Epilogue
EPILOGUE
NATALIE
One year later . . .
“Dance with me.” Maddox took my hand, rescuing me from the group of ladies who’d surrounded me and dragged me into a conversation about water births.
“Yes, please.” I followed him through the crowd, squeezing past clusters of partygoers.
This year’s Holiday Christmas party was packed. If I’d thought last year’s party had been busy, the ballroom was practically bursting at its seams. Probably because it wasn’t on Christmas Eve.
Most of the faces in the crowd were unfamiliar, even though there were plenty of friends and family here too.
Dad and Judy were at the bar. Judy’s cheeks were red and her smile bright. Dad was the designated driver tonight and Judy was into the champagne.
She spotted me and waved just as Violet raced up to them, taking Dad’s hand and pulling him toward the dance floor.
Maddox swung me into his arms, holding me close .
“Who called you?” I asked. He’d stepped away a few minutes ago to answer his phone.
“Cece,” he muttered.
I stiffened. “What did she want?”
“She wants to come up on Monday to see Violet. We’ll see if she actually shows up.”
“I don’t think we should tell Violet.”
“Yeah, I was thinking that too. If Cece shows, it will be a surprise. If she doesn’t, Violet will never know.”
We’d learned our lesson the last time Cece had called and announced she was coming to Montana for a visit.
Our beautiful girl had sat by the front window, watching the driveway for hours and waiting for her mother to show. Finally, worried that something had happened, Maddox had called Cece only to find out she’d changed her plans last minute. She’d given him some excuse about the weather and flying conditions.
I suspected it was because before her flight, Cece had called Violet who’d slipped and told her that I was pregnant.
Maybe ditching Violet was her way of punishing us. Whatever her reasons, Cece hadn’t changed and I doubted she ever would. She came and went whenever it suited her, which wasn’t often. And when she broke Violet’s heart, Maddox and I were there to pick up the pieces.
I leaned into his broad chest, smiling as his hand drifted to the small of my back. The song was a fast one, but the two of us danced to our own rhythm.
There was barely any space to move anyway. This close to midnight, the floor was full of happy, drunken adults.
“Violet’s having fun,” I said, finding her and Dad in the crowd. “And she looks so pretty tonight.”
When we’d gone to a small shop downtown to pick out a dress, I’d let her choose. I’d assumed she’d go with her standard red, but as we’d perused the racks, she’d chosen a velvet green dress that swished at her knees.
Like last year, Hannah had bought her a tiara.
“She does.” Maddox glanced over at his daughter, then bent and kissed my neck. “You look beautiful.”
He’d told me the same countless times tonight. My fitted gray dress molded to my baby bump. The diamond earrings he’d bought me as an early Christmas gift were my only adornment, except for my wedding rings.
Just like we’d decided last year, Maddox and I hadn’t waited.
We’d started this life together without delay and not a day had passed when I’d regretted a single moment.
After Christmas last year, I’d enrolled at Montana State, adjusting my class schedule so I could pick Violet up from school every day. Maddox had given his father and brothers the green light to build his house and the day it was finished, we’d all moved in together.
We’d been dating for six months at that point. The week after we’d moved in, Maddox and I had gotten married. The ceremony had been simple. I’d worn a fitted white gown. He’d opted for a black suit. And with Violet as our flower girl, we’d stood beside the pond in our yard and exchanged vows with our family and close friends watching on.
One week later, I’d realized that the reason my stomach had been in a constant state of tornado hadn’t been because of wedding stress. But because I was pregnant.
When I’d showed him the positive test, Maddox had let out a whoop so loud the ducks in the pond had flown away. We’d talked about a baby—it was just happening sooner than planned.
But we both wanted Violet to have a sibling. I loved being her stepmom, and though a baby might delay my education for a while, I didn’t mind. Someday, I’d be a therapist. In the meantime, I was going to enjoy time with my family.
“Are you having fun?” I asked my husband as we danced.
“Yeah. You?”
I hummed my agreement just as someone bumped into my butt. “Yes, but your parents are going to have to find a bigger venue.”
Maddox chuckled. “Mom said the same thing earlier.”
“I love you,” I said, yawning and leaning on Maddox’s shoulder.
“I love you too.”
He moved us around the dance floor, holding me tight. He did the same when we were at home. He’d come up behind me and twirl me into his arms, dancing me around the bedroom while he stripped me out of my clothes.
Maddox had a way of balancing naughty and nice, and I thanked the universe every day that I’d been called to be his nanny.