Epilogue
Ten months later
“Flip those!” Beck flapped his hand at Elliott who’d just lifted his tongs to the grill.
“Don’t tell me how to cook my steak,” Fitz grumbled, flipping it over.
“My house,” Beck retorted.
“I’m cooking.”
“No one asked you to.”
“Fair enough.” He stayed at the grill.
Able chuckled from behind them, nursing a beer at the outdoor table.
With all the steaks turned, Elliott’s gaze drifted to the windows to where Olivia sat on the floor with baby Autumn. Noa’d taken up residence on the couch with a cocktail in hand, and otter-Fern provided entertainment, bouncing around the living room, sliding off furniture like it was her job.
Although he was positive he had a dopey smile on his face, Elliott couldn’t take his eyes off his mate. Baby Autumn was cute too, but Fern? He loved her with every ounce of his soul. She was going to make such a great mom.
Ben exhaled loudly. “Get a load of this goof, overcooking dinner. Obsessed with his mate.”
“Like you’re any better,” Able said flatly, rubbing his new, thick beard.
Chuckling, Elliott got back to it, plating up their dinner so they could all head in to eat. They’d pick up outdoor dining again soon. The June days were warm, mostly, but the nights were still chilly without a fire.
Beck was right, Elliott was completely and utterly obsessed with Fern.
Fern’s otter chirped when they walked inside, and he hurried to deposit dinner on the table.
Bending down, he scooped her into his arms and carried her off to the front living room, out of sight of the rest of the group.
They all saw each other naked from time to time, it was inevitable when shifting in a group setting, but Elliott preferred to keep her for his eyes only. He wasn’t that selfless.
Nearly a year had passed since they mated, and his feelings had only grown stronger in the interim. Life was simple, just as they liked it. Elliott worked in his studio each day, and Fern joined him frequently, now more than ever.
The salon was hers, fully, with Ros finally moving into retirement back at the start of the new year.
And the eldest of the Tomlinson’s three kids finished high school and started working at the Big Chop full time, allowing Fern to keep a lighter schedule.
Fern focused on dye-jobs and nails while her stylist-in-training handled the cuts.
Fern cut his hair though—always.
She’d joined his business too, lending her talents as a painter to elevate his quirky pipe designs. Life was perfect.
Squirming from his arms, Fern’s otter hopped down and scampered around him in a circle before jumping up on a chair and shifting back.
Her sundress fluttered into existence beside her, a wild cacophony of teal and burnt orange that—when she had it on—highlighted the aquamarine she’d dyed the bottom layer of her hair.
“Come here,” Elliott rumbled, holding his arms out.
She stood from the chair and slunk over for a hug, letting him squeeze her ass and dip his fingers between her legs before she pushed him away. “Stop that, someone could walk in.”
“I can hear them all down in the living room.”
Rolling her eyes, she turned her back on him and bent over slowly to grab her dress from the floor, giving him the view he craved.
“Thank you.”
She laughed, stood, and pulled on her sundress. “Come on, let’s go eat.”
“The steak needs to rest another couple minutes.”
Groaning, Fern grabbed his hand, and dragged him back to the party.
She went straight for Autumn, scooping up the little bundle of love, who she’d been keeping occupied with.
The baby offered an excellent cover for the fact Fern hadn’t had a drink or joined Elliott to smoke all evening.
Watching her hold the infant, the way she ran her fingertips gently over Autumn’s soft dark curls, swelled his heart with bliss.
Glancing up, Fern smiled softly, her eyes sparkling as she sent a wave of joy right into him.
“Let me hold her,” he rumbled, holding up his arm, crooked at the elbow.
“I can take my daughter,” Ben offered, coming over with a beer in hand.
“Nah, I got it.” Elliott shook his head, enjoying the weight of the baby and the way she blinked up at him through dark brown eyes.
“Give me my baby,” Beck growled quietly, infusing a dash of alpha energy into his command.
“Jesus, dude, take her. I didn’t realize you were serious.”
Grinning, he shrugged. “I missed her.”
“She looked good on you,” Fern murmured, stepping up to Elliott’s side.
Accepting a beer from Noa, who’d just returned from the kitchen, he sat hard on one of the sofas and pulled his mate into his lap. “Well, cover me in ’em.”
“I plan to.” Running her fingers up his chest, Fern leaned in and whispered, “Kiss me before you taste like beer again.”
He did, pulling her lip between his teeth and nipping her gently, then hugging her and leaning in to whisper, “Should we tell them?”
“Mhm. Do you have my phone?”
“Yep, right here.” Elliott fished around in his pocket, pulled it out, and handed it over.
She texted Renata, “Answer!” then promptly started a video call.
“Hi, hi!” Ren’s round face popped up on-screen, smiling, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes the way it had when he’d first met her last year. “Hi, Elliott.”
“Hey, Ren.”
“Renata!” Olivia snatched Autumn from Ben and came closer to be heard.
“Who’s all there?” came from the speaker.
“Everyone.” Flipping her phone around, Fern showed Renata’s face off to the room. “Can someone take this for me?”
“Hi guys!”
Able stood from the couch opposite theirs and stepped closer. “Is there a reason for this call?” he asked, looking between Elliott and Fern.
