Epilogue
BANE
“ M yers!” I called, looking at the file on my desk.
She shuffled in, clutching her notebook, her belly swollen. She glared at me as she sat down with a loud huff.
“That’s Bane, thank you.”
I chuckled. “I can’t call you Bane. You call me Bane. We can’t both be Bane.”
“But we are. Maybe I could hyphenate. Myers-Bane.”
“No. I like Magnolia Bane.”
“Then call me Maggie.”
I shook my head. “That’s my name at home for my wife. I’ll stick to Magnolia.” I sighed. “If I remember.”
“What do you need?’ she asked, trying to bend to touch her feet. I stood, rounding the desk, tutting when I saw her swollen ankles.
“Magnolia Bane,” I scolded. “I told you that you need to stop working. Look at your feet.”
I lifted the offending appendages to my lap, pulling off her shoes and massaging the puffy skin. I knew they had to be hurting when she didn’t protest, instead shutting her eyes and emitting a contented little sigh.
“Today is your last day.”
“What am I going to do at home?”
“Nest.”
“The nursery is finished. We have enough clothes washed and ready to dress the entire maternity ward at the hospital. I have nothing left to do.”
“Nugget man is due in three weeks. You can be a sloth on the sofa until then.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but I hit a particular sore spot, and instead, she groaned, the sound low and sexy. My cock noticed and stood up, and I had to remind myself we were in the office.
As if on cue, Jessica walked in, stopping in the door and staring.
“Why does this feel like déjà vu?” she asked, laughing.
I chuckled. “My wife’s feet are swollen. I’m trying to convince her it is time to call it quits.”
Jessica pursed her lips and nodded. “As much as I fear for the temp pool, I agree with Bane, Magnolia. The last few weeks are hard enough.”
My wife stared at Jessica as if she had just wounded her. No doubt, she had expected Jessica to take her side, joining in the “I am woman and hear me roar” moment Magnolia was attempting to have.
“Fine. Tomorrow is my last day.”
I was about to argue, but Jessica lifted an eyebrow, and I shut up. Then I huffed. That used to be my signature move to get people to stop talking. When had she stolen it?
“I’ll get the paperwork ready.” Jessica handed me a file. “I need your signature on these.”
“Sure.” I began to get up, but Magnolia gasped and grabbed my arm.
“I’ll just be a minute,” I assured her.
“No,” she gasped. “Bane—my water just broke!”
Jessica met my panicked eyes. “Call your driver,” she said calmly.
I picked up the phone. “Darryl?—”
“Out front in five,” he responded, reading my voice well. “Her bag is in the back.”
“Good.” We had two bags packed just in case.
Then I bent and scooped up my wife. “I can walk,” she protested even as she grasped my bicep. “Bane, he’s coming,” she panted. “Fast.”
I rushed to the elevator, trying not to laugh as she kept talking. “The papers you need to sign!”
“Magnolia?” I asked as Jessica pressed the lobby button.
“What?”
“Shut up about the paperwork. You’re fired.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder. “Okay.”
I stared down at my son, his red face, chubby cheeks, and tightly clenched fists the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
Aside from my amazing wife.
I met her sleepy eyes. “He’s perfect, Mommy.”
She smiled. “He needs a name.” He began to fuss, and she sighed. “And his mommy.”
I settled him beside her and sat next to her bed. “Do you still like Jensen?”
“I do.”
“Jensen Daniel Bane.”
“Oh,” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. “My dad would love that.”
“I love it. I love you. I love Nugget Jensen.”
She laughed and winced. “Stop it.”
I ran my knuckles down her cheek. “You were incredible today, Magnolia Bane. So strong and brave.”
“You were so calm it helped me,” she muttered sarcastically. “Honestly, Bane.”
I laughed. I had been a mess. Twice, the doctor had asked me if I had a medical degree and, if not, to step aside. But he let me cut the cord and take our son to his mother. It was a memory I would hold forever.
“Good thing I have you.”
She smiled at me. “You have us.”
I kissed her. “Even better.”
FOUR YEARS LATER - BANE
“Higher, Daddy!”
