Epilogue
LOGAN
One year later.
Miles, my brothers, and their families were with us at the cabin.
Aoife and I hadn’t totally given up living in the city.
I had to work there until I could train a solid team to run MadDox Security with Miles in my absence.
Still, we had moved all her things from California to New York shortly after everything went down.
Her father’s death was a quiet affair and the transition of power went over flawlessly, considering the worries we all had prior to Bill’s death.
We had his remains cremated and the bastard sat on the mantle in my apartment.
Aoife couldn’t bring herself to do anything with him just yet, but we both agreed he didn’t belong in our happy space in the country.
It didn’t take much to issue a death certificate for Aoife’s father, so she was able to claim what she wanted of his and then gifted the rest to her distant cousin who took over the family business. All of that felt like a lifetime ago, though.
One year felt like forever and no time all at once.
It made me more certain than ever that Aoife was always meant to be my woman.
I wanted to make that point with all of our closest friends and family.
The only person missing was her grandmother.
By the time Aine went back to Ireland after setting her family up to take over for Bill, she managed to break her hip in a fall and was recovering there.
We had gone over to see her and help out when it first happened, but the stubborn woman tried to do too much, too soon once we came back home and ended up needing more physical therapy.
She would miss being there in person for my surprise, but my sister-in-law Calista was going to live stream everything for her.
Aoife clapped from the top of the stairs as she glanced down and saw that everyone was dressed to the nines.
She was the last to arrive, as intended.
It might have seemed weird that we were all decked out in formal attire, but I wanted to give her the Christmas engagement she deserved without any other assholes to interfere.
After the disastrous party she had been dragged to the year before, there was no way we would do it anywhere but our country home.
I walked over to the bottom of the stairs and held my arm out for her as she traversed the last step. “I love that everyone got dressed up. This was the best idea ever.”
If only she knew…
“Follow me, Aoife, I have to show you what the kids did to the tree.” I snickered, as if I was letting her in on a joke and she giddily accepted.
When we got there, in front of the tree, I let go of her arm and reached into the branches.
I had stashed the ring there earlier and was thankful that none of the kids had fucked with it.
As I turned around, I went down on one knee and presented her with the still-closed box.
“Logan?”
“Shh.” I took her hand in mine and smiled up at the woman who would hopefully share the rest of my life with me.
“Aoife, you already have my last name because you couldn’t wait for me to find you again and propose.
” Everyone stood around and laughed. “Will you do me the honor of making it official and tying your name and your heart to me forever until death do us part?”
“Yes, of course,” she whispered.
A tear slipped free from her eyes as I slid the ring on her finger and stood. I wrapped one of my hands around the back of her neck and the other around her waist to pull her close to me so that I could seal her “yes” with a kiss.
“When are you two going to tie the knot?” Calista called out as she continued to point her phone our way.
“How about now?” I whispered the question into Aoife’s ear and she immediately snapped back far enough away from me that she could look up and gauge if I was being serious or not.
“It just so happens that I am an ordained minister in this fine state,” Miles announced.
“Did you plan this?” Aoife asked as her eyes continued to leak.
“I might have set up a few contingencies.”
“Can we do it right here in front of the Christmas tree with our family around?”
She didn’t even have to ask since that was always the plan, but I’d do anything in my power to make her happy. “Of course,” I insisted as Miles moved into his position and our family lined up on the other side of us as witnesses.
“Too bad Grandma Aine couldn’t be here,” Aoife said.
“I’m here, darling,” her voice came through Calista’s phone loud and clear. Aoife turned and offered the woman a watery grin.
“Then this is perfect.”
We said our vows with Miles guiding us through the traditional ceremony and as I kissed the bride after we both said I do, someone played “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” by Dean Martin. I took Aoife in my arms and swung her around before we started to dance to the old Christmas song.
“I have a present to give you as well,” my new wife said.
“Yeah, what is it?”
She left me standing there just long enough to grab a long, slim box that looked as though it might contain a necklace or something.
She brought it back and held it up as her eyes drifted above my head.
Instead of handing over the gift, my woman lifted up onto her toes and planted a sweet kiss on my mouth.
“What was that for?”
“Mistletoe,” she announced before placing the box in my hand. “Open it.”
I ripped the paper enough to slide a box out and then flipped the lid open to find…
“What is this?” I asked as I pulled the blue and white stick out of the box.
It wasn’t until I flipped it over that everything registered.
I hadn’t heard the audible gasp from the other women in the room who clearly knew what it was on sight.
I hadn’t heard my brother Adrian laugh at me.
None of that sank in as I stared at the one word: PREGNANT clearly visible in the window.
“I’m going to be a dad?” I asked. Aoife nodded her head excitedly. “We’re going to be parents?” As if there was a need for clarification, she continued to nod her head and smile so widely at me it must have hurt her face to show such immense joy. I picked her up and spun her around again.
“Might want to tone down the spins with the pregnant lady,” Adrian cautioned. “I guess if you don’t mind buying a new pair of shoes when she hurls on yours, it won’t be a big deal.”
“Don’t care,” I called back to him as I set Aoife back down on her feet and kissed her again. “We’re having a baby,” I whispered against her lips.
“We are.”
“I’m so fucking happy,” I told her.
“That’s good because I am, too.”
“As soon as you have this one, I’m going to do everything in my power to put another one in your belly. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
“I’ll take any size family we can manage as long as you’re in it with me, Lo. I love you.”
“I love you with everything I am, Aoife.” I slipped down to my knees for a second time that night and kissed my wife’s belly. “I love you, too, little one.”
THE END