“Yep,” Fern replied.
With a soft smile half hiding behind his beard, Adam reached for the phone. “I’ve got it.”
“Adam, hi!” Ren called. “Thanks for everything.”
He nodded.
“Gimme, I need to see my lovey.” Olivia snagged the cell away from Fern before Able had the chance, and he returned to his seat.
“It’s announcement time,” Noa said excitedly, clapping from the other sofa.
“Are we that obvious?” Fern asked, sliding off Elliott’s lap to stand.
He joined her, resting his chin on her head and bringing his hands around her hips, the tips of his fingers touching over where his child lay.
“Yeah,” Noa confirmed. “You’re really obvious.”
A solid sense of rightness settled over Elliott in that moment, the type that only came with time and couldn’t be captured by a two-and-a-half-week bonding frenzy.
This was his life. It had settled into place slowly over the past year, and it was more perfect.
More fulfilling than whatever “good enough” thing he’d had going before.
“Am I right?” Noa bounced up, rushing toward Fern.
“You better talk fast,” Liv said through a laugh.
Heart already overflowing from the general happiness of her life, Fern shouted out her news before the moment totally got away from them all, “We’re having a baby!”
Congratulations rang out around them, and Ben and Adam approached Elliott to clap him on the back.
“Figured,” Adam chuckled.
“It’s exhausting, but it’s so fun. You’re going to love it,” Ben said honestly, then yawned, equally as genuinely.
“When are you due?” Liv asked, plopping Autumn back in her mate’s arms so she could wrap Fern in a happy embrace.
“Group hug!” Ren yelled through the phone, somewhere near Fern’s ass.
“Sorry, lovey!”
“December, if we’re not off on dates,” Fern replied as Liv embraced her too tightly, hurting her tender breasts.
“Can I make your baby shower cake?”
“Of course.”
“I think I want to do it full time,” Liv said wistfully.
“Make cakes for me?”
Pulling Fern down on the couch, Olivia said, “Yeah. I keep thinking—between babies, birthdays, and weddings in Beckett Falls, there’s room for it. We’d need a new teacher, though.” Strategically—Fern realized—Liv’s eyes flew to meet Ren’s gaze through the phone.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Renata asked.
“Liv wants to start a cake company, and we need you to come here and be the teacher so she can get back in the kitchen,” Fern explained succinctly, earning a smack and a side-eye from Olivia.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Able asked from his seat next to Noa, back on his favorite couch across the room.
“Livvy’s going to start a cake company,” Ben began.
“Really?!” Noa exclaimed.
Fern rolled her eyes, letting them hash out their parallel conversation not eight feet away.
“I’ll do it,” Ren said with conviction. “You’re having a baby.” She pointed at Fern then at Liv as she added, “You have one. I can’t keep missing these things. It shouldn’t be too hard to overwrite my bad memories there.”
“Seriously?” Fern’s heart leapt, a smile creeping across her face.
“Seriously.”
“When?” Liv asked, holding the phone close to her face. “Because I’m not joking about this. I love teaching, but I’ve been baking more and more these past couple years, and—it’s what I want to do, deeply. Please come.”
“I will.” Ren laughed. “I’ll leave after this school year. I could come late this month? Next month?”
Fern’s eyes widened, and she caught Elliott watching her from across the room, his happiness met hers in a euphoric burst of bubbles behind her ribs. Adam started back across the room, joining the call.
“Are there any apartments for rent?” Renata asked.
Olivia grimaced. “Not right now. The only empty places while the rest of the new road’s under construction were over Reads & Roasts, but the family’s daughters live there now. You could stay with us, though—Northrop’s big.”
Ben looked aghast at the idea, and Fern snorted.
“I don’t want to impose on you. I can stay at the school or something?”
“You’re not sleeping at the school,” Olivia said with a scowl directed toward her mate.
“What about the house at Pella’s Pond?” Elliott suggested, joining the conversation.
Shooting down the idea, Ben said, “That’s for Max.”
“Your buddy’s not coming up here.” Noa laughed.
“That’s so far from the fun!” Fern whined.
“It’s like ten minutes by car—or less,” Elliott replied.
“No, too far.”
“I agree,” Liv backed Fern up.
“I’ll put her up at the Lodge,” Adam offered. “In one of the new cabins,” he tacked on.
“There are new cabins?” Ren’s initial horrified expression relaxed significantly. “Adam, that’s so generous of you.”
He sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “The town pays for the teacher’s housing anyway. I’ll make a little cash.”
Ren rolled her eyes, which Fern caught out of the corner of hers.
“This is perfect. Ben, this is my official resignation!” Liv called.
“Call Mulligan,” Ben replied, directing his mate to the mayor.
Their conversation devolved rapidly into several small pockets of chatter. Fern’s phone and Renata’s face went off with Olivia to talk teaching. Noa started asking Adam about his new cabins. Ben went to pull the vegetables out of the oven. And Elliott found his way back to Fern’s side.
“So what do you think?” he asked quietly, slotting himself next to her on the sofa.
“About?”
“Life, mostly.”
“I think I couldn’t be happier.”
He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, and she melted into him, stomach growling and otter chirping with joy.