Epilogue #4
“Morning.” Cash kissed his son’s head and then moved for the coffeepot where the love of his life currently stood eating a piece of toast. She was wearing his shirt and shorts, which was one of his favorite outfits, and she held a slice of buttered toast in one hand and a cup of coffee in another.
“How did you sleep?” he asked, planting a kiss on her lips before grabbing a mug.
“Good,” she answered. “Not long enough, though.”
“That would be my fault,” he whispered with a wink.
“I know.” She smiled conspiratorially. “You are such a bad boy.”
“Careful, Mrs.” He slapped her ass before spooning some eggs onto a plate. “I have to go to work.”
“You two are gross,” Clover said with an expression that said he was both embarrassed by his father’s romance and thrilled by the love that filled their house.
“Then eat your breakfast and don’t watch me kiss Sable,” Cash teased. “I’m actually running late, so we got to get moving if I’m going to drive you to school before my shift.”
“Sable’s taking me,” Clover said.
“I knew you would be tired, so I let you sleep,” Sable said. “I’ll drive him.”
“And she’s picking me up,” Clover said.
“I see how it is,” Cash said. “Sable gets home, and dear ole dad is chopped liver.”
“Pretty much,” Clover and Sable said in unison.
Cash rolled his eyes as he grabbed his son’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. “Okay, I know when I’m not wanted. You two have fun, but you better be ready to hang out with me when I get home for dinner.”
“Making scrambled eggs is all the cooking I plan on doing today,” Sable said. “Wanna pick up a pizza on your way home?”
“Do I want to pick up a pizza?” Cash asked as he and his son exchanged a smirk. “What, is she new here?”
“Okay, okay, you two!” Sable wrapped her arms around Cash’s shoulders. “You guys need me to eat healthy.”
“You mean like a rabbit?” Clover giggled, and Sable playfully flicked his ear.
“You’re hysterical,” she fake-laughed.
“Speaking of dinner, I wanted to run something by you,” Cash said. “This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I invited my parents to brunch at that garden place you like.”
“Oh, your mom will love the food there,” Sable said.
“And if not, at least you will,” Cash said. “I also called your mom. Your siblings are all doing brunch with their kids, so I invited your parents, too. They accepted as long as you’re okay with it, but our parents haven’t met each other yet. I think it’s time.”
“That’ll be fun,” Sable said, that weird look returning to her eyes. “My parents love Clover, and they obviously love me.”
“What about me?” Cash asked.
“You’re all right.” She squealed as he captured her waist and pulled her into his lap.
“Just all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, I put up with you.”
Cash buried his face into her neck, tickling her with kisses until she shrieked.
“Okay, okay, you are the most amazing,” she laughed.
“Better.” Cash kissed her lips before setting her back on the floor. “I’ll call our parents to confirm Sunday. It’ll be fun.”
“It will,” Sable agreed, and even though she tried to hide the sadness in her eyes, Cash saw it all the same.
“Okay, I have to go.” He shoved the last of his eggs into his mouth, kissed his son, and grabbed his keys on the way out the door.
He hated seeing the sorrow in his girl’s eyes.
He had a good idea what was causing her heartache, and he suspected that the incident at Clover’s school caused it.
He only hoped Sunday with her parents was the answer.
“Wow,” Clover’s voice sounded in the doorway, and Sable turned around to find the eleven-year-old gawking at her.
“You like the dress?” she asked, smoothing her palms over the skirt before giving a little twirl.
She’d bought a new sundress for their Mother’s Day brunch.
The floral pattern and flattering cut were magnificent on her, and while she owned many beautiful clothes, she needed a different type of armor for today.
She wasn’t worried about introducing the parents.
Her family was obsessed with Cash and Clover, just as his parents adored her.
She was confident brunch would be delightful, so that wasn’t why she’d donned the new dress.
No, she needed this extra shield because the restaurant would be filled with mothers.
Women who could go to their kid’s schools during emergencies and take care of their children.
But Sable wasn’t like those women. They’d received one such emergency call from Clover’s school a few months back.
Clover had been in a fight. He wasn’t the instigator, though.
Some boys had picked on a smaller kid, and Clover came to the child’s defense.
He’d gotten hurt in the altercation, and the principal called Cash to come pick up his son.
Only he’d been in the middle of an urgent museum meeting, so he’d asked Sable to get Clover.
Neither of them had thought anything of it.
