Second Epilogue
Reese
Six Years Later
"This is the best idea we've had!" Kimberly exclaimed.
"I agree," I replied, patting my belly.
We'd all decided to spend our vacation together. Since the family had grown by leaps and bounds in the last six years, it wasn't easy to coordinate so we all could get away at the same time. Finding a location was easier. The Maxwell Hotels was a large chain now with seven gorgeous properties.
“Aspen will always have a place in my heart," Kimberly said. She’d insisted on us gathering here. She, too, had a baby bump.
I loved being pregnant at the same time as my sister. It made our bond even stronger. She and Drake already had a baby boy as well.
"Let's join the rest of the group outside," she suggested.
"Good idea."
We'd booked adjacent suites on the ground floor, mainly because they also had small gardens and we could all gather in them. The staff removed the separators between the gardens, so the kids roamed around freely—and there were a lot of kids.
Tyler and Kendra had two sets of twins who'd been born within one year of each other.
Talk about having a full house. But my cousin was thoroughly enjoying fatherhood.
Tyler turned down a job to coach his old team, saying he wanted to spend time with the kids while they were babies and that he could always go back to coaching later on.
Tate and Lexi had a baby boy just last year. Liz and Declan had two adorable girls. Luke and Megan had twins three years ago. That’s when we realized that somewhere in the family, we probably had a twin gene that had been dormant until our generation started having babies.
Travis and Bonnie had a second baby girl three years ago. Avery and Sam also had an adorable girl.
As for Dom and me, well, we’d been busy.
He came up to me, holding Millie, our one-year-old daughter, in his arms and our four-year-old son, Harry, by the hand.
I'd always wanted a large family, but my current pregnancy had been a bit of a mishap.
I thought you couldn't get pregnant while breastfeeding.
Turned out, I was wrong. But Dom and I were happier than ever.
Harry kissed my belly.
"Is the bunny ready yet?" he asked, making me laugh as Dom just shook his head.
We'd told him once that I had a bun in the oven, and ever since, he kept asking every few days if the bunny was ready. He was growing up fast, but sometimes I forgot he was still a toddler and took everything literally.
"Not yet, Harry. We still need to wait a few months," I explained.
"Babe, are you feeling okay? Want to lie down for a bit?" Dom asked.
"I did earlier," I said.
Kimberly laughed. “For like two seconds.”
"Thank you for your support, Kimberly," Dom said with a grin.
"I feel fine," I cut in.
I’d been sick most of the time during the previous pregnancies—somehow I'd had morning sickness that lasted for the whole nine months—but I was doing better this time around.
"Can I go play with my cousins?" Harry asked. He spoke surprisingly clearly for a kid his age. It was one of the reasons why I sometimes forgot that he was still so young.
"Sure," I said. "It was such a great idea to remove the separators between the suite gardens."
"I agree." Dom kissed my cheek, putting his hand on my belly.
"She's sleeping." I’d never tire of this feeling of creating a human being inside me, feeling her every time she turned around and even when she woke up.
“You sure you don’t need to lie down?”
“No, I slept on the plane.”
“I know,” Dom said.
“We all know," Sam added, coming up behind us.
I turned around to face him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing." He schooled his features.
I pointed at him. "Cousin?"
"You were snoring."
I clasped my hand over my mouth. "Oh my God. You think everyone heard me?"
"No… Maybe just half the plane."
"Oh God." I zeroed in on Dom. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You were exhausted. Of course I didn't wake you up."
I looked at Sam again. "Can you, I don't know, give me something?"
"For snoring?" He seemed stunned.
"Yes, so I don't terrorize everyone on the way back too."
Sam now looked at Dom in alarm.
"You opened this can of worms, man. Fix it,” Dom said.
"There's nothing I can do here. Just relax, okay? Oh, I think I heard someone calling me," Sam said quickly, then darted off.
I saw right through his fib, but I'd let it slide—this time.
"Don't worry about it. You’re gorgeous," Dom said, kissing my forehead.
I couldn't even come too close to him because my belly was pretty sizable even though I wasn’t that far along. People kept asking me if I was having twins. I wasn't. I’d repeatedly asked the doctor.
We’d set up a huge firepit that we'd tried to babyproof as much as possible and placed lots of benches in a circle around it.
