Chapter Twenty-Five
J ennifer
I slowly turn over and stretch out my arms to Ethan’s side of the bed. But it’s empty and cold. I open my eyes and look around the room.
Our son is gone and so is my husband.
Sometimes he still has issues sleeping, has nightmares about not being able to get me back from Tristan. The last year has been filled with so much love and change. But also healing. We are both still dealing with the aftermath of what Tristan has done. And each day it becomes easier and easier.
Sometimes I still wake up screaming. But then Ethan wraps me in his strong arms and whispers into my ear reminding me that Tristan is dead and most of his men now are in prison.
Without Tristan there was no one to protect them from the law so now most of them are serving time for their crimes and the others have moved away, wanting to start over, I guess.
I roll over and sit up, reaching over and grabbing my bathrobe.
I get up from the bed and put on the bathrobe, feeling the cold air from outside filling the room. It’s beginning to become winter and my skin can feel it.
I take a deep breath as I make my way around the bed and out into the hallway. I can smell bacon and eggs cooking and I can hear music and laughing. The laughing is coming from our son.
I make my way down the hallway and into the kitchen. Shawn and Emory are sitting at the table. I can hear their children outside playing.
My son is sitting in his baby chair next to Emory.
I take another step into the kitchen and see Ethan—he has all the plates set out and he’s switching from the bacon to the eggs.
I lean against the wall watching him. He’s wearing his sweatpants and a gray tank top, showing all his tattoos and muscles. It took him awhile to fully heal, but now he is back to full strength. And he makes sure to prove that to me daily.
We have been talking about having another child. He says he wants to fill our house up with people and kids.
It’s nice to be able to picture his dreams for our family, dreams that I have no problem with and welcome with open arms.
I push off the wall and make my way around the counter to Ethan. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest the side of my face against his back. He stops moving for a second and takes a deep breath. “Good morning, sweetheart” he murmurs.
“Good morning, babe. You sleep, okay?’ I ask, even though I already know the answer.
“No, but I will eventually.” He doesn’t like to talk about what’s inside his head, but, then again, he doesn’t need to. I know what he’s thinking and going through because we are both going through it.
“I know something that can tire you out.”
“We can hear you,” Emory states in an amused voice.
“I know,” is all I say, not being able to hide the smile forming across my lips.
The last year has helped me see that my dream of having a normal life is something I can have. We are building a good life, a life that I can’t wait to see unfold.
Every day Ethan is up to something, has some kind of plan of us. I know he’s trying to make up for my childhood and all the things I wasn’t able to experience, and I love him for it, but today I am okay with just staying home and spending time with him and our son.
“Breakfast will be ready soon, sweetheart. Go take a seat,” he says as he continues to cook. I pull away and gently kiss his back as I release my hold on him.
I take a few steps back and watch him for another moment or so. I could just stand here and watch him all day long. After all this time he still takes my breath away.
I turn around and make my way behind my son. He is playing with one of his toys as he waits for breakfast. He is a happy baby.
I lean down and kiss the top of his head and close my eyes.
Every day I wake up to him and Ethan I am grateful, so fucking grateful, because we could have lost everything, but we didn’t. We survived Tristan and everything he tried to do to destroy us.
In the end, he’s the one who was destroyed and now we get to live a long happy life together. I couldn’t ask for anything else.