Epilogue 1 - Ashia
One Year Later
The moment I step out of the bedroom, laughter echoes up the stairs, making my heart flutter.
Hearing Damien’s deep, genuine chuckle mixed with Emma’s sweet laughter is a sound that I will never get tired of.
It’s certainly a normal occurrence. There’s never a dull moment in this house, especially with those two.
Peek-a-boo turns into a competition of who will get tired of it first—spoiler alert, it’s never Damien.
Every meal turns into an airplane or food fight, and there’s at least one kraken in every bath, not to mention how often we have to take a moment of silence to remember all of the rubber ducky souls that we’ve lost to the creature.
Rest in peace.
Even when we’re supposed to be walking out of the door, they’re goofing around and making the most of every second.
I think I know what game they’re playing by the thumping sounds, but I could be wrong.
Damien loves to switch things up, so there’s no telling what back story their game has today.
Last night, Emma turned Daddy into a frog before bed…
then he bounced her on the mattress until her face flushed from laughing so long.
I had no idea that a thirteen-month-old could laugh so much, but she is Damien’s daughter, after all.
I grab onto the railing and watch my step, trying like hell to see over my large belly and not miss a step.
My warning of how big a boy would be in my body didn’t deter Damien whatsoever, and now we’ll have two kids under two in just a few short weeks.
I’m convinced that Damien’s trying to kill me, because even though I’m only thirty-five weeks, the baby is measuring much longer and bigger than Emma did.
Baby boy hasn’t tried to vacate early like his sister did, though, so that’s a plus.
Emma’s giggles only get louder as I make my way down the stairs, and my own laughter slips out when I actually see all of the commotion.
Damien is crouched down and bouncing lightly on his feet, holding his hands out like he’s approaching a rabid animal.
Then he tucks and rolls, just to take the same position again, but about five feet to his left.
Emma laughs so hard that she stumbles and falls gently to her bottom.
“What are you supposed to be? A zookeeper?” I ask between giggles and make my way down the rest of the stairs. Damien’s jaw drops and he lays his hand on chest, pretending to be wounded.
“I’m a spy!” His lips slowly creep into a smile as he rakes his eyes up and down my body, surely eyeing the floor-length, dark blue gown I was told to wear today. “You’re so beautiful, baby.”
“Thank you.” I do a slow spin so I don’t lose my balance.
“Dada!” Emma yells to get her father’s attention.
“Do you want to see how pretty Mommy is?” He picks her up off the floor and holds her to his chest. She grips at his hair and nibbles on his chin as he walks her over. “I think someone’s teething again,” he chuckles.
“It would appear so.” I adjust the bow on her head and brush her blonde strands with the tips of my fingers. “We should’ve left five minutes ago, you know.”
“It’s only five minutes. Our spy work was much more important.”
“Well, she’s the flower girl. I'm not sure they'll see it that way.”
Damien just brushes it off.
“Please. How can they be mad? Have they seen this face?” He points to Emma’s toothy grin.
“Or that face?” Then he points to me and smiles endearingly.
He pinches my chin between his fingers and pulls me in, pressing his lips to mine softly.
“I think we'll be just fine,” he murmurs, barely grazing my mouth.
“Mama!” Emma reaches out and grips my dress, muttering ‘mama’ over and over in baby babbles. My smile grows twice as wide, but Damien’s falls as I take her from his arms. He even pouts.
“I want Mama love, too.”
I laugh so hard that I tear up.
“You always have my love, baby.” I reach up and kiss his cheek, then Emma goes back to using his jaw as a chew toy. He wraps his arms around us both and pulls us close until we melt into him.
We really should get going, but it’s impossible to pull away from moments like this.
Emma rests her head on my chest and looks up at me and Damien with eyes that are just like his.
They’re so bright, like nothing in this world could ever dim them—especially when she looks up at him directly.
They’re two peas in a pod, the best of friends, but most importantly, she feels just as safe with him as I do.
She adores him. Daddy always makes everything better.
When she wakes up at night, he’s always been the one to get up and hold her.
Even when I was still breastfeeding her, he was right there.
Every moment she reached out for him or cried because he stepped away, he went right back to her.
Well, we both have. Neither of us have been subtle or reserved when it comes to our daughter.
If she wants to be held, in our eyes, it’s because she needs it.
Hell, we need it as much as she does. Our perfect little girl is thriving, taking all of our love for her and using that to grow.
She’s never had to question if we would be there when she needs us, and there’s no doubt that he’s already her hero.
He’s been right by our side, just like he promised.
Every appointment, every milestone, and every sleepless night, he was right there.
When she had to get her first set of shots, I’m not sure who cried more, him or her.
When she took her first steps a couple of weeks ago, who did she walk to?
Her daddy. Despite their unwavering bond, he’s still insanely jealous that she crawled to me first, and I’ll hold onto that win for eternity.
I love Damien, wholly and completely, and I knew that before we had Emma, but seeing him as a father breeds an entirely different love—one that pairs perfectly with what we already felt for each other.
When we wake up in the mornings, he still looks at me like it’s the first time all over again, like he’s just completely in awe.
His touch is just as tender as ever, and his eyes only burn brighter with his devotion to me.
I know he sees the same when he looks at me. There’s no way he doesn’t.
The love I have for our family is indescribable, a tale too long to be spoken in a lifetime.
When he said our story would last forever, I knew it would.
A love like ours isn’t contained in something as fragile as time.
He’ll hold me down on earth until eternity calls for us both, and then we’ll step into heaven together, graced to be connected indefinitely as we watch our own children with pride.
His hold on us tightens, not enough to squeeze too harshly, but enough to pull the three of us into him as tightly as he can manage.
Our little boy kicks and squirms, feeling our family at all angles, and everything just feels so complete.
There’s no empty space anymore—there hasn’t been since I met Damien, but somehow, my world just keeps growing bigger.
Soon enough, we’ll have a whole clan of Hartleys, and they’ll absorb me whole.
It’s the most beautiful feeling I’ve ever felt.
“I guess we can go now,” Damien whispers.
I open my eyes, not even realizing I had closed them, and look down to see Emma asleep between us.
Her cute little mouth hangs open, and her cheek is squished against my chest, as if she couldn’t be more comfortable if she had tried.
I kiss her tiny head, unable to help myself, and look back up to the man that completes me.
He gave me everything I could’ve ever wanted and needed, even the things I didn’t know were necessary to being me.
He allowed me the chance to find myself, and he loves every piece of me—just as I love every bit of him.
My husband.
My heart.
My stalker.
“Yeah, I guess we can,” I reply softly and whistle for Daisy, smiling as she trots up beside us.
Damien takes Emma from my arms and cradles her with one limb before wrapping the other around my waist. I lean into him as he leads us to the car, knowing I’ll never truly be able to pull away. And best of all?
I’ll never have to.