Epilogue
Duncan
Four months later
My wife was glowing.
My wife.
Some days I still couldn’t believe we were married.
Sloane didn’t want a big ceremony and I didn’t want to wait any longer to finally claim her as mine, so…
we eloped. After the insanity we’d dealt with since finding each other again, I suggested getting away for a few days.
Just the four of us. We borrowed Finn’s company jet and took the kids to sunny Florida, to the most magical place on earth.
Midway through our first family vacation, we said “I do” in front of a fairy-tale castle with only Rogan and Reagan at our side.
It was the perfect way to mark the beginning of our forever.
Life couldn’t get any better. Actually, that was a lie.
In under an hour, we were going to find out the sex of the babies.
The girl gang had gone overboard planning our gender reveal party.
I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but apparently it was a huge deal.
Since it was too cold to be outside in February, they’d decorated the inside of our house to the extreme.
It was an explosion of pink and blue as far as the eye could see.
They’d even decorated my kids for fuck’s sake.
Reagan had on a hot pink shirt with the words Big Sister across the front, while Rogan’s baby blue shirt said Big Brother.
“Hey,” Waverly sidled up next to me. “Why are you over here instead of hovering over your wife?”
“I’m soaking it all in.”
“What are you hoping for? Two boys? Two girls? One of each again?”
“Healthy. That’s my only requirement. How’d it go this morning?”
“I told them thanks, but no thanks.”
Since Roger Ashland was behind bars, the hierarchy in the FBI was changing.
The assistant director had been promoted to interim director, which left his position available.
Everyone knew Waverly would be a top candidate for the job, so it came as no surprise when she received a request for a meeting. Selfishly I’d hoped she’d turn it down.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“My life is here, Duncan. My family is here.”
“Thank fuck.”
“Tell me how you really feel.” She smiled, bumping my shoulder with hers. “I have other news for you.”
“What is it?”
“Maeve’s lawyer called the district attorney yesterday. She wants to discuss a plea deal.”
“I was hoping that would be their play when she was deemed mentally fit to stand trial. The sooner this is over, the better. Sloane needs closure.”
“Agreed. One more thing to brighten your day.” She looked around before she leaned in. “Erik Murray was arrested this morning in Dublin by the Irish police.”
We’d come full circle.
“Daddy. Aunt Way!” Reagan hollered, slip-sliding across the floor in her stocking feet with Ralph lumbering beside her. “Mommy said it’s time.”
Sloane
Dang hormones.
It was taking everything I had not to cry.
When I was pregnant with Rogan and Reagan, we didn’t have a gender reveal party.
Who would I have been revealing it to? Finn was with me when I found out, and other than my mom and dad, there was no one else.
Our lives couldn’t be more different this time around.
Finn had Waverly and we had Duncan. Even more, our house was filled to the brim with people who loved us.
By blood or by choice, they were our family.
Circumstances may have brought us all together, but the bond we shared was unbreakable.
“You okay, Sunshine?” Duncan wrapped his arms around me from behind, placing his hands on either side of my ever-expanding belly.
“I’m perfect.”
“Yes, you are.” He kissed the juncture where my neck met my shoulder. “Are you ready?”
“In a minute. I have something for you first. Come with me.”
We slipped away from the crowd, going into the office he’d set up for the days when I worked from home. Sitting on my desk was a manila folder with his name written across the front. I picked it up and handed it to him.
“What’s this?”
“Something that’s long overdue.”
His pale blue eyes held mine as he undid the metal clasp and pulled out a stack of papers.
I’d asked Finn’s lawyers to draw everything up for me weeks ago, then I filed them with the court.
I received the official documents in the mail two days ago, I was just waiting for the right time to give them to him.
It didn’t get any more perfect than minutes before we found out the sex of our babies.
When I heard Duncan’s sharp inhale, I knew he saw what he was holding.
“Like I said, it was long overdue.”
“Sunshine.” His voice broke, reflecting the emotion I saw written on his beautiful face.
“We’re all Palmers now.”
Rogan James Palmer and Reagan Leigh Palmer.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. You can show your appreciation later.” I winked. “When we’re alone.”
Not only did this pregnancy have me on the verge of tears twenty-four seven, it turned me into a hypersexual hussy. Duncan didn’t seem to mind one bit though.
“Later can’t come soon enough.” He kissed me hard and fast. “Thank you, Sloane. Now, let’s get back out there before the twins pop the balloons without us.”
I gave Henley and Jade free range with the reveal. They decided on two black balloons filled with either pink or blue confetti. The only person, beside the ultrasound tech, who knows the gender of the babies was the woman at the party store who put the tiny pieces of paper inside.
Everyone was waiting for us when we strolled into the family room, hand in hand.
“All right. The guests of honor have returned,” Henley announced. “Who’s ready for the grand finale?”
Rogan and Reagan stood in front of us, holding on tight to the string of the balloon Jade gave them. The idea was for Duncan and I to pop them at the same time using a large straight pin. Waverly started the countdown.
“Five.”
“Love you, Sunshine.”
Everyone else joined in.
“Four.”
“Love you too, Duncan.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
I’m not sure which startled Ralph more, the sound of the balloons popping or the cheering of our family.
Pink…
…and blue.
Keep reading for an extended epilogue…