Epilogue - Owen
Six months later…
“Are you sure?” I ask, voice wobbling with emotion.
The ultrasound tech chuckles. “Hundred percent. Congratulations, Daddy.”
I tear my gaze from the screen to meet Mei’s watery eyes. She’s so beautiful. Even as her body physically changes to accommodate the life growing inside of her.
“I can’t believe this,” I say to Mei. “Incredible.”
Mei smiles at me. “I told you I was way too big to be carrying just one of your babies.”
Mother’s intuition.
She knew and I’d laughed it off.
Twins. My wife is pregnant with twins. Twin girls. Addison is going to shit bricks of happiness.
“You were right,” I say as the tech cleans off the gel from Mei’s swollen stomach. “You’re always right.”
My dad always told me the key to a happy marriage was agreeing with your wife no matter what. Not exactly solid advice, but it comes in handy sometimes. Her gynecologist originally only detected the one heartbeat, but now it’s confirmed. There are two tiny hearts beating in there.
Once Mei redresses and the tech hands us our images of the girls, we walk hand in hand back to the car, matching smiles on our face. It’s hot outside, which makes Mei cranky, so I remote start my car to cool it off by the time we get to it.
“Now we have to buy another crib,” Mei says as she rubs her belly. “I’m excited to decorate now that we know the sex.”
“Addison is going to lose her mind,” I tell her. “You think she’s obsessed with Penny? Just wait until she has two of her own little sisters.”
We make it back to my car and I help Mei inside.
Pregnancy has been hard on her. Maybe carrying twins has made it that way.
Regardless of the reason, she’s been so sick she had to drop out of her summer courses at the college.
She falls asleep before eight every night, can’t hardly eat anything aside from pickles, popsicles, and scrambled eggs.
For as many eggs as she eats, we should invest in some chickens.
The hardest thing on her is the pain in her abdomen.
Her doctor said she’s just small and growing quickly which will do that to a woman.
Leah never had that problem, but she also had at least fifty pounds on Mei and several inches.
Mei is as petite as they come and now carrying two babies at once.
As we drive, I call Addison and put her on speakerphone. She answers after the first ring.
“If it’s a boy, that’s okay,” Addison blurts out, excitement in her voice. “I’ll live. Plus, you can try again to give me a little sister. Ugh. Enough with the silence, just tell me already.”
I laugh and say, “I’ll let Mei tell you the good news.”
“I’M GETTING A LITTLE SISTER, OH MY GOD!” Addison shrieks, all of her words running together.
The next few seconds are of Addison screaming and telling her brothers. I take hold of Mei’s hand and give it a squeeze. Addison finally stops hollering and demands to know what we’ll name her.
“We have to think of two names,” Mei says. “We’re having twin girls.”
If I thought the screams were loud before, they have nothing on how my daughter loses her ever loving mind over this news. Most of it is incoherent. I’m also pretty sure Cason is in the background telling his older sister to shut the fuck up already.
I’m going to have five children soon.
Holy shit.
“Love you, Adds,” I say, still chuckling at her antics, “but we just got to Carol’s. See you soon.”
“Love you, Dad. Also, I’m using your credit card because I need to buy all the things for my baby sisters.”
She hangs up and I wonder what this is going to cost me. Addison knows how to spend money. And the “emergency” credit card of mine she keeps in her wallet is about to catch fire from all her swiping. The bill I get later, though, will be worth it.
“Ready?” I say to Mei as I shut the car off.
“Yup. But, if Carol is cooking something that makes me sick, I’m out of there.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Mei’s had to run off and puke over food smells. Or, smells in general. Cason farted the other day and Mei got sick. She’s that sensitive.
Thankfully, when we walk into Carol’s house, it smells like cinnamon and Mei doesn’t turn green.
Penny calls out for her sister and immediately wants to “pet the baby” in her sister’s stomach.
Though Jin’s reaction to the news isn’t as insane as my daughter’s, I know she’s pleased.
Her eyes are brighter these days than I’ve ever seen them. Happiness really changes a person.
