EPILOGUE
DASH
One year later . . .
“Hey, babe.”
“Hi.” Bryce smiled as she came into the living room, dropping her purse onto the couch before stealing Xander from my arms. She peppered his cheeks and forehead with kisses. “How’s my guy?”
“He’s good.” I laced my hands behind my head. “Just slugged down eight ounces and had a hell of a burp.”
“He’s such a chunk.” She smiled at our son, who was nearly comatose. “I love it.”
Xander Lane Slater was four months old and his legs were fat roll upon fat roll. He had a pretty awesome double chin going too. We took extra care cleaning it during his nightly bath so it didn’t smell like rotten formula.
I stood from my chair, going for her purse and the newspaper tucked inside. “How’d this morning go?”
“Perfect. Papers are out for delivery.” She settled into the chair I’d vacated, rocking back and forth slightly. Xander would be out cold in thirty seconds or less.
Exactly as I’d planned. He was going in his crib and Bryce and I were going to have some fun in the bedroom.
But first, I had to read the paper.
I plopped down on the couch, opening the fold to read the front page. I’d never get sick of seeing my wife’s name in print. It was a sense of pride I hoped would never fade.
Bryce had confessed not long after we’d gotten together that a part of her had felt like a failure when she’d moved to Clifton Forge.
She’d had dreams of making it big, being the next nightly news anchor—not exactly the same as running a small-town paper.
But then she’d realized that here, writing stories about our town and its people, was where she was meant to be.
She reported on the good stuff that happened in Clifton Forge and occasionally the bad.
She’d embraced the birth and wedding announcements, even writing our own.
We’d gotten married surrounded by our families and closest friends at dusk, along the bank of the river.
Then we’d had a damn fine party at The Betsy—her idea, not mine.
Her only request was that they scour the bathrooms first.
We’d gotten married a month after I’d proposed so she hadn’t been showing. That was her only real request. She wanted to hurry things along.
Nick stood for me as best man. And Genevieve stood for Bryce.
I liked to think maybe Mom had a hand in Nick and me finding our wives. That wherever she was, she was looking down on her sons and had sent them the women they needed.
Including my sister.
“Did you take a copy to Genevieve?” I asked as I scanned the article on the front page.
“Yep.”
“How’d she take it?”
“She cried,” Bryce said, dropping her voice. Xander was completely zonked. “But she needed that closure. I think she’s happy with how it turned out.”
In today’s paper, Bryce had written a memorial article for Amina, one she’d had drafted for over a year. Bryce had been ready to publish it weeks after Genevieve had moved to Clifton Forge, but my sister had asked her to delay it countless times.
She hadn’t been ready to read that final farewell. After everything that had happened to us this past year, I didn’t blame her.
I was proud that she’d finally found the courage to let it happen.
“Great piece, babe.” I folded up the paper.
“Thanks. Though you should be congratulating yourself too. You practically read the whole thing while hovering over my shoulder as I wrote it.”
“I don’t hover.”
Bryce rolled her eyes. “And I don’t leave the laundry for you to fold.”
Maybe I hovered.
In the past year, I’d kept a constant eye on Bryce.
It was rare she went anywhere alone, and even then, I had someone watching.
Today, that person was Lane. Bryce hadn’t complained, not once all year, because she knew I needed it.
I needed to make sure she was safe and she gave me that.
But she needed freedom. To live without watching me worry myself in circles.
I’d be the first to admit that after Xander was born, I’d gone a little crazy with security. The system I’d installed at home was better than the one Emmett had put in at the clubhouse.
But I wasn’t taking any chances with my family, not after the losses I’d suffered.
Maybe I’d loosen up eventually.
Maybe not.
I was taking things one day at a time, doing my best to become a decent dad. Bryce told me constantly I was good with Xander, but the fuck-ups were coming. I’d do something wrong and take a misstep here or there.
But what I could do was protect what was mine. I’d failed once when Bryce had been kidnapped. That had been the first and the last time.
“He’s out.” Bryce pushed herself up from the chair, nodding for me to follow her to the nursery.
I grinned, walking close behind her down the hallway.
At the door to Xander’s room, I placed my hands on her shoulders, bending down to drop a kiss on the bare skin of her neck.
She’d worn her hair up in a ponytail today.
Xander had just started to grab at things and her hair was his favorite thing to pull.
Maybe I’d wrap it around my fist too.
When she smiled over her shoulder, the blood rushed to my cock. We’d been working hard to make up for those six weeks postpartum when her body had been off-limits.
Bryce took Xander to the nursery, laying him in his crib. His arms immediately went above his head. Then she turned on his sound machine, the gentle sway of ocean waves filling the room. She tiptoed out, quietly closing the door.
I captured her hand, giving it a tug for the bedroom, but she stopped me.
“Wait. I need to ask you something.”
“What’s up?” My eyes scanned her from head to toe, making sure nothing was wrong. “You okay?”
She bit her bottom lip. “How would you feel about more kids?”
“Uh . . .” A deep conversation about our family wasn’t exactly what I’d planned to have during naptime, but the question was out there now. How would I feel?
Having Xander was amazing. Even as a baby who ate and slept his way through the day, he was a blast. And when he got older, we could do stuff together like play ball in the yard or build a tree house or build a go-cart to race like the ones I did as a kid. That would be incredible.
“Good,” I said, surprising us both. “Real good.”
“Phew.” Her frame relaxed and her smile was wide. “Great. I’m pregnant.”
“Say what?” I stuck a finger in my ear, clearing it out. “You’re pregnant? Already?”
“According to the tests I took this morning, yep. I mean, I stopped breastfeeding and didn’t get on the pill. I have the pack to start next week but I didn’t think it could happen so soon.”
Pregnant. Was I still scared? Definitely. But this time around, I wasn’t going to let the shock of her announcement chase me away. So I wrapped my arms around her, breathing in her hair. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” She melted into my chest, her arms snaking behind my back. “I was sure you’d freak.”
I chuckled. “Not this time. We’re going to kick ass with these kids.”
Bryce leaned away, rising onto her toes for a kiss. “Hell yes, we are.”