Holden’s Epilogue
HOLDEN’S EPILOGUE
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
H olden
Hayes stuffs a fistful of pureed sweet potato in his mouth then squeals in delight.
“Tastes good, doesn’t it, bud?” I ask, grinning as I watch my little man sitting in his highchair.
“Da Da,” he says, offering me the spoon he refuses to use because he’d rather use his hands.
So far, at eight months old, Hayes is happy, sweet and bright, mischievous and curious. My handsome boy is the cutest thing in the world, even when he’s covered in sweet potato. He has my chestnut hair and his mom’s bright green eyes and easygoing personality.
When he’s done, I wash his face and hands with a washcloth while he squirms. “We need to get you cleaned up before Mommy murders me. You’re going to a wedding. You need to look your best.”
“Little dude eats like his dad,” Tucker laughs from where he’s sitting on the couch next to Jake. “Like an animal.”
I just shake my head at him. Nothing can ruin my day today .
In less than an hour, I’m marrying Briar. The ceremony is taking place at a manor just outside of Reed Point, on a terrace overlooking the ocean, then we’re having the reception in one of their ballrooms. Tucker is my best man. Jake, Grayson, and my brother are my groomsmen. They’re all here with me in the groom’s suite while Briar and her bridesmaids get ready in a room down the hall.
So far, with the exception of me failing miserably to get Hayes down for his nap, the day has gone smoothly. He’s been distracted by all of the people and the energy in the room. My little man is as excited as me. I’m finally marrying my favorite person on the planet.
My dad walks over to Hayes and picks him up from the highchair. He holds my son in his arms and gives him a kiss on his chubby cheek while I fetch his suit. Over the past eight months, the two of them have created quite the friendship. A bond. My parents and Barb see Hayes often, even taking him for sleepovers so I can have his mom all to myself.
“Time to get dressed, Hayes-y-haze. You’re going to look so handsome.” I bought him a miniature version of my dove gray suit so he can match his daddy. Once he’s dressed, I snap a photo of him for Briar. I’ve already sent her over a dozen today. Yes, I’m that guy—thankfully, my fiancée thinks it’s cute.
Today is an especially special day for her. Not only are we getting married, but it’s also New Year’s Eve, the day she was adopted by her stepdad. I worried it would be too much for her—an emotional anniversary, a reunion with her mom and her brother who flew in for the wedding, a wedding ceremony and reception. Plus, a very busy baby. But she promised me she’d be okay. It’s her favorite day of the year. She also wants me to love New Year’s Eve just as much as her, so she refused to back down on the date. Briar has managed to change my mind on December 31 st as well as a list of other things over the last 12 months.
It blows my mind to think that a couple of years ago I thought I might not want children. Becoming a dad is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I smile every time I think about the day Briar told me she was pregnant. It seems imaginable to me that I ever thought I could live this life without Hayes and my girl. When I think back to my life before my little man, it feels incomplete. There’s no other way to explain it. Hayes is my future. And soon, I hope to give him a brother or a sister.
I’ve learnt to relax a little. I’m no longer the wound-tight neat freak that I was before Briar moved in. The house feels like a home now, with Hayes’ play-mat in the center of the living room and the highchair next to the kitchen table. There are toys spilling out of baskets beside the couch. Bottles drying on a rack next to the kitchen sink. Sure, it feels a little chaotic sometimes, but every room I walk into reminds me that our house is full of love and life.
The only thing missing is to make Briar my wife.
I proposed to her the night we brought Hayes home from the hospital. We were sitting at the coffee table eating Thai food. I had Hayes in my arms, rocking him to sleep so she could finish her dinner. The proposal wasn’t fancy or a big, grand gesture like she probably reads about in her romance books, but we had shared so many memorable moments around that little wooden table, divulged so many secrets, that it felt right. The second I got down on one knee, Briar started to cry. When I slid the oval solitaire ring on her finger, she gasped. Nothing had ever felt so right.
