Epilogue 1.1
Lenora
Five years later…
“Ella, put your hat back on.”
Five-years-old going on sixteen, Ella looks me dead in the eye and chucks her cap to the ground in defiance. Her short, curly pigtails swing like dark horns from over her ears.
“No!”
That has become her favorite word, and I wish I never taught it to her.
“Yes, or we go back inside.”
Her small, pink mouth purses into a tight, white line. “No!”
I heave a sigh and set my spade down amongst all the other tools now scattered across the yard even though she has her own child-friendly tools.
“All right, inside we go.”
The threat used to be much easier when I could get myself up without fear of tipping forward on my face.
But I somehow manage to make it all the way to my feet without my enormous belly taking me down and shattering what little respect I still hold with the tiny terror glowering at me with a bold challenge.
“Telling Daddy,” she threatens and follows it by spinning on her naked little feet and bolting in the direction of the house.
I am far less speedy, but I amble after her. One hand bracing my lower back.
Unlike Ella, this pregnancy is taking a million and one years.
But having gone through it all at a rapid speed, I’m familiar with all the aches and pains.
There are a few new side effects like running to the bathroom every ten minutes and eating like I’m preparing for an eating contest. The process has been interesting.
A little daunting, but manageable with two men prepared to tackle anything.
“Daddy!” Ella shrieks at the top of her lungs from the front foyer.
“Young lady, there is no need to raise your voice.” As put together and tidy as ever, Mrs. Pym appears from down the corridor, worn hands twisted in a dish towel. “Now, what do we do after we’ve been outside?”
Both tiny hands jerk up to show the older woman the filth and dirt caked on tiny fingers.
“Wash hands.”
Mrs. Pym nods and reaches for Ella’s hand. Together, the two wander off in the direction of the restrooms, leaving me alone in the doorway.
“I heard my name being bellowed.” Marcus emerges from his office and I hurry to him.
His hands go to my belly before sliding around my waist and pulling me in the rest of the way as far as I’m able.
“Your daughter refuses to wear a hat outside.”
An eyebrow lifts. “So much like her mother.”
I make a face and gently swat at his shoulder. “I was never this bossy when I was her age.”
“I disagree.” He plants a kiss to the tip of my nose. “You are exactly the same.”
It’s hard to focus when he smells like sunlight and warm leather. It’s hard to think about anything when I want him all the time.
“Mrs. Pym can watch her for a few minutes.” I start on the small, white buttons of his dress shirt. “We can—”
“Daddy!” Hands clean, Ella scampers out of Mrs. Pym’s grasp and darts straight for Marcus’s legs.
I’m released and he bends to scoop her up into his arms.
“There’s my little turnip. Giving your mother a hard time?”
“No,” she says with the sweetest innocence. “Mommy is mean.”
It’s hard not to protest and argue with a toddler, but I somehow manage to refrain.
“You need to wear your hat when you go outside,” Marcus tells her, tapping the tip of her pert nose already red and peeling from the sun. “Understand?”
Without hesitation, Ella nods. “Yes.”
Of course he gets a yes.
“Good girl. Now, I think it’s lunch time. You’ll eat everything Mrs. Pym gives you, right?”
Again, an obedient bob of her head. “Yes, Daddy.”
He kisses her cheek and sets her down. The child hurries to take the housekeeper’s hand and together, they head in the direction of the kitchens.
Marcus turns to me, smirk mischievous. “Now, where were we?”
I giggle as he scoops me up and moves in the direction of his office.
Veyn emerges from the mirror that I finally convinced Marcus to set up in his space. An act that still gets random tirades when he’s fed up with the demon.
Today seems to be that day when we step over the threshold. Marcus kicks the door closed and there’s Veyn, perched on the desk.
“Fuck sakes,” Marcus mutters, which gets a laugh from me and a smirk from Veyn.
“Stop being greedy, Usher. She has enough holes for both of us.”
The progress between them is subtle and yet so vast. Marcus is no longer human when Veyn addresses him. And Marcus has put a mirror in his office.
Progress.
I’m set on my feet gingerly, and he faces the demon with the full weight of made up outrage.
“You can’t just keep popping into my office. I work in here.”
Veyn arches a brow as he hops to his feet. “Is that what we’re calling this?”