“Two,” Carol says in awe as Jin inspects the printed photos with narrowed eyes.
“Auntie Penny’s going to have playmates soon,” Christopher chimes in. “Great news, right, Jin?”
Jin nods and she reaches for Mei’s hand. “You’re going to be the best mother.”
“Takes one to know one,” Mei says back.
The mending of their relationship has been worth all the chaos it took to get here.
“Your momma has her own news,” Carol chirps, mischief in her eyes. “Tell her, hon.”
Jin groans and sighs before blurting out, “He got me pregnant again. Bastard.”
The next several minutes are filled with laughter, a few tears, and too many people talking over one another. Babies are never a bad thing. Soon there will be three. Mei, who’d been showing signs of fatigue, has found a little extra pep in her step.
“We’ve decided that when the lease is up in a few months, I’m going to let the practice go,” Jin says with a lifted chin.
“The past ten plus years haven’t been what I wanted them to be.
I’ve missed out on a lot with my children.
Being pregnant again got me thinking I didn’t want to miss out this time. ”
Mei scoots over to her mother and takes her hand. “You sure? You worked so hard to become a doctor.”
“I’m tired,” Jin admits, the tough exterior showing signs of rare vulnerability shining through. “With Carol getting older, it makes sense for me to be around her anyway.”
Carol rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue.
“We won’t be rich by any means,” Christopher says with a chuckle, “but we’ll make do. I know me and Penny both will be happy to see more of Jin.”
“And I’m going to teach her to cook,” Carol sasses. “When I’m dead, someone has to carry on all the family recipes.”
Mom smiles at her. “We both know you’re going to live forever.”
Carol preens at that.
Mei yawns and shoots me the look. I don’t know if she even knows she does it. It’s the “take care of me” look and, since I’m her doting husband, I obey.
“Mei’s about to crash over here,” I say to the group. “It’s almost first nap time.”
Jin cocks her head to the side and frowns. “How many naps do you take a day?”
“Three,” I say at the same time Mei says, “Just a couple.”
Mei yawns again and everyone laughs.
We say our goodbyes, and my girl is asleep before we even leave the neighborhood. Once home, I help my sleepy wife out of the car and into our bed. When I step out of my bedroom, my oldest son is waiting for me.
“What’s up, Rhett?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs heavily. “I don’t want to unload on you. Today is a good day for you and Mei.”
“Come on,” I say to him, motioning for him to follow me to the kitchen.
I make us each a sandwich and then sit at the bar with him. We’re quiet for several minutes as I wait for him to get it off his chest.
“She’s the wrong sister,” he says once his plate is empty. Then, he curses, shoving the plate away from him. “I fucked up, Dad.”
I turn in my chair to face my son. He’s always been at the top of his game. School, sports, social life. The only time I’d ever seen him rocked off balance before was when he was in love with Savvy, the girl we fostered for about a year.
“I’m the king of fuckups,” I remind him. “Especially when it comes to women. I only recently got my head on straight.”
Rhett drums his fingers on the bar surface several times. “I slept with Angela’s sister.”
My chest tightens. “Okay.”
Angela is his girlfriend. She’s a star student, athletic like him, and a pageant winner multiple times over. As an outsider looking in, she’s perfect. But, then again, so was Leah. Look how that turned out.
“I can feel you judging me,” Rhett grumbles.
I shake my head. “Not judging you. Does she know?”
“That I slept with the black stain on their entire family?” His eyes are bloodshot and wide with horror. “No, Dad. She does not know. And I can’t tell her. It was a fucking mistake.”
I reach over to grip his shoulder. “Mistakes happen. What do you want to do, Son?
“Forget it ever happened,” he grumbles. “I was drunk. It was stupid. Plus…” He swallows hard and then retrieves something from his pocket. “I was going to propose to Angela.”
I take the ring box from him and inspect the engagement ring inside. It’s massive. I’m not sure how he managed to procure such a ring. But, when your girlfriend’s dad owns a chain of successful jewelry stores, you can’t exactly skimp in that department.
