Epilogue
TESSA
Thanksgiving
It was straight up pandemonium at Hope House. And I was loving every second of it.
Diana, Lily, Briar, and I, with the help of several other volunteers, had prepared a full-on Thanksgiving feast with enough turkey, stuffing, and sides to feed everybody—including the huge Dixon men.
Everyone was sitting down, loading their plates.
We’d lined up all the tables, making one long one so everyone could eat together, and there were so many different conversations happening that it was hard to hear a word being said.
But I didn’t care one bit. I’d always wanted a family; I just never in a million years thought it would be one this big.
A hand came down on my shoulder, pulling me from my happy thoughts. When I looked up, Charity was staring down at me. “You okay?”
Reaching up, I covered her hand with mine and gave it a squeeze. “I’m perfect, sweetheart. Absolutely perfect.”
Her beautiful face wreathed with a stunning smile, this one free of all the makeup she usually hid behind. Returning my squeeze with one of her own, she let me go and moved down the table to take a seat by her friends.
“What’re those?” Oscar yelped loudly, and when I shifted my attention down the table, I saw him eyeing the fried brussel sprouts with wide, disgusted eyes. “Those look gross! I’m not eating that!”
“They’re good for you,” Lily insisted. In typical mom fashion, she wasn’t backing down when it came to getting kids to eat their vegetables. “They’ll make you strong. Why do you think my boys are as big as they are? It’s because they ate their vegetables.”
Oscar didn’t look like he was buying it for a second, and when he looked over at Brad, I didn’t miss the way the big guy shook his head discreetly and made a blech face.
“I saw that, Bradley Dixon,” Lily snapped. “And just for that, you’re eating two helpings.”
The scent of woodsy citrus invaded my senses as Bryce’s hand came down on my thigh and his breath tickled at my ear. “What are you thankful for today, beauty?”
Turning to look at the love of my life, my heart swelled in my chest, making it hard to breathe as I answered, “For fairy-tale endings.”
His smile made me tremble. “Honey, we’re only just gettin’ started.”
Bryce
Christmas Eve
I moved through the quiet house, locking all the doors and turning out the lights. Only the Christmas tree remained lit.
At Tessa and Charity’s insistence, the thing stayed on 24/7, from Thanksgiving until tomorrow night.
That was fine with me. Neither of my girls had ever had a real Christmas before, so anything in my power to give them was theirs to have.
Which was why the whole house smelled like sugar and the kitchen counters overflowed with every size and shape of Christmas cookie you could imagine, and why I’d suffered through a million and one Hallmark Christmas movies without saying a word.
If I had to eat every last cookie while watching every last movie to make them happy, I was prepared to do it.
Setting the alarm, I made my way up the stairs, stopping at the door to what was now Charity’s permanent room.
Like I’d done every night for the past month, I quietly pushed her door open, peeking in at the sleeping girl to make sure everything was as it should be before pulling it closed and moving toward our room.
I was halfway down the hall when the phone in my pocket rang. Pulling it out, I looked at the display and chuckled.
“You’re gonna see us in two days, Pop. You don’t have to call every other day.”
“Not that a father needs a reason to talk to his son, but I’m actually not callin’ to chat. I wanted to give you a heads-up so you didn’t show up here and lose your goddamn mind.”
My back went straight and I came to a stop. “A heads-up about what?”
My dad let out a heavy sigh through the line. “Well, your momma might’ve gone a little overboard with her Christmas presents for Charity. In her defense, she’s never had a granddaughter before so it’s not really—”
“What did she do, Pop?”
He let loose another sigh. “Well . . . she kinda bought Charity a puppy.”
“A what?”
“It’s cute as a button,” he blurted quickly. “Girl’s gonna love it, but . . .”
“It get’s worse?” I clipped when he trailed off.
“It’s a great dane, son. Damn thing’s gonna be huge once it’s full grown.”
Dropping my head, I blew out an exasperated breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Jesus Christ.”
“Anyhoo,” my dad continued, “just wanted you to know. We’ll see you in a couple days, son. Merry Christmas.”
Before I could say a word, he disconnected the call.
Resigned to the fact that our house would soon have a huge-as-hell dog, I stuffed the phone back into my pocket and finished the trek to our room.
Tessa was sitting up in bed, a book opened in her lap, as I closed our door behind me. Placing her thumb on the page as a placeholder, she flipped it closed and looked up at me. “Everything locked up tight?”
“Yep.” Removing my T-shirt, I emptied my pockets onto my nightstand, pulled the covers back and slipped in beside her.
She put the book on the nightstand and curled into me, my arm wrapping around her and holding on tight. “Charity still sleeping like a log?” she asked, a teasing lilt to her voice. My wife knew my routine by now.
“Yep. Out like a light.”
She let out a husky chuckle that made my dick stir. “That girl’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. And speaking of . . . “There’s somethin’ I’ve been wantin’ to talk to you about,” I said as she snuggled deeper into me.
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“What if we make Charity ours permanently?”
Tessa shifted, coming up on her elbow so she could see my face. “What?”
“This is already her home,” I announced. “Why not make it official?”
“You mean . . . you want to adopt her?”
Sliding my fingers through her silky hair, I tucked the strands behind her ear and said, “As far as I’m concerned, she’s already ours in all the ways that matter. What would it hurt to make it legal?”
“It wouldn’t hurt anything. I actually love you even more for suggesting it, which I didn’t think was possible, considering how much I already love you. I’m just surprised is all. I mean, not a lot of people are willing to adopt teenagers.”
I gave her my most cocky grin. “Beauty, we got married after knowin’ each other less than a week, and that’s worked out pretty damn well.
Way I see it, we’re at our best when we’re on fast forward, so why not start with a mouthy teenager full of attitude?
It’ll make us better prepared for when we have another. ”
Those honey eyes warmed, the love shining bright within them. “I love you so much, Bryce.”
“Keep hold of that thought, ’cause I just got some news that might make you want to take that back.” She lifted her brows curiously. “Ma got Charity a great dane puppy for Christmas.”
She stared at me in surprise for a few seconds before bursting into laughter, and it was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard, aside from hearing her say she loved me.
“Well, damn. Lily might’ve just beaten me out for best Christmas present ever.”
“Oh? And what did you get her?”
“Not her,” she said softly, trailing her fingers across my jaw. “It’s your present.”
I wasn’t sure she could give me anything better than my ring, but I didn’t bother telling her that as she leaned over and opened her bedside drawer, pulling out something the size of a business card.
“Your drivers license?” I asked in confusion when she dropped it in my lap.
She began chewing on her thumbnail before saying, “Look at the name.”
I looked down and felt the air leave my lungs as I read the name along the bottom: Tessa Dixon.
Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love her more, she went and did something that made me fall even harder.
“Best decision I ever made was walkin’ across that pool deck to you,” I told her.
“And the best decision I ever made was letting a stranger help me mark off items on my bucket list,” she murmured, pressing her lips to mine. “You’re my other half, Bryce Dixon.”
“And you’re my heart and soul, Tessa Dixon.”
We’d had more than our fair share of bumps on the way to our happily ever after, but there was one thing I knew for damn certain. We definitely got it right the second time around.
And I couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us next.
The End.