Epilogue
Archer
Three weeks later…
Callum has spent the last five minutes sniffing each container of Chinese food.
We’re all dressed in sweats on a cold, rainy afternoon, relaxing in our home theater, ready to enjoy some food and watch a couple of movies.
“Quit sniffing the Kung Pao chicken; it smells fine.” June snags the white takeout container from Callum and pops a piece of chicken in her mouth, chewing happily. “Lucia recommended this place, and she said she never got sick.”
Callum watches her with a furrowed brow. “What happened to the last place?”
“Lucia said it closed down. It had a bunch of health code violations. It was even in the news,” June says.
From the intensity that Callum eyes the container, he’s considering snatching it out of her hand to protect her, but she’s enjoying it and he doesn’t want to take away something that’s making her so happy.
She leans over and kisses him. “This is good. Quit worrying. It won’t make me sick.”
When he extends the quick kiss into a deeper, hungrier one, I share an amused look with Torin and wonder if kissing our mate like that wasn’t his priority. It absolutely would have been mine.
I wait until Callum stops kissing June to ask her, “Are you sure you don’t want to invite your sister? I can swing by and pick her up.”
Callum snags the beef and broccoli and starts eating after it passes his sniff test inspection.
“Not this time,” June says with a grateful smile. “I want this first time to just be us.”
She’s not the only one.
We’d have done the movie and Chinese food that June requested a while ago, but time got away from us.
June’s heat meant we barely left her bed for a week, then we were busy rebuilding her nest. Then the news distracted all of us when the last members of Asylum were jailed.
Tonight is as much about creating a new happy memory for June as it is about celebrating.
“What about Lucia?” Torin asks, snagging the orange chicken. “We could invite a bunch of people and make a party of it. Like a second, more fun mate-bonding party.”
June grins. “That sounds like a great idea.” She scrunches her nose. “Gia would not thank us though if Simon gets into that bowl of candy. He’d dive into it and wouldn’t sleep for a week; the sugar high would be intense.”
“We’ll do it on a Friday or Saturday,” Callum suggests.
June smiles. “Okay. I’ll ask Gia the next time I go to see my sister.”
We’ve kept up the biweekly food delivery to June’s old home. Now, instead of a few bags of groceries, we have a couple of boxes delivered, and everyone can help themselves. It’s something we would have done anyway, but June’s tearful smile made it all the sweeter.
The people in her building became her family, and she still visits them a couple of times a week, as well as to see her sister, who took over her apartment when she moved in with us.
June also started helping out at the local community center. Jack told her about the place he donated most of the money I gave him after closing the hardware store and paying all its debts, and she was interested enough to visit it herself.
When Jack isn’t busy writing his book, he goes with June to help out at the community center.
And at least one of us always goes with her. Not just to make sure she’s safe, though we’re not expecting anyone to hurt her. Everyone who would want to hurt her is dead or in jail. We’re all trying to be better, too.
“You have the smile of a happy idiot,” Torin says, prodding my right leg. “You know that, right?”
While I wasn’t paying attention, he snuggled alongside June. From the orange sauce on his mouth, she’s been feeding him Kung Pao chicken.
They’re all sitting on the floor, eating, and I’m on the couch behind them, not hungry yet.
“Not an idiot,” I say, content in a way I never have been before. This feeling hasn’t gone away since June gave us a second chance. If anything, it’s growing.
A piece of popcorn bounces off my nose, and I aim a glare at Torin.
“Still wearing that stupid smile,” he finds it necessary to remind me. “I was doing you a favor. Your face will stick that way.”
June and Callum laugh as I turn to look for the remote control. I might as well start the movie, or Torin’s teasing will become relentless. Or he’ll pick up the camera beside him, take a picture, title it something ridiculous like Lovesick Fool, and frame it.
“Archer?” June says.
“Yeah?” I respond, distracted as my fingers brush the edge of the remote wedged at the back of the couch. How it got there can be a question for another day.
The sweet scent of blueberry teases my nose, and June gently tugs the front of my t-shirt. I twist around, confused, then pleased when she crawls into my lap, straddling me. The more time we spend together, bonding and rebuilding trust, the more tactile June has become.
There’s a wariness in her gaze that makes me think this isn’t just her wanting a hug or to snuggle. I forget about the remote and grasp her hips. “What’s wrong, beautiful?”
Callum and Torin, who were chatting about who to invite for our next movie night, stop talking and snap their concerned gazes toward June.
She chews her lip. “We never figured out the thing you love to do. Your passion.”
I smile at her, relieved it isn’t anything serious, as Callum and Torin’s shoulders relax.
Torin has photography, and he’s good. Really good. Callum has started looking into joining an amateur football team on the weekends, and June bakes every day.
“We have the rest of our lives for that,” I tell her. “I’m in no rush. What’s up with the missing smile?”
“I just might not be as involved in trying to find your passion.”
She’s the one leading this hunt to find my passion, whatever it might be, so I frown, concerned. “Why?” And I start to panic. “You’re leaving.” She decided she couldn’t forgive us after all, and she’s leaving us.
June smiles and shakes her head. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you, and I’ve never been happier.”
Relieved, I sit back on the couch, but I tilt my head, confused. “Then what’s up?”
“We’ve been having a lot of sex.”
I blink at her. “You want to stop?” She’s probably right. We play, we eat, we bake with June, and we have a lot of sex.
Everywhere.
“I’m pregnant,” she says tentatively. “I mean, I think I am. It’s probably a bit too soon to tell, but I definitely feel different, and—”
Heart so full it could burst, I crush her against me, grinning, then yelping when Torin and Callum throw themselves onto the couch. We forget all about Chinese food and the movie to hug June instead.
I squeeze her, laughing. “I’m gonna be a dad.”
“We are gonna be dads,” Torin says, beaming.
“And to think Callum thought we’d all wind up in the ER with food poisoning,” June says, laughing.
“Is this a memory you’ll hold on to forever, June?” Callum asks her, happier than I’ve ever seen him before.
Her smile is radiant. “The best. It’s why I wanted to tell you all today.”
The End