Epilogue
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.”
The lively tune broadcasted through The Parting Glass was sung in a variety of pitches and tones as unique as the men and women who made up their group. Colt stood with an arm around a very pregnant Ivy as they both watched Emerson as she carefully balanced a large sheet cake in her hands while slowly walking toward the table. Oz stood to the right of the place of honor, Linc to the left, Nora plastered to Linc’s side. She peeked around Linc’s broad chest now, a grin plastered on her face as her brother hit a bad note, even more off key than usual.
Using the chair to balance on her knees, Sophie sat with her elbows planted on the table as she leaned over it, her multi-colored party hat sitting at an angle and wobbling precariously as she sang with a lisp from the big gap made by her missing two front teeth.
“Happy birthday, dear Noah, happy Birthday to you.”
Linc bent down and kissed the top of their one-year-old’s head who sat in his highchair so enthralled by what was happening around him, he forgot to be fussy. Nora had tried to tell Linc that Noah sounded too much like Nora but he’d insisted that was the point. She’d countered by proclaiming when they had a girl they were naming her Laken.
“And many mooooooore,” Oz belted out.
“On channel four,” Sophie finished.
“And Frankenstein on channel nine,” Oz fired back.
“And Scooby Doo on channel two,” Sophie countered.
“And all the rest on CBS,” Emerson said, putting an end to the battle as firmly as she set the cake down on the table.
Everyone cheered except for the disgruntled looking Oz and Sophie. Even little Noah got into the spirit of things, waving a tiny fist in the air.
As an encore the front door swung open and Emerson’s mom barreled in, Mike on her heels barely visible behind the mountain of gifts he carried. “Sorry we’re late!”
Emerson went straight to Jill, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “No worries. You guys are just in time for cake.”
Nora jockeyed for position. “What did I tell you about going overboard on the presents,” she reprimanded with a hug of her own.
Jill tsked. “Don’t worry, they’re not all for Noah. A few are for Sophie too.”
Linc stepped over and helped Mike, ridding him of half his burden. “Thanks, son.”
Hearing her name and present in the same sentence, Sophie chimed in, “I got a present too?”
“Of course. What’s a party without a present.” Jill planted a kiss on Sophie’s forehead, pulling her in for a side hug.
“Hey, where’s mine?” Mike asked, now relieved of his packages.
Sophie jumped down from her chair, throwing herself at him and he scooped her up for a hug.
“Who wants cake?” Emerson asked, holding a knife in one hand and a plate in the other.
“I do!” Ivy was the first to reply. Colt chuckled and she was quick to defend, “What? I’m eating for two.”
“At the rate you’re going, more like for three.”
“Watch it buster, or I’m naming our son after you,” Ivy threatened.
Colt blanched while everyone else in the room laughed, knowing how much he hated his name.
“I don’t know, Percival Colton the Fourth does have a nice ring to it,” Oz bravely stated, throwing the friend in question a smirk.
Sophie’s nose scrunched. “No it doesn’t,” she said, not getting the joke and making everyone laugh.
Nora gazed down at her little—no big—girl, her heart swelling in her chest with love for her. After everything she’d been through, she’d bravely powered through coming out the other side a wonderful young lady and awesome big sister. Noah adored her, and she, him. And while memories of her parents would always be in the background of her mind, they were starting to fade to the point she called Linc and Nora her parents. And Nora didn’t consider Sophie anything but a daughter. A daughter of the heart—the best kind.
Nora looked around the room now and realized, relation or not, they were all one big happy family.
Linc came up beside her, a frown puckering his brow as he swiped the wetness from her cheek. “Why the tears?”
She turned into his embrace. “They’re happy tears.”
He cupped her face, tilting her head back, moving his in close. Nora loved it when he did that because she knew to expect a kiss, and Linc’s kisses were the best.
“I love you,” he murmured just before his lips met hers.
And Linc’s kisses proceeded by him telling her he loved her, well…
Those were heavenly.
Did you enjoy Rush? Be sure to read the first two books in the series:
Sack
Tackle