Epilogue
SADIE
Several Years Later…
“What are you doing?” I laugh at my mother-in-law as she plays with my hair. Well, she might legally be my mother by marriage, but I’ve been calling her mom for years.
“I'm braiding your hair.” I peek over my shoulder at her. She’s smiling away while twisting my hair through her fingers. God, I love her so much. I had no idea the day she caught me half naked in Ari’s house what she would come to mean in my life.
Lily and I are sitting at the table working on picking a lock.
Sure, some moms do puzzles or coloring books, but this is kind of our thing.
I want us to have something that is only ours.
Especially with her new brother coming along shortly.
Lily has a bit of a mysterious side to her.
You’d never guess where she might have gotten it from.
What I have with her is unlike anything I knew was possible.
I know what it is to have a shitty mom. I will always be a part of Lily’s life as much as she will let me.
At only four, that’s a lot at the moment.
Her grandma is the same way, but she showers me with the same amount of attention.
Since marrying Ari, she and I have become beyond close.
I would have been lost at times without her.
She might have only had boys, but she knew how to be a mom. I never got to experience what that was truly like. There were a few times I’d have freak-outs. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I could be a mom. I was always worried I wasn’t being a good enough one. I would question myself.
Over time, not only my husband but she has also taught me those were only worries I had because of my own mother.
I might have cut my mother out of my life, but it’s not always so easy to take the scars with that.
It took time, but slowly I healed. My confidence in being a mom is growing with that healing.
It helps when you have the Reins family around you in full support.
“Mine next?” Lily asks, never taking her eyes off the lock as she tries to get it to pop.
“You’re the birthday girl. Of course you’re next. I’m doing it the same as your mommy’s.”
“Pink?” I groan. Lily lets out a giggle. While there might be some of me in her, she is also a girly girl.
“How can I do a braid without a bow?” Jisa answers my question by kind of sidestepping it. That only makes Lily giggle more. I can’t help but smile too. I’ll wear any color to get the sound to come from her.
“She’s right, Mommy,” Lily agrees. “Plus it will match the party.”
“Yes, the pink explosion being prepared in the backyard.” There has been a team of people in the backyard getting the party ready to go.
“Yep!” she chirps. “Daddy said he’s got someone to dye the pool pink.”
“What!” I half shout. Can that be safe? It’s a stupid question to even think. Of course it has to be safe or Ari wouldn’t do it.
“I did it!” Lily screams as the lock pops. “What was the time?”
“Three minutes.” My father comes strolling into the dining room. I didn’t know he'd gotten here yet, but he had given us this lock as a gift. Olivia is at his side. They got married not long after he got that leech of an ex-wife off him.
He’s so damn happy. I never question how my father feels about me.
I saw what he went through to try and keep me.
He gave up years of his life for me. Seeing his devotion made it so much easier for me to understand the depth of love.
It’s why I don’t question how Ari and I fell into love so quickly.
Some people are just your people. You know in an instant. Blood or not.
“Hundred, Gramps.” Lily holds out her hand. I watch as my father pulls his wallet out of his pocket and gives her a crisp hundred-dollar bill.
“The hell?” I ask with a laugh.
“We had a deal. If she could pop it in under five minutes, I’d give her a hundred.”
“I really think I should get like a few extra twenties 'cause I cut off like two minutes.” She holds up two fingers.
“She’s not wrong.” I shrug. Jisa finishes my hair and moves over to do Lily’s.
“There you are.” Ari comes striding into the dining room like I’ve been hiding and he’s been searching the whole house for me.
“Do you have pink sparkles on your cheek?” I ask him.
“Got in a fight with a sparkly unicorn pinata.”
Lily gasps. “He can’t hit a sparkly unicorn pinata.” She places her hand to her chest. The money is still in her tiny hand. I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t laugh. I bet my husband spent forever getting this thing hung, and now there is no way Lily is going to let anyone hit it.
“I guess it’s decoration then.” Jisa and Olivia burst into laughter.
“I need to shower and get myself ready.” Ari kisses the top of Lily’s head. Then he plucks me right from my seat.
“Hey, I just did her hair!” his mom yells after Ari as he steals me away. Not that he cares.
“Don’t even bother. He’s going to be all kissy on her. I think he’s got a problem or somethin’,” I hear Lily tell her grandma.
“I do have a problem,” Ari whispers into my ear. “I haven't tasted my wife in hours.”
“We can’t have that, now can we?” I tease him back. “Not like I’ll put up a fight.” Ari kicks the bedroom door closed behind us, then lays me out across our bed. His hand drifts across my baby bump.
“I didn’t think I would get any complaints from my wife.” He leans down and kisses me. I wrap my arms around him, not caring we’re about to have a giant family party in less than an hour.
“Of course not. I have Stockholm syndrome.”
“Liar.” He smiles against my mouth. “You love me, and you know it.”
“I do,” I say. The best two words I ever said when I vowed to be his forever.
THE END!