Epilogue
BAILEY
TWO YEARS LATER
The day I moved to Amity and saw my neighbor was the man I had sex with the night before who didn’t seem to remember me, I never in a million years thought this is where we would end up.
If you told me we would be moving into our new house together I would have laughed in your face. But here we are.
We found the perfect house when we weren’t really looking, but it was too perfect to turn down.
It’s on three acres, with a two stall barn which Wes wants to get a couple horses to fill.
I’m still getting used to the idea of sitting on them, let alone owning any.
Regardless, Bruno and Sadie are already enjoying running around in the large area as we carry the first couple of boxes inside.
Wes takes the one from my arms after setting down the two he had in his, and then he pulls me into his embrace. “We’re home.”
I smile as he drops his lips onto mine, but we’re interrupted when the sound of tires appear as other cars join us.
Jameson’s truck holds a lot of our things.
Wes doesn’t have much and didn’t care to get rid of most of it.
I didn’t have much either, but we decided to keep my furniture at least for now.
We go outside to greet our friends and my family who all came to help, despite me insisting they didn't need to. It’s weird having them around. During the hockey season they are all busy, but right now in the summer apparently they have nothing better to do than come help us move.
At least according to Brynn.
My sister who is wrangling her twin boys out of the car while Wes and the guys unload boxes.
Sutton walks up to me with her baby bump starting to show, and I glare at her. “You better not be here to help, you’re not allowed to lift anything.”
She waves me off. “Yeah, yeah, I already got a talking to from Jameson. I’m here for morale support and assisting with children as needed.”
“Please assist me,” Brynn pleads while Grayson tries to launch himself out of her arms while she tries to get his brother out.
I take my nephew from her arms and he laughs manically. “You would think torturing your mom is funny,” I tell him, then whisper, “Me too.”
“I heard that,” Brynn calls out and I chuckle. “I swear, I told him I wanted one kid and he made it his mission to give me two at once.”
“You make me glad this is the only one.” Sutton smiles with a hand on her stomach.
“And you make me glad I won’t be having any,” I tease. “They’re cute, but I like giving them back.”
“Just wait until I send them to you for the summers and take a nice long vacation to Bora Bora,” Brynn jokes.
“Very funny.”
“No, I couldn’t be away from you the whole summer.” She nuzzles against Easton’s cheek and he giggles.
Chandler joins us with Evie and Maya in tow while the guys join Jameson, Colton, and Wes with unloading and getting the house set up. It’s weird having all this support around, but I can’t deny it’s nice to have all the extra help.
Wes and I could handle it like we handle everything ourselves, but not needing to is nice…different, but nice. A lot of things have been different this past year while we both started therapy, working through our individual issues wasn’t easy, but it’s helped more than I ever thought.
I never realized how much I harbored from my childhood.
Obviously I had the nightmares and memories, but apparently having them be debilitating is not actually normal, who knew?
Wes has been getting better with his own therapy.
It was a struggle at first. He didn’t want to go for a while, but once he got into a routine of it he started to see the positive effects.
It’s been a journey, but having each other along the way has helped us both immensely.
So has having Brynn and Brent back in my life.
Bryson is another story, while he’s out living his life, he reaches out every once in a while, but doesn’t visit.
I don’t take it personally because I understand, I’ve been there.
He’ll come around if and when he’s ready.
We bring all the kids to the open area of the property where the dogs are running around and they join in. Evie, the oldest, runs around easily while the boys and Maya waddle, falling but getting back up while they try to keep up with Evie.
“You excited?” Chandler asks Sutton, gesturing to her stomach.
“Terrified and excited.”
Another set of cars pull up, and our large driveway can hardly fit everyone, but Lily announces her arrival with a loud, “Hey bitches!” She throws her hand over her mouth when she sees all the kids around. She just recently came back into town…with her boyfriend.
Parker joins in helping the guys, and I notice they don’t say anything to each other. The tension is clear, and I’m sure he hates how much he has to see her and Aaron around. But I know their story is far from over.
“What’d I miss?” Lily asks, approaching us, watching the kids and dogs play around the yard.
“You tell us.” Sutton raises an eyebrow.
Lily lifts her chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, okay,” Sutton scoffs.
It doesn’t take long before everything is unloaded in our new house and everyone migrates inside. It’s a tight fit to have everyone in here. Normally, I feel like I would be overwhelmed and uncomfortable by the amount of people around, but I don’t.
It’s kind of nice.
I slide up to Wes, wrapping my arms around his middle to check in because I know crowds can still bother him. He looks down at me with a smile and relief washes over me. “How’re you doing?” I ask just to be sure.
“Great. How’re you?”
“Tired,” I sigh.
“Oh, are you? I didn’t see you helping with many of the boxes.”
“Hey, I did some, and I helped in other ways.”
“Yeah? Entertaining your sister and friends?”
“Exactly.” I give him a wide smile that has him pulling me against him even tighter and leaning down to whisper in my ear.
“You better behave, or I’ll have to haul you away in front of everyone and lock you up in our bedroom.”
I hum. “And what would you do with me?”
“You want me to tell you or do you want me to show you?” He raises an eyebrow.
“I mean if you’re all talk, just say that. I know it can be a lot to handle me, maybe you aren’t up for the job.”
He lets out a growl, hooking his finger under the chain of my necklace, the one that claims me as his. “Sounds like you want a punishment, is that it?”
“Maybe,” I taunt.
“Hey, don’t be gross over there you have family in town,” Brynn calls out, pulling us from our bubble.
I lean against Wes, smiling because those words aren’t something I ever thought I would get to hear. I didn’t think any of this was something I would experience, and it’s safe to say I’ve never been happier. The best part is I know it’s just the beginning.
The End