Epilogue #2
Liv stuck her tongue out and took the baby back. “Do you want to hold her, Kaylee?” Olivia asked.
Kaylee nodded vigorously. Kayden set her down and ushered her to the couch next to Sophia’s bed. The two of them helped her hold the baby with assistance from Liv and it was my turn to swoon over the amazing parents they’d be.
“Can we have a baby, Daddy?” Kaylee asked Kayden as she looked at her cousin in awe.
“Mom, Dad, and I were just talking about that,” Kayden said. “We would like to do that soon.”
“I’ll be a good big sister,” Kaylee said confidently.
I had no doubt about that.
A few minutes later, after Kayden had gotten his chance to hold Mia, we said our goodbyes to Leo and Sophia who were both struggling to keep their eyes open.
Sophia had gone past her due date and they’d induced her yesterday afternoon.
We’d gotten a call this morning that things were finally moving along, but the rest of the family had been here overnight, and she’d been in labor for a long time.
We made our way back to the waiting room to say goodbye to the family. I hugged each of the couples before giving Elena a hug while Kayden and Olivia talked to my moms.
“I’m so impressed you found two people who are obsessed with you,” Elena said. “You sure they didn’t feel pressured because of the whole sexy-boss thing?”
I laughed. “Careful, Elena, that’s your second accidental compliment today.”
“Eh, I’m not all bad, you know.”
“I know sarcasm is your defense mechanism. It’s okay to admit that you like me. I’m like a cool older brother. You’re Soph’s best friend, I’m Leo’s best friend, that makes us co-best friends at least,” I teased keeping one arm around her shoulders.
“Okay, co-best friend, I was wondering, since you’re a billionaire with friends in high places—”
“Millionaire,” I said sternly.
“Does that distinction really matter?” she asked through narrowed eyes.
“To someone who is as uncomfortable with their wealth as I am, yes. If I ever become a billionaire, then I haven’t given enough away.”
Elena sighed. “Okay, fine, Mr. Millionaire, do you have any connections in the fashion world?”
“A few,” I said with a nod. “Not as many as Sutton though.”
Elena looked over at my aunt, looking unsure of herself for the first time since I’d met her.
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’m still in college, but I’m working on my first fashion line and it’s a hard industry to break into. I need connections for internships and eventually I’ll need investors, so I figured while I was around all you richy-rich folks, I should find out if there are any opportunities.”
“What kind of fashion line are you planning?”
Elena glared at me, like the very notion of revealing her passion was too vulnerable for her. “I want to do queer-inclusive, high-end fashion.”
I raised both eyebrows and fought an impressed smile since she seemed to avoid praise. “That’s a unique subset of fashion. Tell me more about it.”
“I want to have gender fluidity in the designs, with an entire line designed for people who identify as nonbinary, and I want to make femme and masc clothes that are gender agnostic and match what the queer people in my life actually want to wear.”
“Elena, that’s a really cool idea,” I said, unable to hide how impressed I was.
She waved me off. “Okay, yeah, well, I need investors and connections so maybe I could have a contact or two, since you like the idea.”
I shook my head. “We need to work on how you pitch yourself and your brand. But if you’ll let me, I will personally invest in that.”
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “I’m asking for a phone number, dude, not your wallet.”
“I’m offering you both,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Just think about it. You’ll need a hefty amount upfront and I’m willing to foot the entire thing. I’ve seen your sketches and designs, and a good portion of my donations go to the queer community anyway.”
She seemed too surprised for words, so I asked another question. “Are you planning to move here to Boston? Because your mom might not survive, though I’m sure Sophia would be thrilled.”
Elena shook her head. “Hawaii is my home, and I won’t be changing my mind for a partner like Soph did. Plus, my mom would honestly have a stroke.”
“Not even for the person with the other half of that matching tattoo I designed for you?” I teased. “Will I ever get to meet this mystery woman?”
Elena’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “She would never want to live in Boston; not to mention we haven’t spoken in a year and my parents don’t even know we were together.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You seemed pretty convinced—”
“Yeah, I know. Drop it, money man,” she said sternly as she ran her hand over the side of her abdomen.
