Epilogue
“Porter, I can’t see where I’m walking!” Riley complained with a laugh.
Oz held a finger to his lips for Logan and Bria. They were giggling and skipping around him and Riley. He’d blindfolded her and brought her here for a surprise. He had his arm around her waist, guiding her so she didn’t fall.
It had been three months since Riley had almost died and his kids had been kidnapped, but everyone seemed to be thriving.
Bree was hilarious, and Oz loved seeing her personality come out more and more.
She absolutely loved her teacher at Gerry Linkous Elementary, Mr. Santoro.
And it seemed as if she had an affinity for the obstacle course on the Army post. An interest her gym teacher, Mrs. O’Brien-Santoro, cultivated.
Logan was thriving in his class as well. He’d move on to the middle school next year, but he’d made tons of friends in his new school. Baseball league was also a hit, and he couldn’t wait to get home on the days he had practice.
Oz hadn’t wasted any time in making Riley his wife.
She’d been right in that being married made things a lot easier as far as red tape and the military went.
He didn’t have to worry about a family care plan anymore, and she was able to get medical insurance and all the other perks that went along with being a military spouse.
They’d gone down to the courthouse, and then his teammates had thrown them a huge party at Brain and Aspen’s house.
Lefty and Kinley had flown to San Francisco the very next day, Lefty saying he wasn’t going to be the only guy living in sin with a woman.
He’d been kidding, but Kinley was more than happy to finally get married.
His parents had put together a quaint wedding in their backyard, and Lefty had said it was actually perfect.
Aspen was now showing, and Brain couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her pregnant belly.
Whenever they were standing next to each other, he was fondling her stomach.
The guys made fun of him for it, but Oz couldn’t blame him.
He and Riley had stopped using birth control, and he prayed every day that he’d knock her up.
He didn’t think it was normal for a guy to be so excited and impatient for his woman to get pregnant, but he didn’t give a shit. He wanted a baby with Riley. Now.
On top of everything else…Miles had hung himself shortly after being imprisoned, while awaiting trial.
It was surprising, as Oz hadn’t thought the man had the balls to do something so…
permanent. And he was secretly glad. Yes, he would’ve liked to have seen him pay for what he’d done to his family, but Bree and Logan would no longer have to relive what they’d been through during a trial, and it was a relief.
And now…today was a special day. He’d worked hard to keep what he’d been doing a secret from Riley.
Oz felt a little guilty that he’d been coming home late for a while now, but Riley, being as sweet as she was, never complained.
She took Logan to his baseball practice, played with Bree, helped them with their homework, and made sure they were fed.
She’d never gone back to her apartment after she’d been attacked. Oz didn’t blame her, and was more than happy that she’d moved in with him without a fuss.
He’d been in her apartment a few times, to help his teammates and their wives pack up her stuff, and it gave him the heebie-jeebies.
He couldn’t stop looking at the spot on the floor where Riley had been lying motionless.
Bless Doc, Grover, and the others, they’d stepped up and done all the moving for them.
But afterward, his apartment was packed to the gills with their stuff.
A two-bedroom was way too small for four people and all their belongings.
He and Riley had been talking about trying to find a three-bedroom apartment to tide them over until they could house hunt, but they hadn’t actually had the time to get it done.
And now it was time to show Riley his surprise.
The kids ran ahead, and Oz made sure Riley was safe and secure as he guided her forward. He stopped after a few more steps and took a calming breath. “You ready?” he asked.
Riley laughed again. “Porter, I’ve been ready for whatever this surprise is for what seems like forever. I know you’ve been up to something, but I haven’t asked about it. Let’s get this over with before you explode.”
Oz burst out laughing. He should’ve known he couldn’t keep anything from his very observant wife. “Right. Okay, hang on,” he told her as he fumbled with the tie at the back of her head. He got it loose and it fell around her neck as she blinked in the sudden bright light.
“Surprise!” Logan shouted.
“Happy new house!” Bree added.
Riley stared up at the large house in front of her in shock. “What? How… Oh, Porter!”
He smiled down at her. “Welcome home,” he said softly into her ear.