The only ones missing were my dad and his family, Lena and Emmett, and Gran and John. Gran wasn’t flying much lately, and my aunt and uncle didn't want us all to be away from home at the same time, just in case she and John needed something.
Paisley hadn't wanted to come either. She had her own group of friends and declared that vacationing with her family was uncool. Tate was still processing that, even though he had his hands full with the little ones.
I sat down on a bench, unsure if I'd ever be able to get up again. Maybe I'd just roll off it.
"I'll bring you a plate of food," Dom said.
"Thanks."
Tate was sitting next to me, brushing his daughter's hair. My heart filled with tenderness watching this mountain of a man holding a bright pink brush and carefully running it through her silky strands.
"Still not happy that Paisley isn't with us?" I asked.
He grumbled, "I'm getting used to it, slowly."
"No, you're not."
He laughed. "No, I'm not. But that's fine. I'm glad we all came here."
"It's one of my favorite hotels," I said. Right here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, life seemed easier, more serene somehow. We didn't have anything to complain about—except my snoring.
Dom came back with a plate of food and sat down next to me. Our girl had fallen asleep on him.
"You can put her down in one of those mobile cribs." We'd set a few of them around, knowing that at any given time, there were going to be at least a few kids sleeping.
"No, I'm fine like this. I like it when she's sleeping on me."
Oh, be still my beating heart. His love for us would never cease to surprise me. I’d never take it for granted.
"We've also got Maxwell wines circulating around. For those who can drink," Tate added, looking at me apologetically.
I laughed. "That's okay. I'm glad to see everyone else is enjoying it."
"You know, I think we were a bit too optimistic with all these benches," Declan said, coming to us, holding a glass of wine.
It was the first break he'd taken since we arrived.
He seemed to constantly be chasing one kid or another, even those who weren't his.
"It's not like we can all sit down at the same time. "
"No, we can't," I said, glancing around. I was looking for Harry, but I needn't have bothered. Dom was already following him with his gaze, never letting him out of sight.
Luke came up to us, and he, too, was carrying a sleeping baby. Just then, Tate jumped up from the bench, chasing his girl, who’d hopped off from his lap.
We were all definitely busy, but we managed to enjoy our afternoon snack out in the garden. The weather was perfect for the week ahead, and that wasn't always the case in June in the Rocky Mountains.
A few hours later, the kids had run out of energy, and we were all relishing one of those rare and brief moments of silence when Dom suddenly got up with a glass and lowered our girl into a crib.
He cleared his throat. "Everyone, I'd like to say a few words."
"We're listening," Tate said from next to me.
"I'm very happy that we're all here today, and that we managed to take time off as a family.
When I met you all six years ago, I instantly realized that you were a special group by the way you rallied around Reese and also accepted me into your ranks.
I'm proud to have married into the Maxwell family and to be here with all of you.
I couldn't have wished for a more loving wife or a more caring family, and I want to toast to that. "
There was a chorus of "Hear, hear" and the sound of clinking glasses.
Dom sat down next to me, and I kissed his cheek. "Have another glass for me, will you?" I whispered. "And thank you for the beautiful words."
"You're welcome, love."
Travis joined us just then. He'd been inside the hotel, chatting with the staff.
"That sounded like a toast," he said.
Dom blinked. "Man, I didn't realize you weren't here."
Travis started laughing. "That's fine. Plenty of Maxwells to go around. Now, I'm starving, so you can fill me in later."
We all stayed out in the garden until the sun set, then went back to our respective suites. We had a full schedule tomorrow; today was just to relax and enjoy each other.
The suite was eerily quiet. Somehow we'd managed to get both our kids to sleep in record time.
I slipped under the covers, and Dom moved right in behind me.
He turned onto one side, propping his head on his elbow and putting his other hand on my belly.
He kissed my neck lightly, and I squirmed against the sheets. Just then, the baby turned around.
"You felt that?" I asked.
"Yes!" He smiled widely. "I’ll never tire of you being pregnant."
I grinned. "I love it, too, especially because it's easy this time around."
He wiggled his eyebrows. "What do you think? After she’s here, should we go for number four?"
I smiled, putting a hand on my belly too. "I think you can talk me into that by using the legendary Waldorf charm."
I'd loved growing up in a huge family. And I loved even more that we were creating our own.