“Did David help with this?” I ask as I inspect the stunning ring.
“Yeah,” he says with a sigh. “I’ll be paying on that thing until the day I die, I think.”
Mei’s ring was sensible and chosen with her daintiness in mind. She loves it. I’d been able to effortlessly purchase it from my savings. The ring my son bought for Angela is easily the cost of Carol’s house.
“Do you love Angela?” I lift a brow. “Like how I love Mei?”
Rhett frowns and then nods slowly. “Yeah. Of course.”
The flicker of doubt in his eyes makes my heart hurt for him. Some mistakes you have to learn on your own and I’m afraid this is one of them.
Before I can offer anymore advice, his phone rings. Angela’s pretty face fills the screen. He quickly snags the ring box from me and shoves it into his pocket before answering.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
Rhett grimaces at me and then disappears up the stairs. I can only hope he figures his situation out. What I don’t want for him is getting stuck in a loveless marriage for two decades.
I quickly clean up our mess and then head back upstairs. After changing into shorts, I crawl into bed with my wife. She sighs in her sleep as I curl around her. My palm covers a good portion of her belly, and my girls respond with little nudges and kicks.
This is what I want for Rhett.
Overwhelming happiness. Love so deep you know you’d die for it. The never-ending buzz of joy that thrums through your veins each time you think of your person or hear their laugh or make love to them.
Mei softly moans in her sleep which has my cock perking up. Despite her illness and fatigue, her sexual drive hasn’t waned. In fact, I think she’s more ravenous than before.
She wriggles her butt against my dick and now I’m groaning.
“Thought you were napping,” I murmur against her hair.
“I was but then you brought that hard thing in here and you know I crave it every bit as much as my pickles.”
I laugh as she scoots around to face me. Her lips find mine and we kiss deeply. Then she pulls away and sits up.
“You taste like lunchmeat,” she complains as she pulls off her shirt. “No more kissing until you brush your teeth.”
“I can go now,” I say to her, eyes glued on her full breasts that bounce out as she rips off her bra.
“Stay.”
My cock strains in my shorts as she pulls off the rest of her clothes.
Then, she tugs my shorts down to free my cock.
I hiss when she straddles me and slides her slick pussy along my cock.
Now that she’s pregnant, her pussy lips are engorged with blood.
It’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever buried my face in.
“Let me taste you,” I rumble, hands rubbing up her thighs.
“Nope. I’m going to fuck you, Daddy.”
She sits up on her knees and reaches to grab onto my cock. My eyes roll back as she slides down over my length. God, this feels amazing.
Her palms rest on my pectoral muscles and she starts rocking her hips slowly. It drives me mad with pleasure. I’m desperate to flip her over and fuck her wildly, but she’s pregnant and doesn’t feel all that great, so I continue to let her lead the pace.
“I fucking love you, Mei,” I choke out, trying desperately not to dig my fingers painfully into her thighs to urge her to go faster.
“I love you too, Owen.”
I find her clit with my fingers and the rest is history. We simultaneously come a few minutes later, and then I roll us over to our sides, somehow managing to keep my softening cock wedged inside her where it belongs.
She presses her sweaty forehead to mine, closes her eyes, and smiles so fucking sweetly.
“You make me happy,” she whispers. “If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”
As much as I want to kiss her, I don’t because I “taste like lunchmeat” and making her puke will kill the moment. Instead, I cup her ass and give it an affectionate squeeze.
“I’m going to spend every second of every day making you happy,” I promise as I steal a quick peck to her lips. “And this is the dream I want to wake up to. I’d been sleepwalking through life until you. You’re my reality, my purpose, the love of my life.”
She grins and then gives me a cute, pleading look. “Not to ruin the vibes, but will you make me eggs?”
“Eggs, babies, whatever you want, Mei.”
“You spoil me,” she says, stroking my cheek.
“Nah, just loving you. It comes easy and makes me happy. Now, hop in the shower, angel. I’m going to take care of you.”
Now.
Later.
Forever.
The End