Epilogue 2
ELLIE
Maddox slips his hand into mine and squeezes. Nerves flutter low in my belly despite the fact that I must have walked into this house at least a few hundred times.
“It’s just brunch with my family,” he says, but I’m sure he’s saying that to himself as much as me. He’s as nervous as I am. It’s an excited nervous, though. This is a big step for both of us.
“Do you have the pictures?” I ask, realizing I forgot to put them in my purse.
He pats his jacket pocket. “Right here, baby. One for each of them.”
I nod, my legs shaking with each step. It’s crazy that we’re so nervous. They’re all going to be thrilled for us, but this is…it’s life changing.
It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
We reach the front door and before he pulls out his key, he rests his lips against my ear. “You’re going to be the best mom in the whole fucking world, El.”
My heart almost bursts with pride and happiness. “Thank you, honey.”
Ever since we found out I was pregnant nine weeks ago, Maddox has been like himself and then some.
Maddox 2.0. Always attentive, loving, and caring, he’s doubled down on all of it.
Massaging my feet. Cooking me the most delicious food, making ginger biscuits and peppermint tea to help with my morning sickness, rubbing my back, giving me orgasms on demand.
He has always been perfect, and yet somehow he has upped his game.
When we get to the kitchen, the entire James clan is there. Nathan and Mel’s three boys, Drake and Amelia’s two girls, Mason and King’s four dogs, and Amber and Elijah’s rescue puppy, who’s scampering around everyone’s feet.
“Mad.” Nathan shouts when he sees us. “Come here and settle a debate for us.”
Maddox squeezes my hand again, and his dark eyes meet mine. “Go,” I whisper. “We’ll tell them while we’re sitting down to eat.”
He kisses my cheek, and then he’s lost to the melee of the James boys, while I grab baby Olivia for a quick squeeze before I sit to chat with King and Mel. Amelia is breastfeeding upstairs, and Amber is helping Dalton with brunch.
This is my family, and I love Sundays together.
Warm and welcoming, Dalton’s house is always full of love and laughter.
I feel a brief wave of nausea and immediately want Maddox by my side, but when I scan the room, he’s nowhere to be found.
When he’s not back within a couple of minutes, I head off to find him.
He's not in the kitchen with Dalton and Amber, which is the first place I looked for him, and then I check the downstairs bathrooms. I head upstairs and wander the hallway, wondering where he’s disappeared to and why. When I get to his childhood bedroom, the light to the bathroom is on.
“Maddox, honey, are you okay?” I call out.
“Yeah,” comes his immediate reply. “Just taking a minute.”
The door to the bathroom is open, and I go inside, finding him with his hands resting on the washbasin and his head dropped between his shoulders. I rub a palm over his muscular back. “Is something wrong?”
He straightens up, spins around, and wipes his eyes. My heart rate kicks up a gear. Why is he crying?
“Nothing’s wrong, baby.” He slides his arms around my waist and pulls me flush against his chest. “Everything is right. So right that I just got a little overwhelmed and had to take a beat. I’m sorry if I worried you.”
I rest a hand on his cheek, wipe away a stray tear, and stare into the face of the sexiest man in the world, who also happens to have the most beautiful soul. He’s one of the most emotionally intelligent people I know. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
He cups my face in his strong hands. “I love you so fucking much, Ellie James. Every day I think it’s impossible for me to love you any more than I already do, and yet every single fucking day I’m proven wrong.
And now…” Tears fill his eyes again. “We’re about to tell my family we’re having a baby. ”
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face whenever we talk about our baby. “We can wait a little longer if you’d like?” I offer.
“No,” he shakes his head. “I can’t fucking wait to tell them.
It’s been killing me to hold this in.” A laugh bubbles out of him.
“I know you just found me crying into the sink, but that’s because I’m so fucking happy, El.
And I’m excited to tell them all. There was a time I wasn’t even sure I could look after myself, and then we started talking about kids and you know how much I wanted to be sure I could be the kind of dad a kid deserved… ”
“You’re already the best husband, brother, son, friend, cat-daddy, and man I know. You are absolutely going to be the best dad our kids could ever ask for.”
“Kids?” He arches an eyebrow, his rich brown eyes sparkling with happiness.
I shrug. “Surely we’re not going to stop at just one?”
One hand on my ass, he tugs me even closer. “Well, given how much fun we had trying for this little one.”
I rest my cheek against his chest and drink in everything that is him. It’s still sometimes hard to believe he’s mine and that we’re so deliriously happy. Every day with him is extraordinary. I can’t even imagine how much more exciting and wonderful our life is going to get when our baby arrives.
“Shall we go tell them now?” I ask.
He slips his hand into mine. “Yeah.”
The dining room falls silent when we walk inside, like they all noticed we were missing, or maybe they have a sixth sense that we have some news to share.
We agreed Maddox would be the one to tell them, and tomorrow, when Keres, Ace, Romeo, Iris, and Melody are visiting with Jayden when he comes to look around NYU, I’ll break the news.
I’m so excited to have my kid brother here in New York with us for the next few years.
“Everything okay, son?” Dalton asks.
Oh, god, do we both look that obvious?
Maddox nods, sliding his arm around my waist. “Ellie and I have some news to share.”
They stare at us. So that’s what bated breath looks like, huh?
He squeezes me. “We’re having a baby.”
Immediately, we’re swamped with hugs and congratulations, hollering and whoops of joy. It’s joyous and wonderful and everything I have ever wanted. Dalton is the last to congratulate us, waiting patiently for his turn. He gives me a massive hug and a kiss, telling me how happy I’ve made his son.
Then he cups Maddox’s cheeks in his hands, tears spilling down his own face. “I’m so proud of you, son.”
We all know it’s not that Maddox is becoming a father. It’s that he’s become the man he once thought he never deserved to be.
Maddox chokes on a sob. “Thanks, Pop.”
We’re all wrapped in hugs and warmth again. And in the middle of it all, Maddox’s arms are around my waist, and our baby is safely growing inside me.
I can’t imagine life getting any happier than this. I truly do have everything I could ever wish for.
Maddox and I had a rocky start, but now...well, now we have it made.