“That’s high enough, Jensen,” I replied. “Mommy said so.”
“And Daddy’s heart can’t take it,” I added silently.
He pumped his legs, not really caring. Then he pointed to the slide. “There!”
“Hands on the chains, Jensen!”
He laughed at me.
Laughed.
Then he jumped, landing squarely on his feet in the sand and heading to the slide. I looked over at Magnolia, who was laughing at me, shaking her head. “He’s fine, Daddy. Come sit.”
I sat beside her, leaning over to kiss her cheek and peek into the pram. Our six-month-old daughter, Ciara, was sleeping, her fist jammed into her rosebud mouth. Her brown hair was a mass of curls on her head, and her dark eyes were like her mommy’s.
She had me wrapped around her finger.
And my wife had me by the balls.
I was good with both.
“When did Jens get so… big ? He always needed me to lift him off the swing, help him up the ladder.” I groaned. “Now he’s hanging upside down on the monkey bars. By himself.”
Magnolia rubbed my back. “He’s growing up too fast. I know. He wants to go to school. Be a big boy.”
“I’m not ready.”
She laughed. “You never will be.”
“At least Ciara will grow slower.”
“In your dreams.” My wife laughed, then sighed. “Maybe the next one.”
I sat back, slinging my arm over her shoulder. “It took us three years to get her. Not sure I can face being that old when another one comes.”
“Nine months in the future isn’t that long.”
It took a moment for her words to register. I turned to her, gaping. “Are you—really?”
She smiled. “Yep.”
I grabbed her, wrapping her in my arms and kissing her hard. “Maggie darling,” I breathed. “That is amazing!”
She laughed, nestling close. I held her, knowing she needed my embrace. The closeness. She always did in emotional moments, and I loved being the one to give it to her. It made me feel ten feet tall that it was me she turned to. I made her feel safe and secure.
“We need a bigger house.”
She laughed. “We have a big house.”
“Four bedrooms. We need five.”
“Or we can turn your office into a bedroom and build you an office downstairs.”
“We can afford a bigger place.”
“But I love our house. We picked it out together when Jensen was just a little nugget. We made it our home. I love the neighbors and the big trees and the gardens you made.”
I laughed, kissing her sweet, sentimental mouth. “Okay, how about the idea we had for a man shed out back? I can work there.”
She snorted. “And escape the kids.”
“It crossed my mind.”
She nudged me. “You’ll have to make it up.”
“Oh, baby, I will.”
Jensen came running over. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Magnolia dug in her bag, handing me a container. “Sit beside Daddy.”
I helped him onto the bench, opening the container. He dug in, munching on the crackers, and I unwrapped a string cheese for him.
“Did you see the paper this morning?” Magnolia asked casually.
I chuckled, brushing the hair off our son’s face. “About Terry? Yep. I figured karma would catch up to him. I hope he rots in jail.”
“Your, ah, mother must be horrified.”
I sat back, swinging my leg. “Don’t care.”
“What if they came to you…” She trailed off as I turned and met her gaze.
“Never. After how she treated you, scoffed at our marriage, and walked past us as if we were dirt at that event when you were pregnant with Jens? Absolutely not.”
“Okay, just wondering.”
“She will never change. Neither will he. I want nothing to do with either of them.”
“I just don’t want you to regret?—”
I took her hand, cutting her off. “I regret nothing. I have a family. Our family. All of you mean more than anything in the world. I want nothing of them to touch us. To touch our kids. Or you. All of you are wonderful, perfect, and mine. They mean nothing because that was all I ever was to them.”
“You’re everything to us.”
I kissed her. Then again. I did it a third time. Each longer. Harder. She was everything to me. The center of my world. The reason I was alive. Really, truly alive.
“I think our kids need a nap.”
She hummed and touched my lips. “A long one.”
“Or maybe we drop them off with Auntie Rylee and Uncle Sam. I’ll order dinner for them. Take my time celebrating another miracle you’ve brought to my life.”
She laughed. “Even better. Take me home, Mr. Bane.”
I kissed her again. “Always, Mrs. Bane. Always.”
Thank you so much for reading MY FAVORITE BOSS.