Epilogue
MAX
SIX MONTHS LATER
The ornate frame of the full-length mirror in the groom’s suite reflected my anxious face; I tugged at my bow tie, the starched fabric feeling stiff and uncomfortable against my neck.
I didn’t know why I was nervous. There had been no reservations when I’d proposed to Stella a month after her and Charlie’s abduction.
So, why was the fact that I was going to be walking down the aisle to my forever, giving me heart palpitations?
I had known, as soon as I had stepped foot out of the hospital the night of their rescue, that I wasn’t going to wait to ask her to marry me. I already had the ring hidden in a shoebox at the top of my closet. How Stella had managed to avoid it still baffled me to this day.
I had taken her to the cove on one of our weekly “parents’ day out” dates, the ring burning a hole in my pocket the whole way there.
Remembering our first trip, Ray and I had carefully packed a picnic basket, the familiar weight of it a comforting echo of the day I’d fallen in love with Stella Jacobsen.
Giving in to a wave of nostalgia, I decided on another fondue dessert night, the rich smell of melted chocolate filling the air around us.
Since the weather had cooled significantly, bringing in the brisk evening air of fall, the fireflies weren’t as prevalent.
I had wanted to wait until the first week of May to bring her here, just like Ma had done for Wade and me, but life was short and we weren’t ever promised tomorrow.
I couldn’t wait one more day to have my ring on Stella’s finger and the promise of forever.
After we had eaten, I drew Stella in between my legs, wrapping my arms around her to stave off the cold. As she leaned back into my chest, I crested my lips down the gentle column of her throat, feeling her pulse beat steadily beneath my lips.
“Marry me,” I whispered, the words hanging in the air, heavy with unspoken emotion.
“Okay,” she replied simply, like I had just asked her to take out the trash or pick something up at the store.
I turned her in my arms, allowing her legs to straddle my thighs, as I reached into my pocket to grab the ring. I held the glittering diamond between us, its facets catching the moonlight, causing it to twinkle and glow, just as the fireflies had once done.
“Marry me,” I repeated, holding the ring out for her to take. I was a man of many words, but Stella always rendered me speechless. We didn’t need words to express how we felt about each other, we just felt; raw and unfiltered.
“Max...” she whispered, my name barely audible above the sound of her own ragged breathing and the soft sobs escaping her lips. She looked up to meet my gaze, her emerald eyes meeting mine and reflecting all the love we felt between us.
I placed my hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears that continued to fall.
“Marry me, Stella. You and Charlie are my entire world. I can’t imagine a future without you in it.
I told you once that I want all of you. I want your morning bed head, your mid day laughter, and your night time yawns.
I want to watch Charlie grow up, never missing another moment.
I want to create a life together, one that may or may not involve miniature versions of us so Charlie can have a sibling. . or three.”
She chuckled and wrapped her slender fingers around my wrist, holding my hand to her cheek. The tenderness in her gaze told me everything I needed to know; she was just as lost to me as I was to her.
“What do you say, Trouble? Will you put me out of my misery and marry me?”
“Of course, Cowboy.”
We had opted for a small ceremony in town at the Mayfair.
Connie had been more than happy to facilitate, even offering up complementary rooms for Stella and me to get ready in.
We had opted to sleep separately the night before, leaning in to tradition, though it killed me not to roll over and pull her into my warm embrace in the middle of the night.
Our family therapist had said it would be a good test of our healing to sleep apart the night of our wedding, leaning into the strength we both had gained through counseling.
Just as I straightened my bowtie for the fiftieth time, the door to my room burst open and a tiny tornado came rushing in, throwing herself at my legs.
“Dad!!” Charlie yelled, the tulle of her dress surrounding her in a cloud, like a loofa gone awry .
“Hey, little one. Shouldn’t you be with Mama, helping her get ready?
” I asked as I leaned down to pick her up.
Her ringlets were tamed back into a semblance of a bun, a tiny crown of white wildflowers sitting atop her head.
She leaned her head onto my shoulder and I did my best to shift as to not mess up her clearly styled updo.
“Mama, SUPISE!” she shouted, throwing her hands in the air as if she’d scored the game-winning touchdown. My brow furrowed in confusion as I tried to put together what she could mean. Before I even had a chance to form the slightest idea, all thoughts flew from my head as Stella rounded the corner.
Her long blonde hair, styled in old Hollywood starlet waves, framed her slender face, cascading around her like a waterfall.
Her makeup was simple, a faint tinge of blush, some mascara, and a soft nude lipstick.
She had opted for a simple dress, a slim fitting floor-length gown in a soft cream satin, the bust strapless and accenting her perfect breasts.
She held out her hands and did a little twirl, showing off the back of the dress that hugged her hips and full ass, highlighted by a trail of buttons that acted as a runway to one of my favorite parts of her body.
As I struggled to pick my jaw up off the floor, she came closer, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. I struggled to find the words to express her ethereal beauty, but fuck, was she beautiful. I couldn’t believe that in less than an hour, this woman would be mine forever.
“Cat got your tongue, Cowboy?” she teased, reaching out to straighten the bowtie that I’d been fighting for the last half hour.