“Your daughter refuses to wear a hat,” I cut in before a full battle begins over boundaries. “She’s being unreasonable.”
“My little demon spawn can do as she pleases.”
I roll my eyes. “No, she can’t and you better not be telling her that.”
Veyn tilts his chin a notch in a manner that tells me he does.
“What we discuss is confidential.”
There is much we do not agree with, but more that we do.
Ella is a free spirit like Eliah. She’s rowdy and chaotic like Ames.
Most of the time, she’s mischievous and sassy like Veyn.
But beneath all that, she’s sweet and loving like Marcus.
And I love that she has the best parts of each of them, but it’s exhausting.
“I think I’m going to lie down for a few minutes,” I say instead, no longer in the mood for adult time.
Frankly, the slow cooking of a baby is tiring. I’m sleepy all the time and if I’m not tired, I’m hungry. My feet hurt. My back aches. I almost miss the rapid, overnight growth, but this one seems to be taking its time.
“Linny?” All humor is gone when he faces me. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “Yes, I just need some sleep.” I start in the direction of the door, adding, “You guys are on Ella duty.”
I make it all the way to the room I share with Marcus and Veyn without being stopped. The door is shut behind me and I move to the closet.
It’s only while I’m stripping my dress and stepping into the shower that I remember my gardening tools. I left everything in the yard following Ella inside.
I groan but let it go. They will still be there later.
Washed and stuffed in a slip, I climb beneath the sheets and immediately fall asleep.
I wake to a world of darkness.
The world outside the window glints with a million stars and a fat, round moon I can’t help feeling extra connected to. But the positioning of it has me pushing back the sheets. I don’t need a clock to tell me I’ve missed supper and bedtime.
I know the boys offer to help but bedtime is our special time — mine and Ella’s.
It’s the one time in the whole day there is no arguing, no toddler chaos.
It’s just her and me cuddled in her bed — my old bed — reading and talking about everything.
I cherish those moments and have never missed a single one.
Though, the way she’s been lately, so angry and argumentative, I doubt she wants me there or cares as much as I do.
Still, I pull a robe on and pad the corridor to her room. The slice of gold forming a square across the carpet guides me to the door and the adorable scene on the other side.
Ella, small, freshly showered and dressed in her favorite pink nightgown sits in the center of two enormous men. Both propped with their backs to her headboard. Ella’s bedtime book is in Veyn’s hand. Still closed.
“I want Mommy,” Ella is saying with all the sour, defiant sulk I get all day. “She reads with me.”
“Mommy is tired. She’s resting. Can’t we read to you just tonight?”
Marcus’s negotiations attempts are met with outright disgust by the toddler.
“It’s the stupid baby’s fault. Mommy doesn’t do anything anymore because of the baby. Why do we need another one?”
“Your sister or brother is not stupid,” Veyn says softly. “One day, they will be your best friend. The person you can trust most in the world.”
“I don’t want a brother or a sister. I like Mommy loving only me.”
“She will always love you,” Marcus promises.
“How?” All the anger melts into a sadness that breaks my heart. “How can she love two babies?”
I step into the room and the conversation dies. Three faces turn to me, but I only look at the little face in the middle. The one that lights up at the sight of me.
“Mommy!” Neatly tucked blankets are tossed aside and she scrambles to the foot of the bed. “You came!”
I smile as I go to her and pull her into my arms. I squeeze her and bury my face into the sweet scent of her shampoo.
“Couldn’t miss bedtime,” I tell her.
“I told them.” She chirps, pulling back and waddling her way back to her spot. “Mommy’s here,” she tells the two.
“I guess we’re being dismissed,” Veyn grumbles, but leans in and kisses the top of her curls. “Love you, demon spawn.”
Ella giggles and captures his face between her tiny hands. She kisses his nose. She does the same to Marcus.
“Love you, Daddies.”
Marcus leans in and kisses her brow. “Love you, too, turnip.”
Both leave the bed and head for me.
Marcus gets me first. He takes my face between his hands and kisses me deeply.
“Coming back to bed?”
At my nod, he kisses me again and walks out.
Veyn hooks a whole arm around my middle and pulls me into his chest. There’s a hindrance between us, but it doesn’t stop him from kissing me like I’m his world.
“Hurry,” he murmurs against my mouth. “I need to hold you.”
With that, he, too, leaves.
Then it’s just me and my baby.