Epilogue
If someone had told Amelie three months ago that she would be living in Florida with Grant and the boys, planning a wedding, and spending Valentine’s Day making heart-shaped pancakes, she would have laughed in their face.
Yet somehow, here she was.
The last two months had been a whirlwind. The boys had settled into their new school far more easily than she had expected.
Grant had somehow gone from absent father to parent of the year in record time, though she suspected his willingness to buy ice cream whenever they asked had something to do with it.
As for her business, she was still working through the transition from Norway.
Most of her operations remained there for now, but she had already started setting up a new headquarters in Florida.
The process was exhausting, but every time she looked around the beautiful home she now shared with Grant and the boys, she knew it was worth it.
Life was good. It was everything she had once dreamed about.
Which was precisely why she was currently trying, and failing, not to bounce in excitement as she carried a small gift box toward the dining room table.
Valentine’s Day had fallen on a Saturday that year, which meant no school for the boys and no work for Grant.
Grant was sitting at the kitchen table, and she had just called the boys downstairs for breakfast.
Grant looked up from his coffee and smiled as she approached.
She set the wrapped box down in front of him.
“What’s this?” he asked.
Amelie smiled. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said and pecked him on the lips.
Grant quirked one of his eyebrows. “I thought we agreed to no gifts.”
She grinned. “I couldn’t resist.”
Grant looked suspicious as he picked up the gift. “Should I be worried?”
“Maybe.”
“That isn’t reassuring.”
Amelie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning as he removed the lid.
The moment his eyes found what lay inside, Grant went utterly still. The box sat open in his hands as he stared down at it.
Then, slowly, his head lifted, and his gaze found hers with a weight that made her breath catch.
“Is this...” His voice cracked, emotion immediately creeping in. “Is this for real?”
The look on his face nearly undid her. Grant Carter had faced combat zones, was raising two teenage boys, and negotiated multi-million-dollar business deals without blinking, yet at that moment, he looked completely overwhelmed.
A laugh escaped her. “Apparently, Christmas seems to be my fertile season.”
For a second, he looked confused. “What?”
She shrugged. “Remember, it’s when I got pregnant with the twins, too.”
The realization hit him immediately. His eyes widened before a watery laugh escaped him. “Oh, my God.”
He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up. He pulled her into his arms. “I can’t believe this! You’re really pregnant?”
When she nodded, emotion filled his eyes so quickly it stole her breath. “A baby,” he whispered.
Then he kissed her.
The twins chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, only to skid to a halt.
“Eww!” Tyler’s face scrunched like he had bitten into a lemon. “Gross!”
“Don’t ruin our appetite,” Trevor added as he crossed the room and took his seat at the table.
Grant broke the kiss, pulled back, and grinned. Amelie felt her cheeks warm, but she was laughing already, the sound bubbling up helplessly.
Tyler narrowed his eyes. “Why are both of your eyes red, but you're laughing? Did Trevor and I miss something?”
“Yeah,” Trevor agreed. “Did Mom get you a puppy or something?”
Grant laughed and finally turned back toward the table. Picking up the box, he held it up for the boys to see.
“Your mother brought home a souvenir from Zermatt.”
Both boys leaned forward. A second later, their expressions froze. The realization arrived almost simultaneously.
“No way.”
“Seriously?”
Amelie nodded, unable to stop smiling.
For a brief moment, neither boy spoke. Then both launched out of their chairs at nearly the same time.
“Mom’s pregnant?”
“We’re having a baby?”
The excitement that followed was immediate and absolute chaos. Questions flew from every direction as the twins talked over each other.
“When is the baby coming?”
“Can we help pick a name?”
“What if it’s a girl?”
“What if it’s a boy?”
“Can I teach them to play football?”
“Can I teach them to play video games?”
Grant sat back laughing while Amelie tried and failed to answer any of them.
The interrogation might have continued indefinitely if Tyler hadn’t suddenly stopped talking.
His eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between Grant and Amelie.
Then his eyes widened as he moved back to Grant.
“Oh, my God,” he said, slapping his hand against his forehead.
“What?”
“We told you, but you didn’t listen to us. You didn’t use protection.”
The dining room fell completely silent.
Amelie nearly inhaled her orange juice.
Beside her, Grant closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as Trevor gasped dramatically.
“Dad! Remember, we had that conversation.”
Grant slowly lowered his hand and stared at both boys. “I cannot believe this is the conversation we’re having.”
The twins immediately lost whatever composure they had left and dissolved into laughter.
Amelie laughed so hard that tears filled her eyes while Grant muttered something about never surviving fatherhood with twin boys.
As Amelie looked around the room at the family she had once believed she would never have, her heart felt so full she thought it might burst.
Grant sat beside her, shaking his head while the boys continued mercilessly teasing him, and for the first time in her life, she wasn’t wondering what came next or worrying about what she might lose.
She was exactly where she was meant to be. Her life was messy, loud, chaotic, and absolutely perfect. And as she rested her hand over her stomach and looked at the people she loved most in the world, she couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for all of them.