Epilogue
On Friday morning at ten o’clock, the Cappuano and Armstrong families appeared before Family Court Judge Denton Seawall to officially complete the adoptions of Elijah, Aubrey and Alden.
While Scotty was thrilled to have a second day off that week, he was more thrilled to have siblings he got to keep forever.
“Mr. President, Mrs. Cappuano and Scotty,” Judge Seawall said, “it is my great honor to finalize the adoptions of Elijah, Aubrey and Alden Armstrong into your loving family. I hope you all will have many years of great happiness together as you go forward.” He brought down his gavel. “This matter is concluded.”
Sam hadn’t expected to cry, but after the heartbreaking infertility battles of the past, she couldn’t contain the emotional reaction to becoming a mother to four beautiful kids who could never be taken away from them.
As she hugged each of them, she said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever higher power had decided she was good enough to be their mother and vowed to love and protect them for the rest of her life.
“Congratulations,” her daughter-in-law, Candace, said. “Elijah is thrilled to have this done.”
“We’re thrilled, too.”
Nick’s communications team had prepared a release to announce the news of the adoptions that would go live as soon as he gave the go-ahead. “Are we good to release the statement?” he asked after they’d posed for photos with the judge.
Elijah had been tasked with sending one of the photos to Christina to accompany the news.
“Good to go,” Eli said after he sent the text.
Nick then sent a text to Christina to release the statement as he and Sam exhaled a collective sigh of relief that nothing had happened at the last minute to derail their plans.
They’d been fending off efforts by the twins’ maternal grandparents, aunt and uncle to get at their money through the kids for as long as they’d lived together.
To know that was now over was a huge load off their minds.
They returned to the White House for a celebratory lunch in the East Room with their extended family, including Tracy, Ethan, Abby, Angela, Jack, Ella, Celia, Brenda, Shelby, Noah and Maisie as well as Nick’s dad, Leo, his wife, Stacy, and their sons, Brock and Brayden.
Mike had been invited but hadn’t come. Tracy said she hadn’t talked to him in days, and Angela said he hadn’t had much to say to her either.
They’d let the twins choose the menu, which was how they’d ended up dining on chicken tenders, grilled cheese, french fries and milkshakes.
It was the best lunch Sam and Nick had ever had.
They were enjoying ice cream sundaes for dessert when Christina ducked into the room to whisper in Nick’s ear. He went completely rigid, which put Sam on alert for trouble.
“What’s wrong?”
“The twins’ grandparents are reacting—badly—to the news of their adoption. They’re accusing us of a craven effort to control the billions of dollars their parents left them.”
“What?” Elijah said. “Did I just hear you say…”
“You heard me right,” Nick said.
“Could I make a statement to put a stop to this once and for all?” Eli asked.
Sam had never seen the young man look so furious. She placed a hand on Nick’s arm. “Let him. It needs to come from him.”
“Are you sure?” Nick asked Eli.
“Never been surer in my life.”
“We’ll go with you,” Sam said.
She whispered to Tracy and Angela to tell them what was going on and asked them to take the twins back to the residence when they were done with their ice cream.
“We’ve got them,” Tracy said.
Sam, Nick, Eli and Candace told the kids they’d meet them upstairs in a few minutes and walked to the briefing room, where Christina waited for them with the press, who’d been told the president would be making a statement.
“Elijah will handle the statement,” Nick told her.
“Do you want me to introduce him, Mr. President?”
“I’ll do it,” Nick said, “but thank you.”
“Of course.”
She stepped aside to allow Nick to move toward the podium.
“Today has been one of the happiest days of my life and Sam’s,” Nick said.
“With the formal adoptions of Elijah, Alden and Aubrey, our family is now complete in a way we never dreamed possible. We’re well aware that two extraordinary people had to die in the most horrific, senseless crime to make this day possible for us.
Jameson and Cleo Armstrong are very present in all our lives and will remain so going forward.
Sam and I are delighted to stand by Elijah’s side as he completes his education at Princeton and begins married life with his wife, Candace, and to be given the huge honor of helping to raise Aubrey and Alden.
We love them with all our hearts and are the proudest parents in the world today to have four extraordinary children and an exceptional daughter-in-law to love for the rest of our lives.
I’m pleased to introduce for the first time as my son, Elijah Armstrong-Cappuano. ”
Sam’s heart had never felt bigger in her chest than it did as she heard Nick introduce Eli as his son.
Elijah stepped before the ravenous White House press corps, showing none of the nerves that must’ve been raging inside him. His composure made her so proud.
“Today, my brother, sister and I officially became members of the family that has wrapped their loving arms around us for every minute of the last six months since our parents were senselessly murdered.
From that first horrible night, Sam and Nick and their extraordinary son, Scotty, stepped up for my precious brother and sister, opening their home and their hearts to two traumatized young children at the worst moment of their lives.
“All that love and support was extended to me, as well, and when it came time to make the most important decision of my life about who would be charged with helping me raise the twins while I finished college and started my career, I never hesitated to leave them exactly where they were, surrounded by the love of an extended family who’ve made it possible for the three of us to survive the unthinkable loss of parents we adored.
“I’m lucky to still have my mother in my life, in addition to my Cappuano family, and while I would’ve preferred to keep the twins’ maternal family in their lives, they very quickly showed me their true motivations.
As they waged a public battle to upend the clear wishes of our parents that I serve as the twins’ legal guardian, they’ve never once inquired about the children’s well-being.
It’s no secret that my father, Jameson Armstrong, was an incredibly successful businessman or that my siblings and I inherited an extensive estate after our parents’ deaths.
