Epilogue
Elliot
Five years later…
I toss the blankets away, crawling to the bottom of the bed to kiss my wife’s stomach. It’s round with my child, and so goddamn perfect.
Seraphine has always been beautiful, but she has this glow about her when she’s pregnant and my God, I want to see her this way all the time. Probably why this is baby number three…
The tabloids had a lot to say about us when it all first came out, but it didn’t take long for them to move onto something else. They were more concerned about Seattle’s most eligible and rich bachelor being taken off the single’s list than the fact that Seraphine was much younger than me.
Seraphine giggles as I kiss her everywhere I can, all over her stomach, every inch of her beautiful skin.
“Oh, ow—” I stop, but see she’s still laughing and pressing on the top of her stomach. “My ribs. They’re digging into my ribs.”
“This one’s going to be a fighter,” I say, rubbing my hands over her belly gently.
“Because that’s what we need,” she rolls her eyes.
“This one won’t fight with siblings, just others. They’ll be the one who sticks up for their sisters.”
“Mhm,” she comments, sitting up against the headboard, both hands on her belly. Her breasts are spilling out of her sports bra, and they’re so goddamn tempting. So, I lean down to kiss each of them, before kissing her lips.
“Speaking of, where are those little angels?” I ask, glancing at the clock. It’s nearly eight, and they’re always up by now.
“Angels, huh?” Seraphine calls after me as I make my way out of our bedroom and down the hall to the girls’ room.
Amelia just turned four, while her younger sister, Avalynn, is almost three. They fight like the worst enemies but love each other like the closest of friends. Typical sibling relationship, I say. Never had one to know, and neither did Seraphine. But it’s why we both want a big family.
I pass piles of boxes, all labeled with which room they belong in.
With the newest baby due any day now, we should have already moved but we’ve been procrastinating.
It’s not that we have to move just yet, but the girls need a bigger space.
My house is big, but it’s not a family house.
We need a family house. The girls all need their own rooms and space, and it is better to do this while they’re small so we can make memories in a new house.
It’s been built for over a month now, we just need to get our stuff over there.
If we don’t get it done before our newest baby arrives, I’ll make sure it’s done while Seraphine is in the hospital.
Of course, I could hire people to bring everything over and set it up, but we like doing things ourselves—together and with the girls.
“Girls?” I call out when I reach their room and find both beds empty, sheets a mess.
I turn around, looking down the hall when I hear a squeal coming from downstairs.
Not surprised they’re down there. Probably jumping on the couches or getting into the massage lotions again. It wouldn’t be the first time.
I do not find them in either of those places though.
“What are you girls doing?” I ask.
Ava turns to me, grinning a mile wide. Her green eyes shine, hair in a loose messy bun on the top of her head. Her hair is dark, just like her mother’s. Both of them look just like their mother and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We make mommy and baby bekfast, dada,” Ava says. She’s standing on the counter. I hurry to get her down before her mother sees her and has a heart attack.
“That’s very sweet, honey.” I kiss the top of her head before letting her go, then do the same to Amelia. Once they’re both safe, I take a moment to see what they’ve made.
The carton of eggs sits on the counter with seven eggs inside, all with a small hole in it like a finger puncture.
The missing eggs—because we bought this dozen yesterday and hadn’t used any—are cracked into a large mixing bowl—along with the shells.
In it is what looks like Fruit Loops and cinnamon.
Another bowl is just cereal and milk, filled to the very top.
There is also a banana that looks like it’s been mashed by fingers—maybe chewed up, I can’t be sure.
“This looks wonderful, girls, but I thought we were going out for breakfast this morning?”
“We are!?” Amelia squeals, jumping up and down. “You didn’t say that, Daddy. You didn’t.”
“No? I thought I did.” I try to hide my smile, knowing damn well I did not tell them that because then I wouldn’t have heard the end of it.
There is a diner not too far from here that they love. They get pancakes in the shape of hearts and think it’s the coolest thing. Recently, the cook started putting some food coloring in it for them, so now they get different colors.
“Come on, Ava, we have to get dressed super duper fast!” Amelia takes her sister’s hand and runs toward the stairs.
“Super duper fast,” I say, turning back to the mess and laughing.
