Epilogue
Two years later…
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Minari! Happy birthday to you!” The entire Blackmoor family and then some gathered for the first birthday of Moose and Inari’s daughter, Minari Jane Blackmoor.
And, yes, Moose dubbed her Minari Jane every time he talked to her.
She was the spitting image of her father, and Inari loved it.
He was very hands on, surprisingly. When her daughter was born, he didn’t miss a beat when it came to changing diapers, baths, or late-night feedings.
He rubbed Inari’s feet, gave her alone time, and took the baby with him when he left during the day so she could sleep.
Missing all that time with Tiara really made him stand ten toes down on his position as a father when Minari was born.
Tiara struggled for a little while there.
Became resentful and acted out in school.
With Tulla still in the wind, she thought that once Inari had her baby, they would forget about her.
Inari wasn’t going to let those thoughts get the best of her.
Every chance she got, she included Tiara in something, and their bond had only strengthened over time.
She wasn’t just Inari anymore; she was officially ‘Ma’.
Standing over Minari’s three-tier cake, she held her baby girl close and helped her blow out her candle. Cheers, whistles, and lots of clapping ensued around them.
“Yay!” she cheered, slapping her little hands together.
In two years, the family had added even more members, with Coast and Mozzi now the parents of a set of quadruplets.
Two boys, Cove and Ronan, and two girls, Maris and Solenne.
The girls looked just like Rara when she was born.
While Cove and Ronan resembled their mother with Mozzi’s skin tone.
Coast had officially closed shop on her husband and told him they were not having any more, even though he swore they needed to even it out to six.
She wasn’t having it. Between business, maintaining their home, and raising their kids, life was full enough.
While she was extremely grateful for her life, and had been in therapy, learning how to deal with her post pregnancy hormones and emotions, she was content with how things were now.
Mozzi would knock her up every year if he could, but he understood after the four for one that she was worn out.
He couldn’t be mad at that. Together, they’d created a beautiful family.
One that neither of them had ever envisioned for themselves.
“Ahem.” Desiree cleared her throat with her extra dry martini in hand. “I’ll have you all know that I dreamt of fishes last night.”
“Ah, hell nah!” Moose threw his hands up.
“Gran, this is not Soul Food. Please keep that shit to yoself.” Mozzi chewed on a rib and shook his head.
Kong set Neo down for two seconds after giving him a piece of chicken off the grill, and his little feet immediately took off running behind Kyro, Kara, Tiara, Rara, and Sailor.
He was giving everyone a run for the money with the terrible twos.
Smart as a whip, sweet as pie, and cute as a button, he was doted on all the time.
Ayla and Kong were married the year before, and life had been a whirlwind.
Between the construction business booming and her career taking off like a rocket, the two didn’t have time for family like they wanted.
Ayla was ready to slow down so she could bask in her prosperity.
Her YouTube success gained her her very own show on the Food Network and a cover issue for their magazine, where she discussed her journey as a chef and what her future held.
Her spices and cookware were household items now.
People praised Velvet Crack and Midnight Garlic in TikTok recipes, and she was working on her third cookbook.
“Don’t even look this way.” Inari waved a hand in front of herself.
Desiree, Marina, and Bee all turned to Coast and Mozzi.
Nobody was surprised when they turned up pregnant after Rara’s first birthday, but the fact that Coast was carrying quads was damn sure not on anyone’s BINGO card.
Elyse was present, along with Wade, and all of Coast’s siblings too.
A true family affair. With Mozzi’s birth mom being a twin, they were pretty sure multiples stemmed from his side of the gene pool.
Having Elyse around hadn’t been so bad for him either.
“Ain’t no swimmers making it through here.” She adjusted her animal print skirt and tight black top. “I know I’m fit and fine and everything—”
“Girl, hush, ain’t nobody worried about you and those old ass eggs.” Marina took a sip of her spritzer and gained a laugh from the rest of the women.
Elyse was a trip and unfiltered as hell, but she kept it a buck, which was something the Blackmoor family took to heart.
She and Marina had a love/hate relationship from jump, but Mozzi said it was because they were more alike than either of them cared to admit.
Marina and Bee worked together at Haven House, and the kids there had mad respect for each woman for different reasons.
Coast’s mama and her knowledge of the world and different countries was something a lot of those kids never had.
So ,when she talked, they listened. She inspired them and let them know anything was possible.
It was simply a matter of putting your mind to it.
Her first tip to anyone was to get a passport.
People didn’t realize that there were all kinds of ways to get around the world if you had one.
“You wanna talk to me about old eggs?” Elyse hiked a brow, and Marina leaned forward like she was ready to get into round ten with her.
Audiemar sipped his whiskey from his chair, taking in his growing family as they argued over who could possibly be impregnated next.
Moose wanted a son of his own, but he and Inari were taking their time.
Dane was almost off to college, so it was already hard enough for her to start over with Minari to begin with.
She adored her mini me more than anything and couldn’t wait to have more babies when the time was right.
She and Moose hadn’t even gotten married yet, but he proposed to her on her birthday, and they’d set a date.
“I’ve heard excuses from everybody except you two.” Desiree aimed two fingers at Kong and Ayla.
The whole time they’d been on the sidelines, half-smiling and cutting amorous gazes at each other over the noise.
“Oh, my God!” Inari tapped her feet happily and clapped her hands. “Are you pregnant, Lala?”
Glancing over her shoulder at her husband as his arms fell around her in a warm embrace, she grinned.
Kong reached for her stomach and rested his palm there.
She was only ten weeks along, but since it was her second pregnancy, there was already evidence of a bump there as he rocked with her in his arms. Unlike her first pregnancy, this baby came in swinging.
The nausea was coming full force the last few mornings, keeping her in bed longer than she needed to be.
Kong had been so supportive, though. He started his own shift late just to make sure she and the kids were straight.
“We were waiting for the right time,” Ayla revealed. “Y’all are crazy, and it’s always some big ordeal when somebody gets pregnant around here.”
“You see all these damn kids!” Mozzi tried to count, but the ones who could walk wouldn’t stop moving around.
“Long as that shit ain’t contagious.” Coast’s brother, Llyr, picked up his beer and raised the glass bottle. “Congratulations, though.”
He and Zane were not interested in anything tying them down. Those two were dead set on being the cool, single, world traveling uncles there for a good time, but never a long time.
“You just ain’t met her yet.” Mozzi brushed him off.
Coast draped her arms around him and kissed his cheek with a high wattage grin on her face.
Her life was busy, chaotic, and full of surprises.
Yet when she looked around, she wouldn’t change it for the world.
One chance encounter with Mozzi made her member of his family, and that was something she would never take for granted.
She’d gained two additional brothers and sisters plus a bonus dad in the process.
Normalcy, or as close to it as they could get, was finally a reality for them. In the beginning, Mozzi, Moose, and Kong might have carried different names, different scars, and different stories, but in the end, they were, and always would be, the Sons of Audiemar.
The End