and continued up the stairs. Thankfully, the distraction had held Elias's attention, preventing a total meltdown.
"Shall we?" Vic motioned to the stairs. "My apartment has been designated 'Baby Central,' with all your feeding and diaper changing needs, and I set up that pack and play you gave me."
"Thank you," Blake said, "though I doubt anyone will be sleeping with this loud music."
I tried hard not to roll my eyes. Yes, Blake was one of those parents, but I wouldn't have it any other way. He worried more than necessary, but he did it because he cared. He loved our little family as much as I did, and as much as I loved him.
That love extended to my family and our little group of friends, too.
Several of our construction buddies had already arrived at the party, and several more had said they would attend.
We mingled through the floors, meeting Vic's fellow tenants, including Abel, the guy Vic couldn't stop raving about. Maybe one day, he'd make a move.
Elias struggled in my arms, and I smelled the first hint of his dirty diaper. We retreated to Vic's apartment and found everything as he'd said. Once the babies were changed and fed, we laid them down in the pack and play, expecting them to sumo wrestle the way they did at home.
"Look at that." Blake chuffed a laugh. "Out like little lights."
"The crowd must be too much for them."
Blake tugged on my hand, dragging me to the couch. "I miss this thing," he said. "You know the best thing about it?"
"No clue."
"Each seat reclines." He pulled me down on top of him and then flipped the seat out, sending us both sprawling with our dicks aligned through our costumes' thin fabric.
"Good thing I packed a change of clothes in the diaper bag." When I kissed him, he tasted like fruit punch and something sugary from Abel's counter of baked goods.
I broke the kiss, already out of breath and leaking into my costume. Blake gasped, and I followed his gaze to a huge black spider dangling from an overhead web.
"It's just Halloween mistletoe." I kissed him again, and he melted against me, opening his mouth for my questing tongue.
Each kiss reminded me of our first promise of shared breath and first taste of fate.
Blake was my fated mate in every way, from the first moment I saw him until the last breath we both would take.
He would bear with me through thick, thin, and cringe-worthy dad jokes, and I would bear with him.
Cassie still thought we should get married, but we didn't need vows. We had our mating mark, two precious little ones, and a pile of family and friends to share in our love. That was more than enough.
THE END