The teachers knew her, but because this incident differed from after-school pickups, the staff refused to release the boy to her care because she wasn’t his mother.
Sable had to wait in the principal’s office until Cash got out of his meeting, and she’d been different ever since.
She didn’t want to be. Clover loved her.
Cash loved her. His parents loved her. It should be enough, but she wasn’t Clover’s mom, and she never would be.
A woman in prison who didn’t care for her own son claimed that right, and brunch would be a reminder of that.
“You look pretty,” Clover said. “Really, really pretty. Dad will lose his mind.”
“Why am I losing my mind?” Cash asked as he walked into the bedroom. “Holy shit, Sable… sorry, Clover. Don’t use that language.”
“See, I told you he would like it.” The boy beamed.
“Babe, you’re going to cause a riot at the restaurant.” Cash captured her in his arms. “Why do you always have to be so pretty? You make me look like a bum.”
“Have you looked in the mirror?” Sable kissed him, bursting into a laugh when Clover groaned.
It was a quick peck on the lips, something Clover saw every day, but he liked to tease them about their romance.
They’d sat him down once after she’d moved in and asked him if their PDA bothered him.
They’d assumed all his comments meant he was uncomfortable, and they promised to keep their touching to a minimum around him if that’s what he preferred.
Clover instantly burst into tears, which freaked both adults out until he made them swear to never stop kissing.
The parents of a boy in his class were divorcing, and Clover had witnessed some of the intense hatred between the couple.
It had terrified him. Because his father’s soulmate bond extended to him in the form of a parental bond, he never wanted Sable and Cash to break up.
He didn’t want to live in a home where his dad no longer loved his unofficial stepmom.
They agreed to always show how much they cared.
He agreed to tease them whenever he caught them kissing, and it had been a wonderfully fun exchange over the past few months.
“All right, are we ready?” Cash asked.
“Sable is,” Clover said. “If we give her any more time to get ready, she really will start a riot.”
“Sable, dear, you were right about this restaurant,” Cash’s mother Lily said as brunch came to a close. “What do they put in these waffles to make them so addicting?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll have another order to take home,” Sable’s mom Angora said. “Sweetheart, you’ve been holding out on us. How many times have we visited you, and you never brought us here?”
“It’s our little secret,” Sable joked as she grabbed Cash’s hand.
“I see how it is. You don’t love your own mother.
” Angora fake cried on her husband’s shoulder, but couldn’t keep the charade up for more than a few seconds before she started laughing.
She had ears just like her daughter, and while most of their kids looked like her husband or a blend of both parents, Sable was the spitting image of her mother.
“Oh, come on, Mom.” Sable rolled her eyes. “You usually visit for dinner. This isn’t really an evening place.”
“I know, I’m teasing,” Angora said.
“Why do I have the feeling you guys are going to stop visiting at night?” Cash asked.
“Well, I share Angora’s feelings,” Lily said. “You’ve been holding out on us. This was a fantastic Mother’s Day, thank you.”
“Yes, thank you.” Angora reached across the table and cupped her daughter’s cheek. “I’m so glad we did this. It was a wonderful day.”
“And Mother’s Day isn’t over,” Cash said. “Go ahead, Clover.”
“Okay.” The boy gave his dad an odd expression, and Sable pinched her eyebrows at the exchange. Had they planned a gift for the grandparents without her? She hadn’t gotten her mom anything other than this meal, and she was worried. Did she need to run out and buy—or steal—her mother some jewelry?
“Grandma, this is for you,” Clover said, handing Lilly a bag Sable hadn’t seen him bring into the restaurant, and her fears were confirmed. She would have to steal a necklace for her mother after this.
“Thank you, baby.” Lily accepted the gift and pulled the sparkly tissue paper out of the bag. “Oh my, look at this.” She withdrew a replica of the Precieux Egg and set it on the table.
“I made that myself in art class,” Clover said, his chest puffed up with pride. “We were supposed to make our mom’s presents, but I made this for you instead since… well, you know.”
“I do, baby.” Lilly pulled him into a hug, and Sable felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Clover had no mother to make gifts for, so he’d crafted the egg for his grandmother. Of course, she wanted the boy to be close to his grandparents, but it didn’t erase the sting.
“Do you like it?” Clover asked.
“I love it!” Lily passed it to her husband so he could see. “How did you make this look like the real thing?”