Bonus Epilogue #2
With each pronouncement, I relaxed a degree, then squeezed his hand and let go, needing him to focus completely on the road.
“Breathe,” he said.
I made a point of taking in a slow, deep breath, feeling my system calm a little more. When I looked at Lila again, her eyes were closed. She’d fallen back to sleep.
As I watched the rise and fall of her sweet chest, I reminded myself the nursery decor wasn’t important. A healthy baby was everything. And we’d somehow come out with exactly that in the end.
Chance
I pulled into our garage, killed the engine, and acknowledged my profound relief.
How many times in the past two weeks had I parked here alone, scared, lonely, and unsure?
That was behind us. My girls were all home now.
“She’s still asleep,” Rowan whispered from the backseat, sounding awed and thankful.
Before getting out, I sent Sam a quick two-word text as promised.
Chance: We’re here.
I climbed out, closed the door gently, and glanced at Sam’s reply.
Sam: Everything’s ready!
A smile crept across my face. Rowan had no idea what we’d pulled off. She was about to find out. I couldn’t wait to see her beautiful face.
I opened the back door and helped Rowan detach the carrier from the car seat, showing her the release.
“Hey, princess,” I said as I lifted Lila, and her eyes cracked open.
Rowan climbed out this side of the car and stood, peering down at our daughter as well. I put my arm around my wife and drew her into my side.
“Welcome home, Lila Rose,” I said.
Rowan took my hand, and the three of us went inside together.
“No Sam?” Rowan asked in the kitchen. “Is she still at work?”
“She was supposed to be done a few minutes ago, but maybe something came up.” I was pretty sure she was waiting for us in the nursery. I set the carrier on the floor, unbuckled Lila, and picked her up. “Let’s get you two upstairs so you can feed her and rest.”
“She’s rooting again,” Rowan said, running her fingers over Lila’s soft cheek. “She doesn’t even care about this huge event of coming home for the first time.” She grinned tiredly.
“We’ll have to tell her about it someday.” Taking her hand again, I tugged her toward the stairs. “Nursing and naps.”
“Mmm,” she said quietly, following me up.
The nursery door was closed, supporting my suspicions about Sam. I let Rowan go ahead of me.
When she opened the door, Sam popped up out of the glider and whisper-exclaimed, “Surprise!”
Rowan’s mouth fell open, and she pressed a hand to her chest as her gaze went from Sam to the room to me and back. “What?” She pulled Sam into a hug as she continued to take in the room. “What did you guys do?”
By the end of the question, her voice went squeaky with emotion.
“Do you like it?” Sam asked. “If you don’t, we can start over.”
The high-pitched sound Rowan let out could only be described as wonder, disbelief, and love.
With Lila in one hand, I put my other around my wife as Sam focused in on her baby sister.
“Can I hold her, Dad?”
I kissed the top of Sam’s head and handed over the bundle of baby.
“You guys,” Rowan said. “How did you do this?” She turned in a slow circle, taking in every side of the fully decorated nursery, her eyes big and incredulous. “It’s beautiful and perfect.”
“We’ve been a little busy,” I said with a laugh. “Sam’s been a rock star, working on it even when I’m not home.”
“The mural…” Rowan went up to the two-wall painting. “Is it…? No way did you get Lexie…”
“We got Lexie,” Sam said proudly.
“Would you look at this?” Rowan said to me, spinning again to take it all in.
I looked at the room through her eyes, as if I hadn’t seen it before. It’d turned out even better than I’d hoped.
The plain walls were a pale lavender. The two Lexie North, Holden’s sister-in-law, had painted for us, squeezing us in as a special favor, were covered with purple-gray tree trunks and branches dipping down toward the ground with leaves in lavenders, pinks, and white.
Greenery and flowers in all shades of purple rose up from the ground, making the room look like a misty, magical forest.
On the plain walls were a series of prints in lavender and sea-foam green, of flowers and sayings about baby girls.
The crib was a light maple wood that matched the changing table and glider, with lavender bedding.
The room that had once been Sam’s was now a cozy baby haven with no detail left to chance.
“I can’t even…” Rowan said, tracing her fingers over the leaves on the wall.
“Do you recognize the color scheme?” Sam asked her.
With damp eyes, Rowan nodded. “It’s the blanket I made.”
“Since you couldn’t decide on a color scheme, we used that,” Sam said. “I hope it’s okay.”
“It’s perfect. Stunning.” Rowan went to the side of the crib, where we’d draped the handmade blanket she’d spent so many hours knitting. “The room,” she clarified. “The blanket is imperfect in a dozen places.” She laughed.
“Stitched with so much love,” I said.
Rowan nodded and came toward Sam, Lila, and me, her arms outstretched. “Family hug.”
“Our first one,” Sam said as Rowan put an arm around both of us, and we all gently surrounded our newest member.
“First of many,” I said, emotion rising in my own throat as I held on to these three girls who were my everything. “I love you all.” I swallowed hard, my heart overflowing with gratitude and love.
“Me too,” Rowan said. “Love you both.”
“Samesies,” Sam said, grinning. She pulled out of the hug enough to press a gentle finger to her baby sister’s nose. “Love you always, little sister.”
I met Rowan’s gaze. Without words, our eyes conveyed so much.
We were lucky and loved and proud of our daughters.
I, for one, couldn’t wait to watch a close relationship bloom between them.
And I couldn’t imagine how I could love this woman who’d blessed me with such a beautiful little miracle any more than I did at this moment.
Lila let out a halfhearted squall, a precursor, we’d found out, to louder, more insistent ones if we didn’t get right on feeding her.
As if sharing my thoughts, Rowan straightened and headed for the glider.
“Dinnertime,” I said to Sam.
Lila’s next cry was indeed louder and meant business.
“Zero to a hundred in, what, ten seconds flat?” I said, handing the nursing pillow to Rowan and pulling a super-soft sea-foam green blanket over her.
“Okay then, Miss Thing,” Sam said as she carried Lila to Rowan. “I guess we all know who’s boss around here now.”
My eyes met Rowan’s, as I remembered all the times she’d taunted me by calling me her boss, before we’d given in to our feelings and made a go of it. I was pretty sure she was thinking about that too, judging by the loving, lighthearted look in her pretty eyes.
Rustling Sam’s hair, my gaze still on Rowan’s, I said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Thanks for reading Single Dads of Dragonfly Lake Books 1-3! I hope you loved Max and Harper, Ben and Emerson, and Chance and Rowan.