Hayes giggles and hides his face in my neck as we walk downstairs to the terrace where the ceremony is taking place. He missed his nap, which means he’ll either fall asleep after dinner or throw a fit. I’m praying he goes with the first option. When it gets to be bedtime, Barb offered to take him back to their house so that Briar and I can enjoy the rest of the night.
I take my place at the alter with Tucker and the guys on my left and wait for Briar, my heart bursting. I look down the aisle, lined with candles in glass cylinders and fresh orchids, for my first glimpse of my bride. When the violinist starts to play Pachelbel's Canon, and she comes into view.
My eyes are glued to her as she walks down the aisle on the arm of her brother wearing a simple white dress, elegant and flowy. Briar is breathtaking. She puts all other brides to shame. Her long, blonde hair is swept back over one shoulder with a glittery clip, and in her hands is a bouquet of white and soft pink roses.
She strides towards me, a confidence in her step that is so perfectly Briar. She knows who she is. She knows I have eyes for no one else but her. I am hers. Till the day I die.
The moment Hayes sees his mom, he lets out a squeal, his bright smile showing all four of his teeth. When he smiles, he looks just like his mom. A tear escapes before I can wipe it away when he reaches for Briar. If he could walk, he’d be off like a rocket.
I adjust Hayes on my hip, remembering to breathe, as Briar makes her last few steps towards me and our son. She looks at me like I’m the only other beating heart in the room and mouths the words, I love you . I mouth them back to her, understanding exactly what I have and how lucky I am. Love runs through my veins like a river.
When Briar reaches Hayes, she takes his hand in hers and brings it to her lips, kissing his chubby palm. We’re both a crying mess when I hand Hayes over to her brother .
Briar places her hands in mine, and our eyes lock. Everyone else in the room fades away.
“Your boys missed you this morning,” I whisper.
My heart pangs when she vows her love for me. Briar cries when I repeat the same vows back to her. My hands are in hers as the minister talks about commitment and love and growing old together. Then we’re slipping rings onto each other’s fingers and we’re pronounced man and wife.
Everyone cheers when I take Briar in my arms and kiss the life out of her. We only break the kiss to come up for air. I’m always trying to catch my breath around this woman.
“I love you, Mrs. Briar Banks,” I tell her.
She smiles. It ruins me.
“I know, baby,” she says softly. “I love you too.”
My lips meet hers in a long and lingering kiss, and when I pull back, she looks up at me, eyes glistening. It feels like in this moment the entire universe conspired to bring us together.
“I want more babies with you, Bee.”
“We can have five or six,” she says.
I take her hand and the two of us face our friends and family ready to begin our new life together.
Forever begins now.
I like the sound of that.
I kick off my shoes and then take off my tie and dress shirt, tossing them on the chair. I find Briar in the bathroom in a plush, white hotel robe, leaning towards the mirror taking off her makeup.
I step behind her, smoothing my hand down her neck. It only takes a gentle press of my fingers to make her head fall to the side, making room for my mouth to suck on her skin.
“Holden,” she whispers. “I’m almost done. The hair stylist must have used a can of hairspray. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to brush it all out.”
Even as she objects, she pushes her ass into my already hard cock. Her breathing is shallow, lust in her eyes when they meet mine in the mirror.
“Here, let me.” I motion to her hairbrush on the bathroom counter. She hands it to me and then removes the diamond barrette in her hair.
I carefully brush the silky strands of her blonde hair, section by section, until it falls in long, smooth waves down her back. She leans back slightly, her eyes closing in quiet contentment, a peaceful smile curling at the corner of her lips.
“Feel good?” I ask her.
“Mmm… so good,” she whispers as a shiver runs down her spine. The sound of the bristles gliding through her hair is the only sound in the room.
Carefully, I work through the tangles, watching her shoulders relax as if the weight of the day—the emotions, the vows, the enormity of it all—has finally settled over her. Brushing just the ends, I’m careful not to pull too hard, working through the soft waves. With each slow stroke, she sighs.
When I’m done, I set the brush down and run my fingers through her now-smooth hair, letting the strands slip through my hands like silk. Then I lean down, push the robe over her shoulder and press a slow, lingering kiss to her bare skin.
