Epilogue
CHRISTOPHER
Ten Years Later
Unfolding the magazine, I shoulder the door open and enter the living room.
The door closes with a soft thud behind me as I take another long look at the cover picture.
She looks angelic in this one. Thick ringlets of light brown hair drape over her milky shoulders, and her body is turned in a three-quarter pose away from the camera, but she smiles.
She opens one of those sweet smiles that make me fall in love all over again.
I wonder if there’s ever going to be an end to this falling-in-love cycle. Every day she gives me a new reason.
After putting my wallet and keys away, I stride to the couch and put my backpack down.
Another full day of teaching Urban Architecture, yet another day with students asking me about my famous wife.
I could spend the entire class talking about her, about her smarts, and how amazing she is, and something tells me some of my students wouldn’t even mind.
Athena has grown to be everything she dreamed of, and I’m proud to have stayed by her side every step of the way.
A small head peeks out from the corridor to the bedrooms. “Daddy?” the toddler asks, his curly dark hair poking in every direction.
“I’m home!” I reply, putting the magazine away and opening my arms to receive the darting toddler.
He races, chuckles ringing in the air, then jumps onto my lap.
It’s not smooth. He hits his stomach against my knee, but nothing stops him.
Children this age have a perfect contrast between resilience and fragility.
They can hit the ground head-first and not shed a tear about it, but then they sit too hard on the couch and sob their hearts out.
After climbing onto my lap and landing a knee on my crotch, he finally makes it to my arms. I hug him against my chest and kiss his curly hair. “Did you miss Daddy?” I ask.
“Candy, Daddy?” he asks, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.
I arch an eyebrow, pretending I’m offended. “You only come to me to ask for candy? I thought you missed me!”
“Well, I missed for the two of us,” my favorite voice in the world calls out. I look up to see Athena walking into the living room and, damn, my jaw drops like every other time.
Today, she’s in a loose dress, the fabric billowing around her ankles. No matter how loose it is, it doesn’t hide her full curves, the swell of her perfect breasts, or how big her stomach is with our second son. She opens a soft smile, her plump lips curling, and her eyes sparkle.
“Wow, woman,” I murmur in awe, reaching out an arm to grab her hand. “You look ravishing.”
“I look exactly like I looked in the morning,” she teases, taking my hand. “Maybe more tired.”
She picks up the magazine and sits next to me. I drop my arm over her shoulders, bringing her against my body. The smell of her still makes me hard on the spot, so I sit our toddler on my other side. He’s too good at kicking my balls. “Did you draw today, son?” I ask him.
He bobs his head in agreement. “I draw a tiger!” and he curls his fingers into claws and imitates the roar of a tiger.
I mess his hair. “Why don’t you grab it to show me?” And he sets off to his bedroom. I take the moment to turn to my wife. She cranes her neck and lets me kiss her sweet lips. “Since you’re tired, I’ll order takeout and massage your feet. What do you say?”
She hums in delight, then lifts the magazine to show it. “Why did you buy another one? You knew I was going to receive it.”
“Are you kidding? I want to buy all of them, but then people wouldn’t read the interview and they wouldn’t know how fucking amazing my wife is.”
She laughs, leaning into my shoulder. “Did you read it? Was it any good?”
I smile at her, then pluck the magazine from her fingers to read from the cover. “Athena Menken-Webber: greatest of the year. Outgrowing her mother and becoming the youngest Academy member.”
Athena’s cheeks go pink. “A little too much?”
“Not at all, and it doesn’t even begin to describe you.
I read the interview, and I think they were almost simplistic.
They talk about your excellence and hard work and about the museums and galleries you designed, but I think the part about your volunteer work was too short.
They didn’t put enough emphasis on you doing all that while being a wife and a mother. ”
“Many women have huge careers while they’re mothers,” she says.
“And they should be celebrated, too. Being a mom is already difficult, but being both? It’s damn hard work.
” I kiss her again and again, taking the magazine from her and throwing it over my shoulder.
Athena sighs against my lips, eyelids fluttering shut as my hand strokes her thigh.
My cock twitches in acknowledgment. “I should help you relax after such a hard day. Did the nanny take good care of him?”
“She did, but you know how much he misses me, so he keeps coming after me when I have to work.” She sighs again, and this time there’s a twinge of sadness on her pretty face. “Maybe I’ll have to go to the office, after all.”
I cradle her face, stroking her jaw. “Or maybe I should stop working and become a househusband.”
Her eyes go round. “What? No, you don’t have to. I can handle it.”
I shake my head. I’ve had this in the back of my mind for weeks now.
Curling a hand around her stomach, I kiss her face.
“No, I’ve been meaning to retire, anyway.
I’ll stay with the kids, and you can pursue your architecture dreams. I’ve already had enough time.
Now, I want to spend some time with my family. ”
Athena chews on her bottom lip. Shit, doesn’t she know this drives me crazy? She looks up at me, her eyes slowly becoming hooded. “We’ll talk about that later. Let’s have dinner and put him to sleep. You look like you’re about to rip my dress off.”
I let a hungry smile spill onto my lips. “How could you tell, baby girl?”
She shivers, and I know she’d be wet for me if I stuck my fingers between her legs.
Our son rushes back into the living room with a pile of drawings, and I have to suck it in so I can give him attention.
When Athena told me she was pregnant, I promised myself our children would never live through the same hardships she did.
They’ll receive all the love they need to grow into happy, healthy adults.
Love. This is all about love, and that’s the one thing I’ll never fail to give my family. Athena made me into this kind of man, and I will never forget who I became because of her.
THE END OF BOOK 13