Epilogue #2
I scoff, pulling out of her as our mess drips from her pretty pussy. I’m enraptured by the sight of our combined arousal, thick and clear as it drops onto the counter.
Melody hums in the back of her throat before swiping a finger through her glistening folds and shoving it past her lips as she makes eye contact with me.
“Fuck it,” I shake my head before advancing on her and snatching the hair at the nape of her neck. “Round two.”
Twenty minutes later, the bathroom looks like a hurricane swept through it. There’s liquid sprayed across the floor tiles, we broke the corner of the mirror when I pressed back and jammed my hand into it, and the pump soap is just…gone.
We can’t find it. At all.
“Mom is going to kill us,” my wife hisses as she looks around the counter.
“I’ll buy her another one,” I shrug as I crouch down and check behind the toilet.
Melody slowly peers over at me, her lips thin. “What scent was it, Kaden?”
I blink. “Uh, passion fruit?”
Her head tilts.
“You can’t expect me to pay attention to soap while you’re sitting on the damn counter with your tits out. I’m weak.” I protest.
She giggles before curling her hand around my bicep and dragging me up from the floor. “Let’s just make ourselves look presentable, and we can figure out the soap thing later.”
We wince at our reflection in the broken mirror. Melody’s golden curls are mussed and tangled. My hair is sticking up, and I’m pretty sure there’s a patch missing…
“We look horrible,” I snort.
Melody produces a loud laugh before tucking her head into my chest as her shoulders shake. My smile turns amused as I attempt to fix her strands and wipe away the smeared mascara that’s gathered under her eyes.
“There’s my beautiful wife,” I grin before kissing her.
Her smile turns to a wince as her hand lifts to my hair, and she presses gently into the patch that’s probably somewhere on the floor. “Sorry…”
“You could make your own wig at this point,” I joke as I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close.
She cups my face, humming. “When you go bald, we’ll already have the combover ready.”
“A combover?” I gasp in horror. “I thought you loved me.”
She smiles, her eyes dipping to my lips. “So very much.”
“Alright!” I announce, standing on a rock as the creek rushes below me. “Let the competition begin!”
Melody has her hands wrapped around Oliver’s as he giggles and dips his toes under the water. She’s smiling softly at him as he explores nature and takes in the place that once meant so much to us.
It’s a blessing to get to share this with our kids. What started out as a simple ritual became something we shared—and now it’s tradition. Our lives have come full circle, and I only hope our kids get the same joy from it as we once did.
Posey steps up on the rock beside me, tossing a flat stone in her hand as she smirks. “Hope you’re ready to hear about numbers at dinner.”
“Dream on, flower,” I smart.
“What did I say about the trash talking?” Melody warns.
“Sorry, Mom,” Posey winces.
“I’m not sorry,” I shrug. “I’m an adult—”
My wife’s head whips around to me as she glares knives into my skull. My lips pull over my teeth. “Yup. I’m sorry too.”
“Losers go first,” Posey says as she observes her rock as if our whole competition is uninteresting.
I have to give it to the kid; she would play one hell of a game of poker.
I flip my rock in the air before rearing my elbow back and sending it across the water’s surface. One, two, three skips before it sinks under the stream.
I place my hands on my sides as I turn to my daughter. “Beat that.”
The little gremlin doesn’t even bat an eye as she rears back and chunks it with so much force that the wind whooshes. The stone skips, my heart dropping when it doesn’t sink on the third one. Five. She gets five skips.
She turns her smug, proud little face towards me, her eyes shining. “Beat it.”
My mouth falls open in shock before I scrub a hand across my lips. “Nah, best two out of three.”
“We said we were only doing one this time!” She exclaims, throwing her hands up. “You’re just mad you lost!”
“Best two out of three,” I push.
“If you two are going to argue, then I’m ending the game here.” Melody calls.
My daughter and I stare at each other, a silent conversation passing between us before I wrap a faux, sportsmanship arm around her shoulders and shake her.
“We aren’t arguing,” I say, my voice going high.
“Nope,” my daughter nods with a tight smile.
Melody narrows her eyes before bending down to show Oliver a minnow.
I lower my lips to Posey’s ear as I whisper. “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it.”
She turns a glare over her shoulder at me. “Try it, old man.”
Old?
OLD?!
“I’m thirty-two,” I stress.
“In dog years,” she giggles.
I deadpan at her before shoving her off the rock and right into the stream.
“Kaden!” Melody screeches, meanwhile, our five-year-old is laughing so hard she can’t breathe as the water soaks into her outfit.
One expensive pair of jeans ruined for a core memory. I’ll face my wife’s wrath later.
The kids explore, sticking close to us as Melody pads through the mud to stand beside me. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple tenderly as we watch our legacy.
She tucks a hand into my chest, smiling softly at the scene of Posey catching a flipping fish. “This is nice, but I can’t help but think it could be better…”
My brows lift. “Too much mud?”
She chuckles as she rests her head on my shoulder. “No… I was thinking maybe an extra set of little toes in the water…”
My head swivels to her. “You’re…”
She smiles sheepishly as she nods, her eyes becoming glassy. “I am.”
I sweep her into my arms, spinning her as she giggles and peppers my face with kisses. Our kids have no idea what has us celebrating, but I have every reason to give praise for the life Melody has given me.
Here’s to many more years with the woman I’ve loved since the beginning. The same woman who’s given me everything I’ve ever wanted.
My Melody.