Epilogue
British birdsong drifted through the open window. Even on early mornings like this, when she’d been up for most of the night and couldn’t even remember falling asleep, Libby would never tire of hearing it.
Beside her, the bed was empty. Dan’s bunched-up pillow was the only evidence that he’d been there at some point.
Fuzzy headed, she crept up the hall, passing Karim’s bedroom and making sure not to trip over the school bag and shoes he’d discarded in a hurry yesterday afternoon.
Through the crack in the door, he was still fast asleep and sprawled out on his bed.
His duvet was half on the floor, revealing the dinosaur underpants Carina had bought him last week.
Eight now, Karim was becoming all legs and arms and loved nothing more than spending time on the track where Dan coached.
A half-cry, half-murmur from the next room drew Libby farther.
The soft chair by the window was filled with Dan, his long legs taking up most of the floor space.
Like he’d been zapped with a sleep laser, his head lolled back, and on his chest, cradled in the crook of his arm, was Laila.
Ten weeks old, and a demon at night. Seriously, this baby was something else.
The only place she settled at night was on Dan’s chest. Not that Libby could blame her. It was her favorite spot, too.
Laila stirred and screwed up her face, and before she could scream the house down to demand her milk, Libby eased her from Dan’s chest. He jolted awake.
“Hey,” Libby whispered. “Sorry. I didn’t want Her Highness waking Jamal.”
Jamal, their three-year-old, also displaying Carina’s dinosaur underpants, was still fast asleep in the little bed on the other side of the room, his covers thrown off like Karim’s. Those boys threw out some heat when they slept.
Dan eased himself out of the chair, wincing a little.
His body had stiffened up again, not just through the injuries he’d once received, but also from so many years of pushing his body to the limit.
Sleeping in the armchair wasn’t good for him, but he insisted he didn’t mind if it stopped Laila from crying.
“Go lie on the bed,” Libby whispered. “We’ve got a couple hours before the school run.”
Dan didn’t need to be told twice. By the time Libby had followed him back to their room, he’d already flopped onto the bed and buried his face in the pillow.
Laila squirmed in her arms, on the verge of her usual meltdown.
“I know, I know,” Libby cooed. “You’ve been kept waiting longer than a second. How dare I?”
“She’s the devil,” Dan groaned.
“Yeah, but she’s so cute, isn’t she?” With her free hand, Libby grabbed the large cushion she kept on the floor and laid it against the headboard. Once she’d settled upright in bed, she latched the baby to her breast.
“Her cuteness is the only thing she’s got going for her,” Dan grumbled.
Libby snickered. Of course, he adored the baby. Just like he adored Jamal and Karim.
And they adored him back.
Karim was Dan’s shadow, and after four years living in England, he’d even developed a British accent. It was the weirdest yet cutest thing, but seeing as all his friends and his cousins—Femi’s and Gabi’s kids, who he loved playing with—all spoke the same way, it was also very natural.
They’d first come back to England after traveling around Australia in a camper van—a much larger camper van than the one Libby had first planned to drive.
Dan had just about filled the living space, but they’d had a ball recording their travels in a hugely popular video series that was still getting a ton of views today.
After Australia, they’d spent a year traveling back and forth to the US while they sorted out visas and their wedding and then eventually moved permanently to Somerset, in the southwest of England.
They didn’t live far from Dan’s mom and sisters, having moved into their current home a week before Jamal was born.
Speaking of which…
That deep-breathing thing Jamal did when he was gearing up to holler out was unmistakable.
“The other devil is awake,” Libby whispered.
“No…” Dan buried his face in the pillow. “Too early. He’ll go back to sleep.”
“Daddy!”
“Ugh.” Dan hauled himself out of bed.
Libby winced. “Not quite the Part Five you were always dreaming of, huh?”
“Surely, we’re on at least Part Ten now?”
Libby giggled.
Jamal yelled louder.
“Daddy’s on his way, squirt!” Dan turned back to her. “And no, you’re right. This isn’t the Part Five I was always dreaming of.” He kissed the top of her head. “It’s a million times better.”
The End