Epilogue
Early on Sunday morning, Sam, the kids and Skippy walked out to meet Marine One as it delivered Nick to the White House lawn.
She tried to ignore the ever-present cameras pointing at them to capture the moment for posterity.
After a difficult week, she hoped the images would show the world how much his family loved him.
The Littles were delirious with excitement as they ran toward him, nearly tripping over Skippy, who was right in the middle of the madness. Scotty had actually set an alarm so he could get up early to be there to greet his dad.
Nick dropped his bags on the grass and bent to hug the twins as Skippy danced around them, waiting for her turn to say hello.
Sam and Scotty brought up the rear, laughing at how Skippy managed to get a full lick across Nick’s face in the flash of an instant.
“That’s her way of saying welcome home, Dad,” Scotty said as Skippy turned her attention back to him.
“It was a wet one,” Nick said, wiping a sleeve across his face before he hugged Sam.
She held on tight to her love. “Welcome back to the madness.”
“So happy to be home.”
“We’re so happy to have you.”
“Break it up, you two,” Scotty said. “Hungry children must be fed.”
Nick kept an arm around Sam as he bopped his son on the head. “Make yourself useful and grab my bags.”
“I see how it is.”
Scotty made a big show out of picking up the two small bags and carrying them inside while muttering about “child labor laws.”
In the residence, they sat down to the breakfast Sam had planned with the staff the day before to catch up on the last few days apart. Nick listened to every story the twins wanted to tell him about the goings-on in first grade and grilled Scotty about the goal he’d scored at hockey practice.
“Don’t get too excited. It was just a practice goal.”
“Those lead to goals that count.”
After they’d eaten, Sam said, “Everyone needs to get cleaned up and dressed for Maisie’s baptism in the clothes we picked out last night.”
The minute the kids were gone, Nick tugged Sam into his lap and kissed her with days’ worth of pent-up desire.
“Now that’s what I needed,” he said several minutes later.
“Me, too. Nothing is right when you’re not here.”
“All I want, the whole time I’m gone, is to get home to you guys.”
They held each other for a long time until Sam glanced at the clock on the stove. “We’ve got to get changed, Godfather.”
“Okay, Godmother, but I’ll be having unholy thoughts about bedtime while I’m in church.”
“Nick! Stop it.”
He laughed as he followed her into their room.
“What goes on at a baptism?” Alden asked forty minutes later when they were in The Beast on the way to church.
“They dip the baby’s head in water,” Scotty said, “and declare her a human.”
“That’s not exactly it,” Nick said. “They absolve the baby of original sin in the eyes of the church.”
“What’s original sin?” Aubrey asked.
“The sins you’re born with,” Nick said.
“How can a baby be born already being a sinner?” Scotty asked. “What kind of trouble can they possibly get into inside their mother?”
“This is a wonderful can of worms you’ve opened, my love,” Sam said, smiling at Nick.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Hopefully, the priest will explain it better than I did,” Nick said.
Scotty snorted with laughter. “You guys are a red-hot mess.”
“Oh, we know,” Sam said. “We have a teenager who tells us that every day.”
“It’s okay. You’re our mess.”
Sam fanned her face dramatically. “Isn’t he just the sweetest boy ever?”
Nick laughed. “God, how I missed you people while I was gone. No one entertains me the way you guys do.”
“We missed you, too, Daddy,” Aubrey said sweetly.
Nick melted when she called him that. He reached out a hand to her, and she held on tight to him.
“Do you think my other daddy minds if I call you that?” Aubrey asked softly.
“I think he knows how much you’ll always love him, but he’d want you to have a daddy here with you as well as him in heaven. You can love us both if you want to.”
“I want to.”
“So do I,” Alden said.
“And you’re Mommy,” Aubrey said to Sam as Alden nodded.
“I’d love to be Mommy,” Sam said over a huge lump in her throat. “We love you both so very much.”
“We love you, too,” Alden said.
And just that simply, it was settled.
Sam glanced at Nick, who placed his free hand over his heart.
Baby Maisie’s big day was a delightful celebration of a new life and the Hill family, made complete by their little girl.
“Everything was beautiful as always, Tink,” Sam said when she sat next to Shelby on the sofa in the family room of the Hills’ stunning new home after everyone else had left.
They’d moved to a much larger home with enhanced security after their townhouse had been breached by criminals seeking retribution against Avery, who’d arrested them years prior.
For a time, pregnant Shelby and Noah had been held hostage.
