Epilogue
Oakley
ONE YEAR LATER
“You’re squishing me,” I murmured, patting Rome’s bare shoulder.
He let out a groan, gently pulled himself out of me, and rolled over, landing beside me. “Sorry, babydoll. You killed me.”
I snorted and moved his arms around until I could snuggle into his side with my head on his shoulder. I pressed a kiss to his chest and hummed in contentment. “I think you killed me too.”
He snorted. “Ugh. How are we gonna make it to the party?”
“We have time.”
“Hun, the party starts in ten minutes.”
My head shot up, and I looked for the clock we had on my nightstand. “Holy shit. Oh my Scales, how were we, you know, so long?”
“Making love?”
“Not the point, babe. Get up. Get up, get up, get up.” I gave him a tiny push so I could climb off the bed and run for the shower. “Come on, slowpoke! We gotta shower and get up there, and I still have to do my makeup!”
Roman chuckled, groaned, and slowly—way too slowly for how late we already were—got off the bed and followed me into the shower.
I should’ve known getting Roman in the shower with me when we were in a hurry was a bad idea. He wouldn’t stop touching me and kissing me, and eventually I gave in and let him jerk us both off in the shower.
Okay, so maybe I couldn’t keep my hands off of him, either, but I wasn’t going to admit to anything.
But now we were an hour late.
I couldn’t really complain because I felt amazing and relaxed and loved and seen.
The second I stepped onto the tower’s roof, I heard a loud, “Oak!” Two seconds later, a small body slammed into me.
I chuckled and hugged Reef back, saying, “What’s up, little bro?”
The young teenager smiled up at me, looking embarrassed by his display of affection.
Sometimes he acted a lot younger than his age—obviously due to the trauma the poor baby endured his entire life until last year—but I knew he was also a little aware of it.
He always got embarrassed when he realized he did something like…
run across the roof to hug his older sibling.
Since I didn’t want him to feel self-conscious, I pulled him into another hug, kissing the top of his head as I whispered, “I missed you too, Reef, and I’m so happy to see you.”
I’d seen him yesterday, but the statement was true. I seriously loved having younger siblings, and I loved that we lived close enough to visit each other every day.
When he pulled away this time, his cheeks were red, but he was smiling, so I called it a win.
Roman ruffled the kid’s hair and asked, “Where’s your dad?”
Reef waved toward the food table. “Dad’s bugging Daddo while Daddo cooks veggie kabobs on the grill. I thought Daddo was going to kick Dad off the roof a little while ago.”
That made both me and Rome snort, and I said, “That sounds about right. Did you eat yet?”
Reef shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
That made me grin, and I gestured for him to lead the way. “Where are our sisters?”
“Dad’s carrying Blossom around even though she wants to go to the pool, and Isidore’s already swimming with a bunch of our cousins. Do you guys wanna swim with me later?”
I glanced at Rome, and he gave a smiling nod, so I said, “Yeah, bud, we’d like that.”
Nearly a year ago, Dad and Daddo opened up the den’s community floor—it had a huge pool, a workout area, a banquet hall, a games room, and a ton of other things. It was a floor made for community, made for Dad’s den to come together, hang out, and become a true family.
The day he’d opened it, both Dad and Roman had been really emotional, remembering their old den before my mom ruined it all and got most of them killed.
I was learning not to feel guilty about that since I knew deep down it wasn’t my fault. But sometimes it was hard to remember it.
So the community floor was open, and now, we had people using it all the time. Bel, Remi, Lanche, Dain, Jed, Beshiro, Phae, Keryth, and everyone else, even the Ellwoods, came to the tower to use it and to see everyone.
To get to know one another and become a strong community. A stronger family.
And today, Dad and Daddo were hosting a huge family party, using the roof and the community floor so everyone could fit.
It was something I’d been looking forward to since we usually got together at the Ellwoods’ place. It was really nice having another space to hang out together in.
Hours later, Reef and the other kids had worn Rome and me out, so we climbed out of the pool—ignoring all the boos coming from the kids—and found a lounge chair big enough for us both.
Keryth and Anton were in the chair beside us because they’d jumped out a few minutes before us. I honestly couldn’t blame them.
“Who knew how tiring that’d be?” Ker said, leaning his head back against Anton’s chest.
“Holy shit,” I panted out. “I can’t believe how many times they wanted to play Marco Polo. I can barely catch my breath.”
Mostly from laughing so hard for so long—that game was hilarious, especially when little Salina jumped in with a huge beach ball and proceeded to throw it at anyone playing Marco since their eyes were closed. Somehow, she had perfect aim every time, knocking them right in the head.
She was a riot, and I had no idea how any of the Ellwoods could keep up with the little half witch.
Rome chuckled and kissed the side of my head since I was leaning against his chest in the chair. “Same here, babe.”
Keryth stretched and stood, asking Rome and me, “Do you guys want some water? I’m dying of thirst.”
“Yes,” I said desperately. “Please.”
Ker nodded, poked me in the cheek for some reason, pulled Anton to his feet, and started to walk away. “Be back in a minute.”
“Thanks, babes.”
Rome and I laced our fingers together, watching the kids race around the pool.
I said, “Rome?”
“Yeah, babydoll?”
“Do you… do you think you want to have kids someday?”
He was quiet for a long time before he hugged his arms around me and kissed my hair again. “Yeah, I’d really like that.” He squeezed me tighter. “But I’d like to spend a few years enjoying just the two of us first, if that’s okay?”
My body relaxed, and I melted into him. “Yeah, I like the sound of that.” I watched Salina use a spell to aim perfectly at her older brother’s head—she was so skilled already that I hadn’t even realized she was using magic when I was in the water. She nearly knocked the poor witch off his feet.
I winced and added, “Um… but maybe when we adopt kids we should, uh, avoid any witches.”
That made Roman crack up. “Deal.”
I laughed and snuggled in, happy and content in my viramore’s arms, surrounded by my wonderful, huge, amazing, magical, and seriously wild family.
Thank you so much for reading Oak and Rome’s story. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it!
This series is over, but there’s still so much more to explore in the Brinnswick world.
We’re going back to Brinnswick for a few books to finish Zaos and Hugo’s story in The Human’s Heart.
And then we’ll be back in Gauhala for The Vampires of Gauhala… Phaeron, Beshiro, Jed, Tray, and maybe even another vamp will be getting their own love stories. First up is Beshiro in The Hunter & His Vampire.