Epilogue
EPILOGUE
EVERLY
“Daddy, how old is old enough to know better than this shit?” Miracle, our six-year-old daughter asks Owen.
“I don’t know, sweetie pie.” He scoops her up into his arms in the kitchen where I’m packing a picnic lunch for our family. It’s Owen’s birthday lunch and he doesn’t know it yet, but his family is waiting at the picnic site to celebrate with us. He spends time with them regularly now and our kids love their many cousins. “Can you explain where you heard it?”
“Mommy said it. I asked her how many birfdays you’d had’ed.” Her eyes are round and solemn. She’s the great questioner of the family. Always asking me and Owen about how the world works. I feel like I’ve learned more in the last years with her than I have in my whole life.
“Oh, did she?” Owen pins me with a look that tells me we’ll circle back to this conversation later.
“I cannot be held responsible for things I say in the emergency room,” I tell him as I run my fingers over the line of stitches in his arm. He was teaching the kids how to fish last week and one of the boys got their hook embedded in Owen’s arm.
Despite the pain, he was laughing and joking with them the entire time we were in the ER. I love that he was more concerned about his children than anything else. That moment could have been something really scary and traumatic for them. Instead, he turned it into a grand adventure that they happily talk about.
Miracle isn’t done yet causing problems for me. “She said you had lots of gray hair. That means you’re really old.”
“OK, pumpkin, it’s time to go play with your brothers for a few minutes,” I chide her while darting around the kitchen island. I pack the remaining containers into canvas totes. If Owen has caught on that this is too much food for five people, he hasn’t said a word.
As soon as she’s gone, my husband stalks toward me. He stands behind me and pulls my back against his chest. “You told our kids I was old because I have gray hair?”
“I also told them that gray is a mark of wisdom and that you’re very yummy to look at,” I say. It’s true that his blonde hair is going gray early, but I still find him incredibly sexy. Especially when I see the way he’s so good with our kids.
“You think I’m yummy?” He nibbles on my earlobe.
I lean into him, grinding my ass against his groin. We’ve been together for years, but he still gets hard for me. He still takes care of my every need in and out of the bedroom. But especially in it. “I think you’re very yummy.”
“Let’s cancel the picnic,” he whispers in my ear. “Tell the kids it’s going to rain and sneak away for a shower together. That would be a great birthday present.”
“No way,” I smack at his shoulder. “This has been all the kids could talk about this week. You’re looking forward to it too.”
Owen loves spending time with his kids, and he’s delighted that he gets to introduce them to the world. He’s constantly encouraging them to explore and try new things.
“Besides,” I promise after I give him a quick, chaste kiss, “I have a special present for you to unwrap later when we’re all alone.”
Heat flares in his gaze. “You can’t tell me that and not expect me to turn this into the world’s shortest picnic.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I’ll round up the kids. You take the food to the car.”
He does as I instruct while I go to the playroom to get our babies. After we had Miracle, both of us knew we didn’t want any future pregnancies. It had been too hard on my body, and we worried that I may have complications with a second one.
It broke my heart a little that we could only have our daughter. Then I saw a poster for an adoption agency that specialized in pairing American families with children from warn-torn countries. When I hesitantly suggested the idea to Owen, he was really excited.
It took some time, but we eventually brought home two tiny boys who are brothers. They’re so precious.
They have night terrors, and Owen always gets up with them when that happens. He holds them close and rocks them and tells them how very safe they are. I think with time and continued therapy, the boys will grow up to be happy, healthy adults with good lives. But for now, I want all of my kids to stay little forever.
I manage to round up the kids fairly quickly then we’re on our way to the picnic.
Owen puts on the soundtrack for the latest movie that our children are obsessed with. When they’re distracted, he takes my hand and presses a soft kiss to it. “I’m glad you stumbled into my cabin. I wouldn’t trade the last six years for anything.”
I run my thumb along the gold band that he proudly wears. “I found the life that was just right for me.”
What started out as a terrible day led me to the man I was meant to be with. Now we’re building our happily ever after one special moment at a time.