Maisie was asleep in her godmother’s arms, and the twins were playing on the floor with Noah while Nick and Scotty watched the Feds game on TV. “And your place is absolutely gorgeous. You went easy on the pink.”
“Avery says I’m growing up,” Shelby said with a grin.
“Don’t do that. Who’ll I be immature with?”
“Oh, I’m still here for that. Don’t worry.”
“This baby is the sweetest thing since spun sugar,” Sam said, gazing down at Maisie’s perfect little face.
“We’re quite smitten with her.”
“I can see why.”
Avery joined them after having taken a work call. “Jesse Best’s mother has been arrested for trafficking her daughter to a family that had no idea their adoption fee went to a criminal who’d kidnapped and sold her own kid.”
“Good Lord,” Shelby said. “What kind of mother could do such a thing?”
“The kind that cares only about her next fix,” Avery said.
“Jesse looked for his parents for years,” Sam said. “How did the FBI find them so quickly?”
“Apparently, the info they got from the people who raised the sister led them to the mother, who was living under an assumed name,” Avery said.
“Poor Jesse—and poor Jordan,” Sam said. “He went through such a terrible ordeal. Thank goodness he finally found his sister—and all thanks to an idea from my brilliant partner, who suggested he tell his story on some of the bigger true crime podcasts.”
“So that’s how he found her?” Avery asked.
“He’d had an age-progression photo created of what she might look like, which the podcasts publicized to their massive followings. That led to the tip.”
“Wow,” Shelby said. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for your friend.”
“Me, too,” Sam said as another thought occurred to her that she would discuss with Jesse as soon as possible. “Would it be okay if I just stayed here on this very comfy sofa for a week or so?”
Shelby giggled. “My sofa is all yours for as long as you need it.”
“I’m dreading this week with four funerals to attend. I can’t stop thinking about them. They were just doing their jobs when they were taken from their loved ones for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with them.”
“It’s an unimaginable tragedy,” Shelby said.
“What’s the plan for the Russian Embassy?” Avery asked Nick.
“I’ve made it clear to Petrov that if they want to maintain a diplomatic presence here, he needs to express his condolences. Trying the bombers here will go a long way toward appeasing the public. And speaking of work, I need to get home for a briefing at six.”
“But I was planning to spend the week on this sofa with my goddaughter,” Sam said.
Nick waggled his brows. “I’d miss you if you did that, especially after being away for days and days.”
“All right, then,” Sam said dramatically. “I guess I’ll go home with my family, but thank you, Hills, for a beautiful afternoon.”
“Thank you for the honor of being our daughter’s godparents,” Shelby said. “The POTUS and FLOTUS. What a lucky girl she is.”
“We’re just Sam and Nick to her,” Nick said, “and it’s an honor to be her godparents.”
A few minutes later, they were loaded into The Beast for the ride home to the White House.
“Shelby has the best parties,” Aubrey said as she yawned.
“Yes, she sure does,” Sam said.
“That cake was lit,” Scotty added.
“It was so good,” Alden said. “I asked Shelby to bring us some tomorrow, and she said she would.”
“Look at you, working your network to get more cake,” Sam said with a smile.
“What does that mean? Working my network?”
“It means that you want more cake, and you set it up with Shelby to make it happen,” Scotty said.
“What’s that got to do with a network?” Alden asked, furrowing his feathery blond brows.
“The people you know are your network,” Scotty said.
“Whatever. I asked Shelby for more cake, and she’s bringing it.”
“Well done, son,” Nick said.
Alden grinned at him, pleased by his approval.
Sam squeezed Nick’s hand, knowing he felt as delighted as she did to be part of this entertaining family they’d made for themselves.
While the kids ran off to get changed and Nick went to his briefing, Sam took a moment to call Jesse.
“Hey,” he said. “Have you heard the news?”
“I was with Avery Hill when he got the word. I’m so sorry to hear it led back to your mother, Jesse.”
“I always suspected one or both of my parents were involved, but no one would listen back in the day.”
“How are you feeling now that you know where your sister is and how it all went down?”
“Relieved and disgusted in equal parts. I’m told that the FBI showed up at the restaurant where my mother worked and hauled her away, shrieking that it was all a big mistake. I like that for her.”
“It’s the least of what she deserves. How are things with your sister?”
“She’s the same amazing person she was as a kid, and somehow we’ve managed to pick up right where we left off. The bond was immediate.”
“I couldn’t be happier for you.”
“I got to meet her kids last night, which was awesome. I have a niece and a nephew. She goes by Carolyn now. She and her husband, Kane, are going to bring the kids to DC this summer.”
“That’s wonderful.”