Epilogue
Shaw
One Year Later.
“Mooooooo.” I swear that fucking cow is going to drive me to drink. If my wife didn’t love her so damn much, I’d sell her for beef and be done with her.
That’s a lie I keep telling myself. Marilyn the cow is eccentric and loving. A beast who was dealt a shitty hand and will likely haunt my dreams long after she dies of old age in my damn backyard.
“Mooooooo.” Rolling my eyes, I turn in my office chair to see what’s up her ass today only to find my wife on the ground.
“Son of a bitch!” I rush out of my office, startling Rita, Marcus, and Allison as I go. “Monroe!” I yell her name as I clear the porch doors, and she waves her hand at me like it’s nothing. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine, Shaw,” she pants.
“You sure as hell aren’t.” I drop down beside her to see sweat beading across her brow and her hands covering her belly.
“I think…I might…be in labor.” She’s breathing arduously through each statement.
My mind blanks for a split second before I refocus. “How many minutes apart?”
“How many minutes between moos?” She’s got jokes.
“Maybe two.”
“Then that many. Ohhhhh.” Her body damn near folds in half with the next contraction.
“Moooooo.” Marilyn experiences it with her, and suddenly, I have a completely new appreciation for the damn beast.
“Is it time?” Marcus asks from behind me, and I nod. “Let’s get her inside.” I don’t know how he’s so fucking calm.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Allison says as she and Rita join us.
“She means you, honey.” Monroe glares up at me.
“Right.” As we help her inside, I can hear Rita on the phone with the paramedics. Her contractions are too close, and we’re too far from a hospital for me to drive her. “Over here,” I suggest. After helping Monroe onto the couch, I crouch beside her. “What do you need me to do?”
We took the Lamaze classes. I’ve birthed plenty of livestock before.
Hell, I’ve battled in war. But when it comes to the birth of our first child, I haven’t the faintest idea of what to do to make it easier on Monroe.
The first time I thought she was pregnant, she was right.
It was the stress of everything happening that she was late.
When a test finally came back positive a couple of months later, I might have become even more protective of the love of my life.
“Shaw,” Allison’s stern voice calls my name. Thankfully, she's a maternity nurse and knows what to do. “Sit up behind, Monroe. Help her breathe and keep her comfortable.” I nod and do as she says.
The baby was supposed to be here three days ago, and Monroe was scheduled to be induced tomorrow morning. Guess our little one has decided to throw a wrench in the plans.
With the scheduling of the Marilyn Foundation set to open in three months, her parents have moved to their own slice of the Crazy Mountains in Montana, and my parents are coming next month. They’ve decided to make my dream into a family affair.
At this moment, I don’t mind one single bit.
I watch as Rita and Allison help Monroe remove her clothes and change into a long nightgown while Marcus continues to talk to paramedics. The contractions grow closer together, and before I know it, Allison is saying the head is crowning.
Monroe screams.
Marilyn moos.
“You got this, baby. You are so fucking strong.” I watch in awe as my wife brings a miracle with a full head of dark hair, healthy lungs, and endearing perfection into this world.
* * *
Monroe
The sun set hours ago, Shaw is asleep in the recliner next to my bed, and our sweet, sweet little boy is suckling at my breast.
I should be exhausted, but I find I’m wide awake. Thrilled to have my intimate little family right here beside me.
I should be in pain, but I feel as though I’m floating on air.
My heart is in this room, and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything closer to nirvana.
Minutes after Allison delivered our son, the paramedics arrived to help with the placenta and clean me up before they brought us to the hospital. Before we came, we decided on a name.
When we told my parents, they cried. Never expecting us to call him Marcus Callan Remington, after mine and Shaw’s fathers. When the nurses came to inform everyone that visiting hours were over, they nearly had to shove everyone out the door.
The last year has been a rollercoaster of emotions. Filled with highs and lows I never thought I’d experience again.
My mother was given probation for her part in my stalking; Alton was given a couple of years for deadly intent.
And more secrets than have been dug up at the Alamo were brought to light in all the court hearings.
And yet, through it all, Shaw and I got married, began renovations on the ranch for the Marilyn Foundation, and we started the family we’ve both been privately wanting since the day I showed up.
My life had always been one pageant after another. One strut after another across the stage until my feet hurt, and my smile dimmed. My first real choice in life came the day I met Shaw, and not for one second have I regretted it.
Feeling little Marcus pulling away from my breast, I sit him up for a burp only for Shaw’s masculine hands to take him from me.
“Let me.” He leans down to kiss me before lying the baby across his shoulder, gently rubbing and patting his back. Never in my wildest dreams have I seen a sexier sight.
Watching how tender Shaw is with our son is already giving me baby fever, and we’ve only had this precious one for a few hours. Relaxing against the pillows behind me, I close my eyes for the first time today and listen to my husband sing softly.
Shaw and baby Marcus have consumed my entire heart and soul, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“You’re perfect, just like your momma.” Shaw’s words follow me into slumber filled with dreams of the future and nothing but happiness in sight.
The End!
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