Epilogue
The spring heat smacks me upside the head as I step out the back door holding a tray of steaks ready for the grill. Our yard is filled with our family. There’s nothing left to do but fire up the grill and watch the chaos play out. Maggie stretches out in a deck chair, adorable with the baby bump. Cole rolls around on the grass with my nieces, who swarm him like angry little ladybugs. Tanner and Silas race by in a blur, all grumbles and insults. Hudson takes a spatula from me with a glare.
"You call these steaks?" He raises an eyebrow and flips one like it just offended him. "More like dried-out leather."
"It's called 'medium well.' Some people actually like it," I say, grabbing a beer from the cooler. “Pregnant women aren’t supposed to eat undercooked meat,” I remind him why I’m cooking all the steaks like this. “And I don’t want to eat rare meat in front of my pregnant wife.”
"Pussy-whipped.” It’s his favorite insult. Only it isn’t an insult to me.
I grin and glance over at Maggie, who's watching from a safe distance. She's all brown hair, blue eyes, and mischief, and I fucking love her more than life itself.
Cole howls as the girls tackle him to the ground again, their high-pitched laughter splitting the spring air like firecrackers. He's wearing that ridiculous vintage jersey, arms flailing around like a deranged windmill.
He drags a niece under each arm like hostages and makes a show of collapsing under their weight. Cole lets them pile on, and one of the girls snatches a hat off his head and runs off, screaming, "Uncle Hudson! I got his ugly hat for you."
Maggie’s brothers have grown close to my family. In fact, the girls call all the brothers, “Uncle.”
Hudson beams at her. "I knew you had it in you. I’ll see to it you get two hot dogs."
"She gets one hot dog." Ciara approaches, giving Hudson a stern look. "Or she can crash at your place tonight, and you can deal with any mess."
Hudson chuckles, flips a hot dog onto the grill, and reaches for my tongs. "Tessa, your mom said you can only have one," he says, shifting the blame to Ciara, who rolls her eyes.
Garrett approaches and embraces his wife. "Just wait until you have kids," he warns my brother-in-law. "You'll understand then."
Hudson insists, "It won't happen," pretending to be content with his bachelor lifestyle, but I can see through his facade.
I shake my head and throw Hudson an apron that says "Grill Sergeant." It's ugly as hell, so I tell him it reminded me of him.
Maggie catches my eye and gives me that smile that makes me forget anyone else is here. She's the only thing that matters, her and our baby, and the way she's rubbing her belly makes me wanna run over and check on her, but I get tackled by Silas instead.
"Here," he says, setting down a cooler full of drinks and opening it like he's about to unveil a goldmine. "Should last five minutes."
“Thanks,” I tell my brother-in-law. I'm having one of those days where everything feels like the best in the world and I’m not sure it could get any better.
The place is a madhouse, and I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet. There's no other way to explain it. I pour Maggie some lemonade and bring it to her, but Silas beats me there.
"Am I going to be the godfather?" he asks for the millionth time. This fucking week.
"Still under consideration," Maggie replies, grinning at me above his head. We've already chosen Silas to be our daughter's godfather, but we want to keep him in suspense a bit longer.
The chaos continues as I make my way back to Maggie. Hudson is flipping burgers and steaks with his usual enthusiasm. Ciara drags a couple of chairs over to Maggie and sits down.
"Quit hovering, Todd," she teases with a wink. "Go hang out with the guys."
I stroll over to Hudson, pretending to oversee his work, but in reality, I'm fully focused on keeping an eye on my wife. She constantly astounds me, growing more remarkable every day. I can't help but get distracted, watching from the patio's edge as she chats with Ciara.
Maggie laughs, that beautiful noise, and I can hear Cole now, too, egging on the kids as they beat Garrett at tag. The sound is a total riot.
I sneak one last glance at Maggie, who's doubled over laughing at something Cole said.
Ciara remains next to her, shaking her head and attempting to suppress a smile. "Your brothers are amazing with children," she says.
"That's because they're basically just big kids themselves," Maggie chuckles.
Maggie waddles over to me and wraps her arm around my waist. “I love you.” I’ll never get tired of hearing those words.
Suddenly, my wife gasps, “My water just broke.” Then all hell breaks loose. Hudson drops the hot dog he’s turning through the grates right into the fire, causing flames to shoot up and almost take out his eyebrows.
Silas bolts across the patio, banging into the table and knocking over a lemonade pitcher as he sprints to Maggie's side. Cole loses his goddamn mind and starts asking where to find Maggie’s hospital bag. They all start fighting about who knows the most from that damn baby book they passed around, none of them making any sense.
They're a train wreck. Maggie gives me a calm smile and a playful eye roll as we watch her brothers running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
"The plan was to NOT panic!" Tanner says, clearly panicking.
"You gonna be okay?" I ask her, as close to her side as I can get without tripping over her crazy-ass brothers.
"Perfect," she says, like we're having a quiet moment alone.
"We are not prepared!" Cole screams.
Ciara's laugh booms over the chaos as I finally step in, taking charge of the situation.
Garrett shakes his head, stepping into the chaos. "You get Maggie to the hospital while I take care of the four stooges. You can thank me later."
I carry her to the big black SUV we decided to keep since we need a safe vehicle for our family. I pull out a black garbage bag from the stash next to the door and lay it on the passenger seat before gently helping her into the SUV.
She's holding my hand tight, that beautiful smile lighting up her face. We are actually going to have a baby.
I keep the pedal down all the way out of Silver Spoon Falls and try not to look too anxious about what’s about to happen.
"You gonna be this calm in the delivery room?" she asks, one eyebrow arching skeptically.
"Hell fucking yes," I assure her with unwavering confidence.
Fast forward two hours, and that promise shatters spectacularly as I find myself getting lightheaded amidst the chaos of the delivery room.
Witnessing my beautiful wife give birth to our daughter overwhelms me, and I pass the fuck out. This becomes a source of entertainment for the Carrington brothers, who hear all about it from their exhausted but happy sister.
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The Carrington Brothers will be getting their stories soon!