Epilogue 2 - Blair
Eight years later
Being forty-two and pregnant with your third child is not for the faint of heart. Especially not with already having a seven-year-old and two-and-a-half-year-old, as well as being head of a successful small-town hospital and living on a ranch that has gotten bigger and busier since I first arrived.
That’s why I’ve made the decision to go on early maternity leave this time around. Knowing this will be our last baby, I want to spend all the time I can with our other two kids before their baby brother arrives.
A lot has changed in the last eight years I’ve lived in Timber Falls, but in many ways, they’ve also stayed the same.
The Hospital-at-Home service I first proposed to Aunt Tabitha has been more successful than either one of us could’ve ever imagined.
Not only is the hospital now a Level 3 trauma center servicing double the residents and area, we’ve also won awards and had the project copied and duplicated around Alaska and into Canada.
Before I drove past the ‘Welcome to Timber Falls’ sign all those years ago, I never dared to think about what I truly wanted out of life beyond my career and making a difference. Then I met Sutton and suddenly I wanted it all–as long as I could have it with him.
I not only have my soulmate to share my life with, we’ve also been blessed with two beautiful children–Lou Lou and Catherine—with little John Junior soon to join us in future. He’s going to be named after his two grandfathers, Cap and my father.
Then there’s the extended family. The eight of us living at the ranch are as close as ever, albeit with our own wings built out from the extended original house.
More often than not, we all gather in the common areas of the kitchen and living areas.
Thankfully for everyone, the kitchen did finally get renovated.
Me, Birdie, Isla, and Jude’s wife are all very close.
Then again, we soon realized the benefits of banding together to fight against the perilously strong Cooper pheromones.
How else can you explain how we’ve got so many children between us.
One thing’s for sure, the Cooper family have ensured that the Call will have many new recipients for many years to come.
The best thing of all about living on the ranch and us raising our families together is that the kids have their uncles and aunties to dote on them as well as built-in best friends in their cousins.
Unfortunately for us adults, that means they also have a ready-made gang of misfits to lead them astray. They already have a knack for creating more havoc and mayhem than Grumps the donkey ever could.
Even still, I wouldn’t want it to be any other way.
“And here she is, our esteemed leader,” Isla announces as I waddle into the big boardroom where our family and my close colleagues are gathered.
“A very tired and sore doctor who needs a seat,” I say, earning a laugh. Alex rushes forward, grabbing my arm and leading me toward a comfy recliner chair they must’ve moved just for me.
“Is my godson causing trouble for his mama again?” she asks, rubbing my thirty-week belly.
“Why do you get to claim this baby? I think we should have equal rights to all of B’s kidlets,” Cate says, appearing on my other side.
I look up between them and arch a brow. “If you two are going to fight over my son, then maybe I should find new godparents?”
Both of my best friends glare at me. “You wouldn’t dare!”
That’s the other thing that happened. After their visit to bring my stuff to Alaska for me, they both fell in love with the town–and yes, Alex had no complaints about the caliber of big, tall, and buff mountain men either.
After going back to Minnesota with Cate, Alex applied for a vacancy at the hospital without telling me and six months later, her and Cate moved here too and have been renting Jessica’s house in town ever since.
Eight years later, Alex is now about to take over from me and stand in as head of the hospital for the next year while I enjoy my last ever newborn era.
“Do any of you know where my husband is?” I ask, looking around the bustling room.
“He’s coming. He just had to take care of something before he got here,” Cate says, her eyes not meeting mine.
“Cate…” I say, dropping my voice low because I can tell when she’s hiding something. “What’s going on?”
A squeal that tugs at my heart strings, followed by a joyous cry from the third love of my life, has me turning my head to the door where I find Sutton staring at me like I hung the moon.
While he does that, Lou Lou and Catherine rush our way, coming to a stop when they spot two of their favorite aunties, claiming one each–Lou Lou hugging Alex’s legs and Catherine going for her namesake.
That’s when I see what–or more so who–Sutton had to take care of, standing behind him. I quickly get up and walk towards them.
“Uncle George!” I say, cuddling into him as he envelopes me in one of his famous hugs, Tabby joining us too.
“Blair Bear, look at you,” he hums, kissing my temple. “As beautiful and as radiant as ever.”
“I didn’t know you were coming,” I say, leaning into Sutton’s side.
“That’s the point, gorgeous,” my husband says. “A surprise is meant to be just that.”
I tilt my face up to his. “You’re never going to stop making me happy, are you?”
“Never,” he says, his gaze intense and unwavering. “I won’t ever come close to makin’ you as happy as you make me, but that just means I’ll never stop tryin’.”
I reach my hands up and frame his jaw, pulling him down to press his forehead to mine.
“Haven’t you realized yet? You already do it without trying.
You, our life together, our kids, the family, all of it is better than I could’ve ever dreamed it would be.
I have everything I could ever want, and that's all because of you.”
“I love you so damn much,” he says before he kisses me soft and slow, probably not appropriate for a hospital going away party but hey, after today that’s Alex’s problem.
“I love you, too. But how about we table this discussion for later when we’re alone?” I say, waggling my brows.
“Whatever you say, gorgeous. You are the boss, after all.”
That’s when I laugh. “And don’t you forget it, doctor.”