Epilogue
Jace
Five Months Later
I sat in the waiting room of the birthing pavilion holding Kayden’s hand and looking around at our family—we were certainly taking up a lot of space for the birth of this child—when Olivia walked in with Elena, Sophia’s petite, black-and-purple-haired sister, both of whom were carrying takeout trays of coffee from Ackerson’s.
“I get why Sophia loves this coffee so much,” Elena said, setting her trays down on a table next to my moms as everyone crowed them. She grabbed a half-empty iced coffee and took a long sip. “It’s really good.”
“You better stop right there, Elena,” Kennedy, Sophia’s stepmom, said as she approached with Sophia’s father, Danny. “If you say it’s better than mine, you can finish college in Boston like your sister.”
Kennedy owned three cafés in Oahu, and I’d learned years ago it was better not to compare her coffee to anything. Her husband smiled at her with amusement before giving her a kiss.
“No,” Laura, Sophia’s mom, said. “My other daughter will not be leaving Hawaii to live in Boston with her sister. Your ego will have to adjust.” Even after all this time it was startling how much looking at Laura was like looking at a future version of Sophia.
Laura’s husband Dave approached. He grabbed two coffees and handed one to his wife. “Blondie’s got no clout with Elena; she doesn’t even listen to us and we’re her parents.”
Danny chuckled as Kennedy’s jaw dropped in mock outrage. “He’s not wrong, babe,” he said.
Kayden leaned closer to me as Olivia picked up coffees for us and walked over. “How long did it take you to memorize all of their names?”
“Baby, you remember everything,” I said.
“The social anxiety of this environment is making my memory far less reliable,” he said with a shudder.
I laughed. “They were here for a week when Leo and Soph graduated. Then we all went to Oahu for more than a week when they got married, so that did it. No one expects you to get it today. Just be grateful her twin brothers aren’t here. They are identical—like, impossible to tell apart.”
Sophia’s little brothers were thirteen and had stayed in Hawaii with their aunt and uncle, along with her youngest sister, Izzy, since the last thing we needed was five more people in this waiting room.
After Sophia was home with the new baby, they were all planning to fly in for a few weeks to visit.
“Thanks, beautiful,” Kayden said, taking a coffee from Olivia as she perched herself on his lap.
“Is he still stressing about all their names?” she asked me, nibbling on the straw of her iced coffee.
“And familial roles,” Kayden said with a groan. “Apparently there are more coming.”
Olivia laughed. “You’ll be okay, sexy.” She’d met all of Sophia’s family during their previous visits since they all enjoyed eating at Harrison’s when they visited Boston. Now that she was my wife she was getting to know them in a different context, but she had their names down.
Mom passed Adrian and Sutton each a coffee from her seat on Ima’s lap while Elena settled in next to Kaylee and asked her what she was reading.
A few minutes later, Leo came sprinting into the waiting room. “Holy shit! Holt shit!”
Everyone turned to face him as he ran his hands over his face.
“It’s a girl! We have a little girl and I’m a fucking dad and Sophia is an absolute fucking champion,” he spewed excitedly as his eyes roamed all over us. “Where the hell am I supposed to start?”
“Grandparents!” Sutton and Laura said at the same time, both jumping up. Adrian stood up and put his hands on Sutton’s shoulders.
“Right, of course,” Leo said. “Come meet your new granddaughter. She’s perfect. She has Sophia’s little button nose and a head of dark hair.”
Sutton and Adrian, Kennedy and Danny, and Laura and Dave all followed him as he continued talking rapidly about his new daughter and they all beamed with excitement about their first grandchild.
The rest of us settled back in and Elena grumbled, “He could have at least told us her name.”
“I mean, I was trying not to say it, but preach, sister,” Mom said. “Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite?”
Elena smiled mischievously. “I’m everyone’s favorite.”
I narrowed my eyes at her and then looked at my mom. “Do you just like her because you were like her at that age?”
Ima snorted and Mom glared at her. “Yes. I like her sass.”
Elena turned to me. “Hear that, Jace? My sass is likable.”
I shook my head. “Still not convinced, but you are growing on me as you mature with age.”
Elena rolled her eyes.
When we’d met the week before Sophia and Leo’s graduation, I’d taken to Elena pretty quickly.
She was more than ten years younger than me, and I hadn’t expected to have much in common with her, but she had quite the artistic gene.
Elena had channeled her artistic talent into fashion, despite her mom’s knack for painting.