I scraped a hand over my freshly shaven face, pretending to wipe drool from the corners of my mouth. “Stella, fuck.” I breathed, unable to form a coherent sentence .
“Bad word.” Charlie scolded. Her new favorite thing was to call us out on anything and everything, cussing included.
Nine times out of ten, a frustrated sigh would precede her little foot stomp and hands-on-hips stance, a clear signal that our lack of compliance was unacceptable.
It happened constantly around the house.
Clothing left on the floor? Charlie foot stomp.
Forgot to put away the milk? Charlie foot stomp.
Didn’t get out of bed exactly when she wanted you to? Charlie foot stomp.
Half the time, I didn’t know whether to laugh or remind her that her mother and I were the parents of the household, but all she had to do was bat her little eyelashes in my direction, and I was a goner.
“Stella, baby, you look…” I took her hand in mine and twirled her out so I could get another good look at her.
Charlie clapped from my other arm, enjoying watching her mama twirl around in her princess gown.
I pulled Stella in close, my lips just a breath away from her ear, attempting to speak without little ears overhearing.
“You look fucking stunning, Mrs. Daniels.” I said, placing a gentle kiss to right below her ear. The catch in her breath was enough to have my dick springing to life.
“Save it for after the ceremony,” she scolded, a wicked smile playing on her lips. “But I wanted to give you something before we made things official.”
She reached into the clutch she had deposited on the table just inside the door, pulling out a small white envelope.
She brought it over to me and held it out between her fingers.
Hesitantly, I took the envelope from her hands and ran my finger under the seam, sliding it open.
I pulled the piece of paper from its resting place and unfolded it .
For the second time in a matter of minutes, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
Mass Da,
Today, Mama gets your last name, but what if I want it too? You are already the best daddy I could ever ask for. Can we make it official? Will you adopt me?
Charlie
I battled to hold back the tears, but the salty flood finally spilled over, tracing a path down my face.
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking up at Stella, who was fighting back tears of her own.
Reaching for my hand and twining our fingers together, she smiled up at me and brushed the tears from my cheeks. “I’d wish on all the fireflies on this green earth. She already calls you Dad. Why don’t we make it official?”
I looked down at Charlie and smiled. A judge’s gavel would make it official; she would legally be mine, and we’d be a real family, a unit bound by law.
“What do you say, little one? Want to be a Daniels?” I asked, lightly tickling her sides. She reached her chubby hands out and placed one on either side of my face, squishing my cheeks together affectionately.
“Lub yew Dad.”
The ceremony had gone off without a hitch and Stella and I were officially married. The grin plastered to my face, a ridiculous, ear-to-ear stretch, was offensively large; I knew I had the two best girls on the planet by my side.
I watched from the head table while sipping on a whiskey as Stella and Charlie dominated the dance floor. It was well past Charlie’s bedtime; however, this wedding was about her as much as it was about us.
From across the dance hall, I spotted Wade, seated at a table with a clear glass of dark liquor in hand.
I raised my glass in a silent salute as he raised his back.
It wasn’t lost on me that there was a darkness in his gaze that hadn’t been present just six months prior. He seemed haunted, hollow, lost.
I knew that he would brush it off as just a long day, but I made a mental note to talk to him about it, or at the very least, talk to Ray to make sure he was coping okay.
Stella, Charlie, and I had all gone through multiple weeks of therapy.
Each one of us had demons that needed to be addressed.
Thankfully, Charlie was young and wasn’t going to have much recollection about the events she’d been forced to play witness to, but Stella and I had a long road ahead to healing.
I worried that Wade wasn’t coping well, especially since he had refused therapy.
His healing had been extensive, and he was still dealing with some lingering pain.
He had spent almost three months in physical therapy, regaining the strength and mobility in his legs.
Although his gait had mostly returned to normal, a subtle limp occasionally betrayed his injury, a barely perceptible hitch in his step.
He hadn’t so much as tacked up a horse after being told he wasn’t going to be able to ride again.
I knew that it was a tough pill to swallow.
For Wade, riding was more than just a hobby; it was a balm for his soul, the feel of the horse beneath him a comforting presence.
Having that stripped away was like taking away one of his limbs.
I hoped he was talking to someone, anyone, even just Ray, to ease the weight of his grief.
A sweaty and panting Stella plopped into the chair beside me, reaching for the beer she had left on the table before dancing the night away. The way her throat bobbed as she swallowed was intoxicating, her delicate movement arousing a storm of lust within me.
Charlie plodded over, the weight of exhaustion hanging heavy over her head.
I brushed her sweat slicked hair that had fallen from her bun away from her face and picked her up to settle her on my lap.
She nuzzled into my warm embrace, closing her eyes as sleep fought to overtake her.
Stella laughed, the sound bubbling up from deep inside, as she rubbed a hand over Charlie’s back, offering the gentle, warm comfort only a mother could provide.
“Someone’s tired.” I said softly, leaning down to kiss Charlie on top of her head. Her breathing had evened out, and she was dead weight in my arms.
Stella leaned over to whisper in my ear, “The night is young, Mr. Daniels. Take us home?” she purred.
I responded by gripping the back of her neck and pulling her to me for a searing kiss. “With pleasure, Mrs. Daniels.”
The End