9. Epilogue — Dove
TEN YEARS LATER
“Hey! No running inside the house!” I bark as a cluster of ten-year-old girls race past me, squealing at decibels that shouldn’t be humanly possible. Two of them clutch balloons like weapons. Another trails a streamer behind her like a war banner.
Aurora, our birthday girl, flashes past me with a grin. “Sorry, Dad!” she calls without slowing down in the slightest. A few seconds later, my second-oldest, Sage, also runs past, desperately trying to keep up. “Wait for me!” she calls, her dark hair flying behind her as she runs.
I’m about to call out another warning when a tiny hand tugs at my leg. I look down to see my youngest, Iris. She holds up a construction paper card covered in glitter that will no doubt be embedded in our floorboards until the end of time. “Daddy, look what I made.”
“That’s beautiful, sweetheart,” I say, crouching down to examine it properly. “Very pretty.”
More squeals erupt from the living room. Goddamn, they’re loud. Three daughters in one house is always a circus, but today is pushing the limits of what my eardrums can take.
I make my way to the kitchen, seeking momentary refuge. Ellie stands at the counter, carefully lighting candles on a cake shaped like a penguin.
“I think they’re planning a full-scale rebellion out there,” I say, watching her work.
Ellie laughs without looking up from her task. “The mighty glaciologist, terrified of little girls.”
“They’re feral. And our daughter is their queen.”
“Just like her father, commanding a room.” She lights the final candle and straightens up. “There. Perfect.”
I step beside her to admire the cake she spent hours making. Meanwhile, Ellie’s expression shifts. “Dove, she’s ten. How is she ten years old already?”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “I have no fucking idea.”
She leans into me. “We’ve been parents for a decade.”
I kiss her temple. “And you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She rolls her eyes but smiles. “Charmer.” She picks up the cake. “Ready to face the horde?”
I hold the door open for her. “Let’s do this.”
Hours later, after cleaning up the mess of the party, convincing our girls that they needed to eat a real dinner instead of just more cake, and getting them tucked in, I collapse into bed. Every muscle in my body aches.
“Why did we let her invite so many kids?” I groan.
Ellie emerges from the bathroom in her underwear and one of my old t-shirts. “Because Aurora gave you those big puppy dog eyes and you caved immediately.”
“Not true. I held out for at least a full minute.”
She slides under the covers beside me. “Mmhmm. Sure you did.” She nestles against my side, her head finding its usual spot on my shoulder. “I know today was exhausting, Dove. But Aurora was really, really happy.”
I sigh, knowing I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. “Fine. The girls can keep having birthday parties.”
Ellie traces lazy patterns on my chest with her fingertip. “You know what sounds so nice right now? A vacation.”
I nod. “Yeah. We should go to Alaska. Show the girls where their old man did some of his early fieldwork.”
“You want to take three children to the Alaskan wilderness?” She raises an eyebrow. “I was thinking somewhere more like…I don’t know. Hawaii.”
“Alaska has glaciers. And bears.”
“That’s your selling point? Bears?” She laughs. Then her hand drifts lower, brushing over my cock through my boxers. “Nope, pretty sure we should go somewhere warm.”
I can barely think as her hand brushes over me. “I’m open to negotiation.”
“Are you?” Her fingers slip beneath my waistband, wrapping around my hardening cock. “Does this help?”
“Mm-hmm.”
She slides down my body, pushing back the covers. “And this?” She presses a kiss to the head of my cock, her breath warm against me.
“ Fuck , Ellie.”
Her lips curve into a smile as she takes me into her mouth. The wet heat of her tongue against me makes my head drop back against the pillow. She works me with slow, deliberate movements, knowing exactly how to drive me crazy after all these years.
Then she pulls back. “So we’re going to Hawaii?”
I groan at the loss of her mouth. “You fight dirty, woman.”
She laughs. “I’m only teasing. I love making you feel good, Dove.”
She returns her attention to my cock, taking me deeper this time. Her mouth is hot and perfect, and the sight of her head bobbing up and down scrambles my brain. I tangle my fingers in her hair, guiding her movements.
“Jesus, Ellie,” I groan as she increases her pace. “You’re going to make me explode.”
The pressure builds at the base of my spine, pleasure coiling tight as she works me with her mouth and hand in perfect rhythm. When I come, it’s with a deep groan, my body shuddering as I spill into her mouth.
She swallows my cum and licks her lips, looking up at me with a satisfied smile. I reach for her, pulling her up to straddle my lap. Her warm weight on top of me feels like home. I capture her mouth in a deep kiss.
“You’re incredible,” I tell her, sliding my hands beneath her shirt to cup her breasts. “Fucking perfect.”
My thumbs brush over her nipples, feeling them harden under my touch. I smooth my hands down her sides, over the soft fullness of her hips, marveling at her body. The stretch marks on her stomach and thighs only make her more beautiful to me.
My cock stirs again beneath her. I reach between us, guiding myself to her warm cunt. She’s soaked, her body more than ready for me. I ease into her, both of us groaning at the sensation.
“God, Dove,” she gasps, rocking against me. “You fill me up so good.”
I grab her hips, guiding her movements as she rides me. Her breasts bounce with each thrust, and I can’t resist leaning up to take a nipple into my mouth. She moans, her pussy tightening around me.
“I love you,” I say against her skin. “So fucking much.”
“I love you too,” she pants, her movements growing more frantic as she chases her pleasure.
When she comes, it’s with my name on her lips, her pussy clamping down on my cock in rhythmic pulses. The sensation triggers my own release, and I thrust up into her one final time, cursing as I come deep inside her.
We collapse together, breathing hard. I hold her close against my chest, feeling our heartbeats slow in tandem.
“Hawaii it is,” I murmur against her hair.
She laughs softly. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
I watch her face as she drifts toward sleep, wondering how the hell I got so lucky. More than a decade together, and I’m still just as obsessed with her as I was at the start. It amazes me every day that this incredible woman loves me back—that she chose me, built a life with me, gave me three perfect daughters who are the best parts of both of us.
Thanks to Ellie, I know the greatest truth of the world: when it comes to the power of love, nothing else comes close.