Epilogue
Five Years Later…
“ B ut I love him, Daddy,” Sammy, his baby girl and the reason why he was struggling not to smile, mumbled sadly as her bottom lip trembled and-
Forced him to reach up and rub the bridge of his nose to hide his smile when she got distracted by the small puppy squirming in her arms and leaned down to press baby kisses against the top of his small head while she whispered, “Shhh, not while I use my cuteness on Daddy to get him to let me keep you.”
“Sammy,” Quinn said, feeling his lips twitch when she countered with, “Daddy,” which was immediately followed by more baby kisses pressed against the top of the small golden retriever’s head.
“We talked about this,” he said, dropping his hand away even as he couldn’t help but wonder how she’d managed to get her hands on another puppy.
When she didn’t say anything, mostly because she was still pressing baby kisses against the top of the puppy’s head, Quinn glanced to his left to find his baby boy glaring at his twin sister.
God, that kid loved to glare.
He definitely got that from his mother, Quinn decided as he glanced back at his baby girl and-
Where the hell did the puppy go? Quinn couldn’t help but wonder as he narrowed his eyes on his baby girl, who was doing her best to appear innocent and-
“What puppy, Daddy?” Sammy asked before he could say anything, blinking up at him while he stood there, watching her for another minute before he slowly took in the large living room of the mock eighteenth-century Victorian mansion that they finished building this morning, looking for the small golden retriever puppy only to narrow his eyes when he spotted the two large bastards standing in the foyer.
When his father saw him, he leaned down and pressed baby kisses against the top of Jayden’s head while he kept his gaze locked on Quinn, a triumphant gleam in his eyes when Quinn’s youngest son released a little sigh in his sleep.
For a moment, Quinn simply stood there, glaring at the large bastard while he continued pressing baby kisses against the top of Jayden’s head before he slowly took in the black baby carrier that his father had custom-made with the words “Grandpa’s BFF” printed in baby blue on the front.
Jaw clenching, he met his father’s triumphant gaze before he looked to the left to find a matching expression on his father-in-law’s face while he pressed baby kisses against the top of Jenna’s little head as she released a sleepy little sigh that matched her twin brother’s.
Quinn glared at his father-in-law for another minute before he took in the black baby carrier he had custom-made with the words “Grandpa’s Baby Girl” printed across the front.
Jaw clenching, he met his father-in-law’s triumphant gaze and mouthed, “Baby thieving bastards,” making his father-in-law’s lips twitch as the bastard continued pressing baby kisses against the top of Quinn’s baby girl’s head.
He-
“I love you, too,” came the conspiratorial whisper that drew his attention back to Sammy and-
Where the hell did she get a second dog? Quinn found himself wondering, watching as his baby girl hugged the puppies against her chest as she alternated pressing baby kisses to each of their furry little heads.
He glanced to his left to find Justin narrowing his eyes on his twin sister.
“Sammy,” Quinn said, looking back at his baby girl only to sigh as he gestured to the puppies in her arms. “Why?”
“Because they need me, Daddy,” she said, nodding solemnly only to pause between nods to kiss each puppy.
“They need to go back to their mommy,” Quinn said, even as he couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to explain this to the neighbors, who had been really fucking understanding up to this point about his daughter’s kidnapping ways.
“But I need to train them, Daddy,” Sammy said with a look of determination that reminded him so much of her mother. God, she was going to be a handful, Quinn thought, unable to help but smile.
“For what?” he asked as he reached down and plucked one of the puppies
“World domination,” Sammy said with a firm nod and-
Definitely going to be a handful, Quinn thought as he moved to take one of the puppies from her only to watch as she narrowed her eyes on the move and stepped back, giving the puppy baby kisses as she moved.
She didn’t say anything else, but then again, there was no need to, not when he knew how this would end.
He watched as Sammy came to a stop between her grandfathers and-
“God, you’re both pathetic,” Quinn said, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
“Never said we weren’t,” his father said as Quinn resigned himself to stopping by his father’s house after dinner to get the kids when he heard the betraying bastard whisper, “Run!”
He didn’t have to look up to know that the twins had made a run for it, not when they knew that their grandmothers were home waiting to spoil them.
Not that he could blame them, Quinn thought, dropping his hand away in time to see the back of Justin’s “Bradford Heritage Homes” tee-shirt disappear around the corner.
Grabbing his iPad off the mantel, Quinn went over the rest of the final checklist before he made his way outside, locking the door behind him before he headed for his SUV. Twenty minutes later, he was pulling onto Blackwood Manor’s cobblestone driveway and parking behind his wife’s car.
Grabbing his iPad, he climbed out of the SUV and found himself staring at Blackwood Manor, still amazed after all these years at how incredibly beautiful it turned out. Dylan’s designs had been amazing, but this…
He still didn’t know how they managed to pull it off.
Then again, their fathers might have had something to do with it.
After her father found out that she bought Blackwood Manor, her father showed up with his father in tow, ready to spank her ass only to end up getting distracted as soon as they stepped through the front door. Within the hour, they were taking charge and by the end of the week, they were hooked.
Every day, they showed up with the rest of the men, working their asses off and looking happier than he’d ever seen them before.
By the time Blackwood Manor was done, they’d officially come out of retirement and were trying to decide which one of Dylan’s designs to start with first. They’d started Bradford Heritage Homes together and joined it with B.T. Construction.
They’d considered selling it after it was done, but this was Dylan’s baby, so they’d sold the house that he’d built for Jenn instead for an obscene profit and moved in just in time for the twins to be born.
Dylan worked mostly from home, but every now and then, she liked to take over his trailer with the kids.
He looked forward to those days, Quinn thought as he made his way inside.
He dropped the keys on the table by the door and headed up the grand staircase that had taken them two months to get right and made his way down the long hallway lined with black wainscoting until he came to the door at the end of the hallway and-
“I’m afraid we have a problem,” came the words that had his lips pulling up into a grin as he closed their bedroom door behind him, more than ready to find out what the little pain in the ass was up to now.
Thank you for reading Neighbor from Hell’s first Novelette. I hope you enjoyed Dylan and Quinn’s story :)