Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Daphne
A year and a half later or so
“Are you sure?” Coffee sloshed over the edge of the mug when Flynn set it abruptly on the counter.
“Of course I’m sure.” I could barely hear my own words over the joy rushing through me. It felt like a warm breeze, blowing the windows open around my heart.
Flynn stepped to me, lifting me suddenly into his strong embrace. His hand cupped the back of my head.
“Of course I’m sure,” I repeated in a mumble into the side of his neck.
Flynn leaned his head back, his eyes sweeping over my face. “How are you feeling about this?”
This being the fact I just found out I was pregnant. We’d been trying for several months now, not in the active sense. Well, unless you count the fact that we could hardly keep our hands off each other, but that was our baseline. We’d decided to see what happened, but I refused to obsess over it and track my cycle. Because that would’ve made me crazy.
I took a quick breath. “I’m good. I’m really good.”
Cat came skipping through the door into the living room, immediately dropping her backpack on the floor and kicking off her shoes. The second she looked over at us, she announced, “You’re pregnant.”
“How in the world do you know?” I mused with a laugh.
“You have a look. Plus, I can actually read Flynn’s mind.”
Flynn eased me down from his hold, angling to my side and keeping one arm firmly around my waist. “God help me if you can.”
Cat’s smile was brilliant as she skipped over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “What’s for dinner?”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. The joy swelling in my heart was so immense my chest actually ached from it. “Salmon marinated in balsamic vinegar and maple syrup with asparagus and rice.”
Flynn let out a moan. “Damn. When’s dinner?”
Cat giggled when she closed the refrigerator and rested her hip against the kitchen counter. “I’ll pass on the afterschool snack.” Her gaze sobered as she looked over at us. “Are you excited?”
“Of course,” I said. “We’d prefer to keep this quiet until I make it through the first trimester. Can you handle that?”
Cat made the cross over her heart and twisted an imaginary lock over her lips before tossing the imaginary key over her shoulder. “I won’t tell anyone. You didn’t have to tell me.”
Flynn chuckled. “We didn’t tell you. You guessed.”
We’d actually talked to Cat about the possibility. I’d worried about how she might feel about it. Adolescence continued to be a bumpy ride for her. She was too strong-willed and sensitive for it to be easy. She was six months shy of turning eighteen and still pushing the limits. I’d been worried that if we even considered having a baby, she might feel left out.
To my surprise, she had been one hundred percent on board with the idea and wanted me to get pregnant immediately.
“We’ll let Nora and Grant know, but that’s it for now,” I added.
Cat bit her lip and nodded. The second Flynn let his arm fall away from me, she dashed across the kitchen and flung her arms around his neck. He caught her easily. After her fierce hug, he arched a brow. “What was that about?”
“Everything is just better. We feel like a family now.”
Flynn tweaked her ponytail. “We were always a family. Do me a favor and try to get through two weeks without me getting a call from the principal.”
Cat grinned unabashedly. “I’ll try.”
A bit later while I was getting started with dinner, Cat found her way into the kitchen as she did most days after school. Without me asking, she immediately pulled out the dough I’d prepped that morning for fresh rolls and began separating it into small balls to bake.
After a few quiet moments, her voice broke into the silence. “Are you worried?”
Sliding my gaze sideways, I found her eyes, so similar to Flynn’s, looking at me with a twitch of worry between her brows.
“It would be impossible for me to say I’m not worried. Statistically speaking, any child is more likely to die in a car accident than to be diagnosed with the same cancer Brandon had. I think it’ll be okay.”
Cat, who’d already experienced her own share of early loss, looked back down at the dough and continued deftly dividing it into even segments.
Another moment later, she caught me in one of her fierce hugs. When I stepped back, her eyes were bright with tears. “I’m just so glad you’re here.”
* * *
FLYNN
Another seven years later
“No, you don’t,” Daphne said firmly.
Glancing over, I saw her curling her arm around our son’s waist. He was trying to climb into the pilot’s seat in one of my planes.
Charlie wiggled madly, giggling as Daphne spun him around in her arms and set him firmly on the ground. “You’ve got at least twenty years before you get to fly a plane.”
Charlie gave her a gap-toothed smile. “You’re wrong, Mama. Daddy says I can fly when I’m eighteen. That’s only twelve years away.”
Daphne sent me a pleading look. I couldn’t help the flush of pride at how well he was doing with his math addition practice.
Crossing the concrete floor in the plane hangar to them, I knelt at his side. “Let’s not worry about that now, buddy.” Lifting him, I spun him in the air, effectively getting him off that topic.
Although Charlie couldn’t have known what a perfect distraction he was, Grant appeared in the doorway, and our son immediately ran over to him.
Turning, I pulled Daphne into a loose embrace with my arms looped around her waist. “He might fly when he’s old enough, and it’ll be fine.”
Daphne shrugged. “I know.” She leaned up and pressed a kiss on the bottom of my jaw.
Easily distracted by anything and everything related to Daphne, I dipped my head and caught her lips before she moved away. What I meant to be a quick kiss got hot real fast. Because this was Daphne, and my raw lust for her showed no signs of abating despite the years that had passed since we got together.
When my tongue glided against hers, she broke away on a gasp, her cheeks going pink. “Not the place,” she warned in a heated whisper.
Ignoring her, I bent low and nipped lightly on her neck, enjoying the way she shivered in my arms. The sound of Charlie’s footsteps retreated, and I assumed Grant had taken him out to look at something.
“What’s for dinner?” I murmured after stealing another kiss.
“That’s all you ever want to know,” she teased.
“Actually, more than that, I want to know when we get a night to ourselves.” I loved Charlie and having him felt like a piece of my heart was living outside of my body, but I did miss alone time with my girl.
Daphne giggled, resting her hand over my heart. “Since you’re asking, Cat wants to take him up to the water park this weekend in Anchorage. Is that all right with you?”
“Fine with me. As long as it’s okay with you.”
Daphne was an amazing mom, the best ever. But she worried, and I knew she spent a lot of time trying not to worry. When Charlie passed the age when Brandon died, I knew that had been a milestone for her even though she didn’t like to dwell on it.
“Of course it’s okay. You worry that I worry. And because I know I tend to worry, I probably let him do far more than we should,” she said with a rueful smile.
I pulled her close for another kiss. “Princess, you didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m not cooking tonight. Cat is. I don’t actually know what she has planned.”
I forgot that I cared. Lifting Daphne in my arms, I carried her into the office at the back, then kicked the door shut with my boot. “What are you doing, Flynn?” she squealed.
“I need a snack.”
“I’m a snack now?”
I slid her hips on the desk and curled my hand under her chin. “You’re not a snack, princess. You’re what I need.”
Thank you for reading Crash Into You - I hope you loved Flynn & Daphne’s story!
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