So sweet, so thoughtful. Just like their mother. I only hope it stays like this forever.
We return from breakfast with a stack of purple pancakes for the baby.
Ava had an absolute fit over taking them, and even when we tried to explain they would go bad, she wouldn’t hear it.
Amelia, the smarty-pants she is, was the one who told us to put it in the freezer.
That girl is too smart for her own good.
I wrap the pancakes in foil, put them in a freezer bag, and shove them in the freezer. They’ll be forgotten soon enough.
My cell rings and I answer it without looking.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Dad,” Harrison says. “You going to be around this afternoon?”
“Yeah, we’re here. What’s up?”
“Juniper has been asking about going there to see the baby in Sera’s belly one last time.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. Juniper is a spunky little thing, same age as my Ava. Our family dynamic is a little strange, but we make it work. It’s no one’s business what we’re doing. There is so much love in this family, and that’s all that matters.
It took a good year for Harrison to come to his senses, but when he did, he graveled like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
And not to get Seraphine back, but over the way he acted towards her for so long.
Seraphine did not forgive him right away, but we worked together and figured it out.
I told her I would not force her to be around him if she didn’t want to be, even if he is my son.
Sometimes, family does not trump everything else.
What Harrison did was borderline unforgivable.
Seraphine and I talked about our options many late nights, and ultimately she decided she would try to make things work with Harrison.
I’m not sure what was going on with him after his breakup with Seraphine, but he wasn’t his normal self.
Neither of us have seen a hint of that part of him since he’s come back into our lives.
Now, here we are, closer than ever. Which I am grateful for because all my kids get along splendidly.
Harrison’s wife—because yeah, he’s married and has been for about three years now—and Seraphine are close.
We make this work the way we need, and nothing has ever felt more right.
“I’ll let the girls know,” I say.
“See you soon.”
I head upstairs and find the girls’ room a disaster as they pull out everything from their toy box to play with. But they’re sitting together, playing nicely, so I let them be.
My wife is in our bedroom folding clothes. I shut the door, lock it, and move towards her.
“This can wait.” I pull a shirt from her hand and toss it away, grabbing her chin and kissing her.
She laughs against my mouth, hands sliding up my chest. I grip the fabric of her dress and lift it up before dropping to my knees.
“Elliot,” she says. “We can’t.”
“Yes we can. You heard the doctor.”
“I’m not ready for this baby.”
“Yes you are, sweetness. And so am I. Besides, I’ll go easy.”
Her hand tangles in my hair as I lick her pussy, enjoying the sweetness of her.
She lays down on the bed, on her side because it’s the only position that’s comfortable for her nowadays.
I lick her until she comes, then I free my aching cock, and slide it into her, standing at the edge of the bed.
My wife pregnant is so sexy, and it doesn’t take a lot to make me explode inside her. Just in time for banging on the door.
“Mommy, Ava took my doll!”
“No, I dint!”
“Yes you did, brat!”
“Hey, girls!” I call, fixing my pants. “No name-calling.”
Seraphine sighs. “Ready for another, huh?”
I grin. “Don’t have much of a choice now.” I move to the door, pulling it open. “Oh, and Juniper is on her way.”
“Juniper! Yay! Did you hear that, Ava? Juniper is coming!”
“Yay, yay, yay!” Ava says, dancing around in a circle.
I look back at my wife who has gone back to folding the clothes.
I tell her all the time she doesn’t have to do this, that we can hire someone to do all of it.
Cooking, cleaning—everything. But she doesn’t want that.
She likes doing all of it herself, she says.
It reminds her of her mother, and she wants to do everything for her girls that she didn’t get from her mother.
I appreciate that and completely understand.
I don’t feel so bad about it now that I’m home all the time.
When I was still working full days, I felt terrible leaving her here to do all this.
But I’ve since “retired.” I still own the company and go to meetings when necessary, but it’s in other people’s hands now and it’s still running perfectly.
We’re doing better than ever. Seraphine doesn’t work at all, which is perfect in my opinion.
She mentions going back to work, and I fully support her if that’s what she wants.
“Love you, sweetness,” I say.
Seraphine looks up and blinds me with the most beautiful smile.
“I love you, too.”