Epilogue
Asher
“ Do you think I look fat in this dress?” my wife asked as she pulled on her sundress, and I placed my water bottle down.
There were two ways I could answer, and both could be wrong. If I turned to look at her and said no, she would think I was lying. She would still think I was lying if I didn’t turn around and say no.
My eyes found Anne , and she had a grin on her face as she looked at us, amused by her mother’s question, and I gulped.
We had been married for two years, and it wasn’t always easy, but time had flown by quickly. We got married in a small private ceremony with only our closest friends.
Anne was now in elementary school, and I never realized just how much I would cry when I sent her off to the first grade; she had to awkwardly comfort me because I was embarrassing her in front of her friends, but I couldn’t help it; my baby girl was growing up.
Brooke was now the center manager, and I had been promoted to fire chief in the department. With our new jobs and growing family, Brooke and I moved out of our apartment and bought a house in the same neighborhood as Jax .
That was a mistake on my part because Jax would visit every other day and hang out with my wife just because he could. He had quit his job at the department and said all he wanted to do was rest for a while before he found something else to do for fun.
Jax worked for fun! Being a billionaire’s last born was definitely a trick that the rest of us missed when we chose our birth parents.
We had bought a five-bedroom house; two bedrooms were on the first floor, and the other three were on the second floor. When Brooke got pregnant, I suggested— begged —her to let us move to the bedroom downstairs because I didn’t want her to make unnecessary trips up and down the stairs.
The woman was hard-headed, but I was just as stubborn. She eventually agreed to move downstairs, and we turned the other bedroom into the nursery. We were pregnant with our first child together and knew that we wanted at least two more children after that.
But if this was the question I would be getting during each and every pregnancy, we would have to reconsider.
“ Asher ! I look fat?” she asked, shocked, and I parted my lips as I tried to defend myself.
“ I didn’t say anything, baby.” I leaned forward to kiss her cheek, and she pulled her head away.
“ Your silence was long enough to say a lot,” she raised her finger to shush me, and I bit my lip as another trivia question arose in my head.
How do you answer your wife, Asher ?
A : I was thinking about how happy I’ve been for the last two years.
B : I think you look sexy.
C : You’ll always be beautiful in my eyes, no matter how your body changes as you carry our blessing.
“ Stop terrifying the man, Brooke . We’re ready for you guys outside.” Marie saved me as she wrapped her arm around Brooke’s waist and led her outside to the front of the house. I let out a relieved breath.
“ This is not over,” Brooke warned. She pointed a finger at me, and I smiled and made a heart with my hands.
“ Come on, Brooke . Let’s find out what kind of sibling Anne will have.” Marie was a master at calming Brooke down, especially when she went on a threatening spree.
“ Whatever the sibling is, I just know it has the father’s big head,” she mumbled, and I stood, shocked. Jax laughed as he slapped my back, struggling to catch his breath.
“ Why am I being insulted?” I asked him softly, and he continued laughing before taking a deep breath and shaking his head.
“ You took too long telling her she doesn’t look fat,” he said, and I was flabbergasted.
My wife was mean when pregnant. Jax snorted, and his beer came out of his nose. I looked at him, disgusted, but he didn’t seem bothered as he continued laughing.
“ Now that I look at it, you do have a big head!”
“ Go clean yourself up,” I gritted as I pushed past him and joined my family out on the porch. Our friends had honored the invite to our baby shower and showed up with a whole lot of gifts.
“ Are you guys ready to find out what you’re having?” Marie , the emcee of our baby shower, asked excitedly as she clapped her hands. Brooke nervously grabbed my hand and pressed herself against me.
Even though she could be mean, I knew she didn’t hate me. She was scared, but I was there with her. She wouldn’t have to spend a day of her pregnancy alone.
“ Yeah , where are the balloons?” Brooke asked as she looked around the front lawn and at our guests. Marie laughed and waved her hands.
“ That is so old news; we do things in style here.” Just in time, we could hear the sirens ring, and I looked at my team, wondering who in the world authorized a fire engine to be used for the baby shower.
The bright red vehicle parked in front of our home, and my predecessor climbed out with a wide grin on his face.
“ Come , come!” Marie called for us to approach the vehicle, telling us that we shouldn’t be nervous.
“ I’m nervous.” Brooke’s brown eyes met mine, and I smiled as I leaned down and pressed my lips on hers.
“ I’m here for us,” I assured her, and she smiled, nodding. She placed her hands over mine, and we held the fire hose.
“ Alright , guys, give us a countdown,” Marie instructed as she raised her hand; they all counted from five, and Brooke alternated between smiling and breathing exercises. “ Three . Two . One !”
We pulled on the lever, and the water started to come out, clear at first, and then blue liquid appeared. Brooke screamed as she let go of the hose and hugged me.
“ It’s a boy!” she cried in my neck, and I picked her up from the ground, pressing my lips on her face as our friends congratulated us. Anne joined us by our side, and Brady barked as he circled around us. “ You’re having a baby brother!”
Anne smiled as she hugged Brooke and kissed her belly softly. Brooke’s hands were shaking excitedly, and I gathered them in mine as I kissed her knuckles.
“ Can we name our son Brandon ?” I asked her, and she gasped before her lips quivered, and she nodded and pressed her forehead against my chest.
“ Thank you,” she whimpered, and I shook my head and pressed our noses together.
“ No . Thank you, Brooke .”
“ I love you so much,” she smiled as she held my face and stood on her toes to kiss my chin.
“ I love you—” It felt like Brooke was snatched out of my arms as Jax picked her up and shouted about how he would be an uncle once again.
“ Put me down!” she screamed, and he shook his head as he carried her around the yard.
“ Uncle Jax is weird,” Anne said as she wrapped her arm around my waist, and I agreed. “ But his money makes up for it.”
“ You’re not wrong about that,” I laughed as we walked over to save my wife from the crazy, rich man.
I was going to love this woman through all seasons because she loved me through mine.
The End.