“It’s got six bedrooms. Plenty of room to expand our family, and there’s an office downstairs that will be perfect for you.
The kitchen’s been redone and the master bathroom is to die for…
especially the oversized shower. I’ve already found a housecleaner who can come every other week, because I know this place will be a bitch to keep clean.
Bria and Logan have already claimed their rooms.”
“Can we go in, Oz? Can we?” Logan shouted from the porch.
“Go!” he told them.
With a whoop of excitement, their kids disappeared through the front door.
“I can’t believe you bought a house!” she exclaimed.
“I’ve been saving money for a long time. And doing what I do pays well when you’re single.”
“What if the Army moves us?” Riley asked nervously.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. We can talk about renting it out or something, but I want us to live here. Raise our family here. I won’t always be in the Army, and I really like this area of Texas. Logan loves his school and his baseball team. I see good things for him in the future.”
“Six bedrooms?” Riley asked with a laugh.
Oz shrugged. “Go big or go home,” he said.
Riley turned, wrapping her arms around his waist and tilting her head back to look at him. The creamy skin of her neck was unblemished, and there wasn’t a mark left from her ordeal with her ex. Every time Oz looked at her, he thanked his lucky stars that she was still here.
“I guess it’s a good thing that we have so many bedrooms. I mean, in less than a year, we’ll have filled four of them.”
Oz nodded absently—then frowned. “Wait, what?”
“I’m pregnant,” Riley said softly. “Surprise!”
Oz was speechless. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie about it. Not with how hard you’ve been working to knock me up. Although…maybe I shouldn’t have told you just so I could enjoy your efforts for a few more months.”
Oz let out a yell and picked her up and spun her around in a circle before kissing her.
They were still making out when they heard Logan’s voice from the house. “Are you guys ever gonna stop kissing and come check out the house?”
Oz pulled back and stared down at the woman in his arms. He was at a loss for words.
“I love you,” Riley said.
“I didn’t fully know what those words meant, not really, until this year,” Oz told her.
Riley beamed at him. Then she said slyly, “When are we going to get to christen the new house?”
“Trigger and Gillian said they’d babysit tomorrow night,” he answered with a smirk.
“I love a man who plans ahead,” she said.
“And if you think I’m not going to fuck you as much or as often as I did when I was attempting to put my baby in you, you’re wrong. I need to make sure my son or daughter knows who their daddy is.”
Riley laughed. “I’m not sure it works that way.”
“Are you complaining?” he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Nope. No complaints here,” Riley said.
“Good. Now come on. Come examine your castle, my queen.”
Lucky watched Devyn from across the yard. They were all at Oz’s new house, breaking it in with a rousing housewarming party slash wedding receptions for Lefty, Brain, and Oz. Logan and Bree were running around the yard, hyped up on too much sugar from the s’mores they’d made on the firepit earlier.
Everyone was there. Trigger, Gillian, Lefty, Kinley, Brain, Aspen, Doc, Grover, and Devyn. Winnie, Brain’s ninety-one-year-old neighbor, had shown up with her granddaughter, and her new husband, Rocket. There were even some of Oz’s new neighbors in attendance as well.
The mood was relaxed and festive. The Deltas all did their best to enjoy their downtime because they never knew when they’d be called to head out on a mission.
Things in the world seemed more volatile now than they had in a very long time.
Skirmishes were breaking out all over the world, and tensions were high across borders.
Drugs were out of control, terrorists were ramping up to wreak havoc against their supposed enemies, and North Korea was always a threat.
Sometimes Lucky despised his job, hated seeing the lack of respect for human life, but the times they got to rescue people, or make a difference in a significant way, made it all worthwhile.
And he’d been lucky enough to be on more missions with positive outcomes than negative ones.
Lucky might be “lucky” in life, and with his job, but he was definitely striking out when it came to love. He wanted what his friends had. And there was only one woman he wanted it with.
Devyn Groves. Grover’s sister.
She’d come to Texas a while back now, but as much as he tried to get close to her, she’d kept him at arm’s length the whole time. Lucky didn’t know why, but it depressed him.