The motives of the twins’ maternal relatives have always been clear.
They’re after one thing and one thing only with this relentless desire to gain custody of my brother and sister—they want to get their hands on the money, especially since their once-profitable business enterprises have failed.
“I would ask them at this juncture to consider the trauma their grandchildren have endured following the loss of our parents and to leave us alone going forward. We’ve made our choice, and we’re honored and delighted to be official members of the Cappuano family as of today.
We’ll have nothing else to say about this matter now or ever. Thank you.”
The reporters shouted questions at Eli as he left the room with Sam, Nick and Candace.
His wife embraced him the second they were behind a closed door. “That was perfect,” she said.
“Yes, it was,” Nick said.
“I can’t believe you came up with that on the fly,” Sam said.
“In a way, I’ve been preparing to say that for six months now. I was ready.”
“You did great,” Sam said.
“Shall we rejoin the celebration already in progress?” Nick asked.
“Let’s go,” Eli said with a smile. “That ice cream won’t eat itself.”
The next morning, Sam and Nick left the twins and Scotty in the capable hands of Eli and Candace for the night and were conveyed by motorcade to Nick’s cabin in Virginia, where they’d be treated to facials and a couple’s massage.
The Secret Service had suggested the cabin as the easiest way to achieve the goal of a “spa weekend” without having to shut down an entire facility.
The aestheticians and massage therapists had been hired by Sam’s chief of staff, Lilia Van Nostrand, and had signed iron-clad NDAs to protect their privacy.
“I’ve never had a facial,” Sam told the woman who’d been assigned to her.
“Neither have I,” Nick said.
“You’re in for a treat.”
“This is delightful,” Sam said an hour later. “We need to do this more often.”
“We need to do a lot of things more often,” her husband said from the chair next to hers.
The two women giggled at his comment.
“Don’t forget those NDAs,” Sam said.
“We’d never say a word, ma’am. Don’t worry.”
“She’s trained to be suspicious by nature,” Nick said, making all of them laugh.
After the facials, they moved to massage tables that’d been set up next to the fireplace, where Nick had built a nice fire earlier. They were experiencing an April cold snap that had the region on edge about the impact on the cherry blossoms that were set to bloom soon.
“I’ve never been more relaxed,” Sam said as the therapists kneaded the tension from her muscles while working around Sam and Nick’s joined hands across the gap between their tables.
“Same. This was the best idea you’ve ever had.”
At the end of the massages, they waited for the therapists to depart.
Nick waggled his brows at her and whispered, “I want you when you’re all greasy.”
“Stop.”
“Never.”
The door to the cabin closed, and they got up slowly, stretching muscles that’d been reduced to jelly. “God, that felt good.”
“So good. We need to invite them over again soon.” He sat on the edge of the massage table in all his glory. “Get over here to see me. I’ve missed you terribly.”
“I was right here!”
“Too far from me.”
“You’re ridiculous, Mr. President.”
“So you like to tell me.”
She stepped between his spread legs.
He wrapped her up in his fragrant embrace. “You’re all naked and slippery.”
She ran her hands over his slick back. “So are you.”
“Do you think one of these tables can hold both of us?”
“Do we want to find out the hard way if they can’t?”
“Probably not. Come with me, love.”
“Where’re we going?”
“Not far at all.” He grabbed the sheet off his bed, spread it on the rug next to the fireplace and then helped her down next to him. Then he tugged the blanket off his bed over them. “Warm enough?”
She snuggled into his cozy embrace. “Mmm. Perfect.”
He ran his hand over her slippery skin. “You’re the sexiest mom of four I’ve ever met.”
She laughed. They’d worked their four kids into almost every conversation they’d had in the last eventful week as his new mental health awareness program had gone public with great fanfare and had helped to change the conversation that’d blown up after Eli’s statement to the press.
The grandparents weren’t going quietly, but they’d all agreed to ignore them going forward.
“A mom of four,” Sam said, still incredulous at the twists and turns that’d led them to their destiny.
“Thank you for our beautiful family.”
“Thank you. None of it happens without you.”
“None of it happens without us.”
“Remember the first time we ever spent a night here, and we were supposed to keep our distance from each other?”
“That was torturous. I wanted you so bad.”
“I wanted you just as much. I still do.”
He effortlessly arranged her on top of him and his impressive erection.
“What’ve I told you about handling me like a side of beef?” she asked with a huff of exasperation.
“That you love it and want me to do it more?”
She slapped his shoulder. “That’s not what I’ve said.”
He laughed as he held her in place while he pressed against her. “Let’s not waste valuable time fighting, babe.”
“We’re not fighting. We’re discussing your propensity to treat me like a side of beef.”
“Sexiest side of beef I’ve ever handled.”
“That’s not helping your cause.”
“How about this, then?” He lifted her just enough to enter her in one deep thrust that had her head falling back in surrender. “Does that help?”
“Yes,” she said on a gasp. “Let’s talk about that instead.”
“My favorite subject.”
Sam took control, loving the way his gorgeous hazel eyes heated at the sight of her, shiny with massage oil and lit by the glow of the fire.
“My very own goddess.”
“Yes, that’s me.”
He let his arms fall over his head. “Have your way with me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
“I won’t mind at all.”
The next afternoon, they were on their way home after a blissful, relaxing getaway when Sam received a call from Gonzo.
“Hey,” he said, “sorry to bug you when you’re off, but I thought you’d want to know that Mike Hogan has been arrested.”
Turn the page for an exclusive first look at Chapter 1 of ACRIMONIOUS, book one in Marie’s brand new Remington Family Law Series, coming in March! At the end of the chapter, click on the link to preorder!