Elena sketched her designs and handmade pieces that looked nearly professional back then when she was only sixteen.
It wasn’t a surprise at all that she was studying fashion design in college.
She was also openly bisexual and took zero shit from anyone.
I had a lot of respect for the way she approached life.
Elena pointed to Kaylee, who had gone back to reading with Olivia’s help. At just over four, she was already sounding out words. “That kid is super smart, so it’s obvious she doesn’t have your genes.”
Kayden burst into laughter. “I like this one. I’ll remember her name.”
I glared at him. “Maybe if our next kid is mine, they will also be a genius,” I said.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Elena said. “But they could be a sick-ass artist.”
“I think you accidently complimented me,” I said, earning me an eye roll.
A few minutes later, the grandparents returned, all looking doe eyed as my moms and Elena jumped up to go next. Leo looked at me and shook his head. “Sorry, dude. Your party of four will be up next.”
The grandparents all clustered together, gushing over the baby and Sophia while I turned to my family. “Should we tell them we’re planning to turn this into a party of five soon?” I said with a laugh.
“Maybe wait until Olivia is actually pregnant, babe,” Kayden said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
Olivia moved to the chair on Kayden’s other side and smiled at us. “I’m sure we’ll have something to tell them soon enough.”
Olivia had stopped taking her birth control a few weeks ago and the doctor had said it could take a couple of months for her body to regulate before she got pregnant, but we were all looking forward to having another child.
Two would probably be it for us, since that still gave us the advantage from a number’s perspective.
We didn’t want Kaylee to get much older before we started trying.
Since officially moving in together and getting quasi-married, we’d worked with Sutton on several legalities that had been important to us.
Kayden had been added to Kaylee’s birth certificate, and I’d adopted her as a third parent.
We were lucky to live in one of the few states that allowed for third parent adoption and to have a kickass lawyer in our family who’d been able to get the matter handled swiftly.
We’d also sold my condo about a month after we moved in together and bought a townhouse in Cambridge when we’d learned it was one of the few cities in the country that recognized domestic partnership for polyamorous couples.
In hindsight, we could have moved there from the beginning, but we hadn’t even considered that possibility until our super-smart lawyer brought it to our attention.
It had been a no-brainer for us to pack up and move one more time to be given some legal protections for our relationship.
When Elena, Mom, and Ima came out of Sophia’s room, Leo waved us down the hall, looking somewhat like a deflated balloon. He was clearly too tired to walk all the way out here for us. Kayden scooped up Kaylee while Olivia and I followed them, hand-in-hand.
I dropped her hand and hugged my cousin as soon as we reached him. “Well, hockey star, show me the little girl who’s about to have you wrapped around her little finger.”
Olivia chuckled. “Bit of a pot-kettle situation, babe.”
We walked into the room and Sophia beamed at us as we all took turns hugging her. “This is Mia Harrison.” Sophia held the baby out to Liv who instantly scooped her up, giving me flashbacks to watching her with Kaylee as a newborn. Kaylee peered over Olivia’s shoulder from her father’s arms.
Sophia smiled at her. “You can hold her too, honey.”
Olivia took her time with Mia before eventually passing her to me. I nuzzled into her, inhaling that new-baby smell. I looked up to see Liv and Kayden both smiling at me.
“We really need to make him a dad again,” Kayden said. “Look how hot he is with a baby.”
“Imagine if he took his shirt off and had a little baby pressed against his sculpted, tatted chest. Now that would be hot,” Liv said.
“You should do that,” Sophia said softly, wide-eyed and speaking with fascination. “Just to help us picture it.”
“Hawaii,” Leo scolded, climbing into bed with her. “We have got to do something about the post-baby hormones. Jace has more than enough lovers as it is and I don’t like where this is headed. I can satisfy your hormonal needs alone tonight.”
“I love you, Leo, but if you try to touch me tonight, I will bite your finger off,” Sophia said with a sweet smile.
Olivia laughed. “Seriously. Give her some time to let everything feel normal again.”
Sophia scoffed. “Don’t worry, his obsession with following doctors’ orders to keep me safe will probably be my saving grace. I suppose if you have another, you can just tell those two to play with each other and leave you alone for a couple weeks,” Sophia said with a chuckle.
Olivia looked between us. “Oh, I do that all the time when I’m tired as it is.”
I smirked at her, offering my finger to Mia. “Until you overhear us and change your mind.”