Epilogue
JORDAN
Here’s the thing about loving someone like Daisy. She makes me want to be a better person. That’s it. That’s the thing. Sounds like a cheesy slogan, I know. But it isn’t just about being a better human. It’s in the details.
I work harder at everything—not just the things that used to matter to me like friendship, partying, and hockey.
I’ve become a badass in the kitchen (I grill a mean steak and my spaghetti sauce is chef’s kiss perfection), I’m the fixer of things around the house, the killer of spiders (I let them free outside, shhh), the loud and sometimes crazy, but above all, I’m whatever she needs.
I think that’s the most important thing I’ve learned. People need different things at different times in their life. But what hasn’t changed in the five years since I met Daisy is my need for her. And my desire to give her everything she needs.
Every day, she amazes me, teaches me something, and loves me harder than I ever thought someone could. And man, do we have fun.
Case in point, today. We’re having a huge party at our house.
It’s the off-season, and I’m enjoying a couple of months at home with my wife.
Yep, that’s right. You may now refer to Daisy as Mrs. Thatcher.
I’m not sure she knows what she got herself into.
Or maybe she does. She’s way smarter than me.
Some of my teammates are here, along with our friends. The weather is perfect, the pool is ready, and the beer is ice cold. As soon as I find my gorgeous wife, I have a long afternoon of nothing but fun and sun planned.
“Daisy!” I yell as I enter the house through the back deck. The downstairs is quiet, so I head up the steps.
“Baby?” I check all the rooms as I make my way down the hall to our master bedroom. “I need your ass in that pool, sweet Daisy.”
The en suite bathroom light is on, door open.
“Are you in here?” I ask without going in.
“Y-yeah.” Her quiet voice transports me back in time. These days, she’s not so timid—at least not around me.
“Is everything okay?” I peer in carefully to find her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in her cute little yellow bikini.
“I’m fine. I’ll be down in a minute.” The corners of her mouth lift, but I know a bullshit smile when I see one from my girl.
“You’re not fine. What’s wrong?”
She stands and tries to pass off another fake smile. “Everyone is downstairs. Go.” She shoos me. “I’ll be down in five.”
“Nice try.” I pull her into my arms and lock my hands behind her back so she can’t get free. “What’s up, baby?”
Her stubborn little mouth pulls into a thin line like she thinks she’s going to get away without telling me.
“We have a house full of people,” she says.
“Ask me if I care?” I brush my lips against hers.
“Everyone is having a blast. Everyone but you. So tell me, what’s up?
Let me fix it, and then we can have a blast too.
” I focus on her boobs which are bursting out of the little, tiny top.
Damn. I bring my face down and bury it in her cleavage. “This bikini should be illegal.”
I move my head to lightly bite a nipple, and she jumps back and cups her boobs. “Ouch.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault,” she says quickly. “I mean it is. I’m… I’m pregnant.”
“Say what now?” My gaze goes from her face to her tits, which I can’t stop staring at. Did they get bigger, or is that bikini just some sort of magical push-up wonder?
“I’m pregnant,” she says again, and this time it sinks in. Pregnant. Baby. Holy shit.
“We’re having a baby?”
She nods, that unsure smile still plastered on her face. “I know we were going to wait. I don’t know how it happened. I’m still on the pill, and I take it every day at the exact same time. Always right after we have morning sex. Every day, the same time.”
Happy laughter spills out of me. Yeah, sex every morning and most nights too might be the problem. I got an A in statistics and probability, after all. “This is amazing.”
“It is?”
I hug her to me and spin around. Then it all hits me, I mean really hits me, at once, and my stomach gets a little queasy. “Oh shit.”
I drop her and stumble back to sit on the side of the bathtub. “I’m going to be a father. I’m going to be responsible for a tiny, helpless human.”
“You’re going to be an amazing father. Just like you’re an amazing husband.” She squats down in front of me, and my gaze goes back to her boobs. It’s an unfortunate time to be noticing, I realize, but seriously.
“Did your boobs get bigger?”
“Right?” she asks and looks down at her chest. “They’re huge and so sensitive. I almost cried getting my sports bra off this morning after yoga. I thought I was dying or something, but apparently, it’s normal during pregnancy.”
“Pregnant.” I rest my hands on her hips and let my thumbs glide over her smooth stomach.
“Yeah. I just took five tests, to be sure. You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” I shake my head. “No, sweet Daisy. I’m anything but mad. I’m just stunned. Holy shit, baby, we’re having a baby.”
She slides onto my lap and hugs me around the neck.
“Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything? Oh man, we need to get stuff and paint the spare room. Oooh, we need a tree house and?—”
She kisses me mid-sentence. A real smile finally pulls at her lips. “I’m great, and we have lots of time. How about today we go enjoy the party?”
“I can do that.” I stand, carrying her in my arms, out of our bedroom and downstairs.
“Jordan, I can walk,” she says as she clings to me.
I don’t set her down until we’re outside among our friends and my teammates. The music is loud, but I’m louder.
“We’re having a baby!” I yell over the noise in our back yard, and then I kiss my girl as everyone cheers and calls out around us.
Excitement and nerves pulse through me, but I’m not worried. With Daisy, I know life is always going to be sweet.
Before you go, I want to say thank you! From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful that you took a chance on my book.
Tutoring the Player and the entire Campus Wallflowers series changed my life.
These characters are so special to me. If you enjoyed it, then I hope you’ll tell a friend who loves fun, swoony, spicy romance!