She grinds her ass over my cock, as I gather the back of her robe, lifting the material until it’s up over her ass. Her breath shudders when I run a finger down the seam of her soft cheeks until my hand is between her thighs. It only takes a second for her to grant me access, and she widens her legs.
“Holden,” she moans, dropping her head back to rest on my chest.
I look in the mirror at her face tilted upward, the incline of her neck, her mouth parted in euphoria as I reach around her and find her clit
“Stop toying with me and fuck me,” she breathes, as I play with her slick entrance.
“You need to be quiet or we’re going to have to stop. We’re in a hotel and we have neighbors.”
Her teeth press a divot into her bottom lip, and she nods. “I can be good. I promise.”
Her eyes flutter open when I unbuckle my belt and unzip my pants. Pushing my pants and my boxers down my thighs, I run the head of my swollen cock up and down the seam of her ass. She braces her hands on the counter, going up on her toes, and tips her ass up to allow me easier access.
My beautiful girl likes it most when I fuck her from behind.
She shimmies, trying to pull me in, but I wait, watching my cock tease her incredible ass. Right now, I just want to be as deep as I can inside the bliss of her heat, for as long as I can.
Trapping her between me and the counter, I catch her eye in the mirror. Our eyes stay locked as I sink inside her in one long thrust, until my balls meet her perfect heart-shaped ass.
Holding her hips in place, I stay where I am, every inch of me buried in her tight, wet channel. When my body begins to shudder and the need to rock my hips back and forth is too much to fight, I pull out to just my tip then slide back in.
Everything else evaporates the minute I’m joined with Briar. It’s just me and my girl, and all I can think about is how badly I need her. The groan that leaves her lips tells me she needs me in the exact same, carnal way. A bone-deep, earth-shattering way that only deepens every day that we are together. Even now, I find it hard to believe that this woman is mine. In my heart, I’ve always known it.
I burn for Briar Moore. She is fucking beautiful, and I want to worship her every day of my life. Her back arches, and she pushes her ass into my pelvis, taking me as deep as she can. She feels like a fucking dream.
“That’s it, baby girl. Use me.” I grind my hips, moving my hand to cover hers where it’s gripping the counter, the diamond ring I gave her against my palm. “Come for me, Bee. I’ll follow you over like I always will, every day of your life.”
The feel of her hugging my bare cock is almost too much to bear, but I’ll wait as long as I need to for her to get off.
She whimpers. She’s close. I fuck her, and she tightens around me.
“My wife,” I say.
“My husband.”
“Mine,” I say, needing her to hear it.
I push into her again and again, sliding my hand around her body until my middle finger finds her clit, rolling it in circles.
My eyes are on hers in the mirror when she loses herself completely, clenching around my cock as her orgasm tears through her. I slam into her once more before I’m coming deep inside her, my balls constricting. Once I pour every drop into her, I collapse against her back, enjoying the feeling of being inside her. It takes a few minutes before I’m ready to pull out, and then I turn her in my arms to kiss her softly.
Briar’s arms wrap around my neck, the two of us in a post-sex bliss. She pulls back a little to look up at me. “Take me to bed, Holden. You’ve worn me out.”
I love this woman.
I have never felt such a need for another person in my entire life. When I think about forever, I think about her and our son and our future together. She has given my life meaning.
She drags me into the bedroom, slips off her robe and watches as I pull back the plush white comforter. Lying on my back, I pull her on to me so she can rest her head on my chest. I run my fingers through her hair. “Remember when you told me you didn’t believe in soulmates?”
“And look at you making me eat my words,” she murmurs, flattening her palm over my heart.
“I love you the most,” I say before she lifts her head, eyes hazy, and I kiss her with everything I have to give.
“I love you with all four letters.” Then she gives me that smile that will always make my heart skip a beat.
A smile pulls at my lips as Briar rests her head back down on my chest. I don’t know how I got so lucky to marry the girl of my dreams.
Some people are worth the risk. I’m just glad I took a chance on the right girl.