“I’m sorry, Elena,” I said, feeling remorseful for joking about something that had clearly caused the light in her eyes to dim. “If you want to run your business out of Oahu, I can help you set it up when you graduate. Just say the word.”
“Thank you,” she said.
I hugged her again as Olivia and Kayden came over with Kaylee who had fallen asleep on Kayden’s shoulder. I smiled at them. “Looks like we better get her home.” I released Elena. “Call me when you’re ready to talk more about it. We’ll go from co-best friends to business partners if you want.”
“Thanks, dork,” she said with a smile.
I took Olivia’s hand as we made our way to the car. Kayden strapped Kaylee into her car seat and Liv climbed into the back seat with her. I got in the driver’s seat and leaned over to give Kayden a kiss when he sat down next to me.
“Do we all have baby fever now or is it just me? Cause I want to go home and get started on making one,” I said with a laugh.
“We do,” Kayden agreed, taking my hand as I started to pull out of the parking garage. “I was thinking that maybe we should make sure our second kid is yours genetically if we’re pretty sure we only want two.”
I kissed his hand. “I don’t care about paternity at all. I already know I’m perfectly capable of loving a kid that is a little bit of each of you,” I said, smiling at Olivia in my rearview mirror.
She smiled back while Kayden kept talking. “But I want a kid with your eyes. I want to see you in our kids, just as much as I see myself in Kaylee.”
“We don’t have to be intentional about it though,” I said, loving the idea of seeing a piece of me in our child. “I guess what I’m saying is, no matter what, we’ll do the same thing we did for Kaylee and we’ll all be their parents and I’ll be happy.”
Kayden nodded. “I will too, but we could at least try tipping the odds in your favor.”
I looked in the rearview mirror, pulling out onto the street. “What about you, Liv? What do you think?”
“I think it’s probably better if you don’t care,” Olivia said, leaning forward and whispering. “Because I’m already pregnant and I have no idea which one of you contributed to this situation.”
“What?” I yelled as Kayden whipped his head around to look at her.
“You’re serious?” he asked.
I glanced at him quickly and already saw him working backward on the math in his head.
“How long have you known?” I asked. “Have you even been off birth control long enough for that to happen?”
“I took a test this morning and I was planning a fun way to tell you both when your mom called and told us to get to the hospital. I hid the test in a shoe and have been dying to get you home to tell you,” she said, laughing as she talked.
“The timing is really tight, beautiful,” Kayden said, still looking like he was doing math.
“Yeah, apparently I didn’t need a cycle to regulate,” she said.
“Wow, I can’t believe you kept that quiet all day, sweetheart,” I said, smiling at her. “I can’t wait to get you home and hug you properly. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, beaming.
Kayden turned around and they stretched to kiss each other. “I love you, Olivia.”
“I love you too,” she said.
He turned around and kissed my cheek. “Congrats, babe.”
“You too, baby. I’m stopping for sparkling cider and a beer for me,” I said, already headed toward a store where I could get both.
We didn’t keep any alcohol in the house to keep things easy for Kayden.
Liv and I bought what we wanted for immediate consumption when we wanted it to avoid having anything nearby if he were to have a moment where drinking sounded like the right solution.
He’d never had another close call since the day he found out about Kaylee and he was confident he could handle it, but we weren’t willing to put him in that situation.
I made a few turns, taking us by the rehab facility that had started construction a month ago.
It was coming along nicely, and Kayden and I liked to drive by once in a while to unofficially see the progress.
We were working together on our next building at Acker Real Estate but given my new role as CEO and all the work we were doing to restructure, I wasn’t quite as involved as I’d been the first time.
We had to use our meeting times more efficiently because my schedule was worse than it had been before which just meant getting in a good fuck on those mornings before work so I could listen to him be all smart without bending him over my desk.
Still hadn’t learned how to avoid the erections though.
I glanced at Kaylee. I’d always believed she was identical to Olivia until I’d met Kayden, and now I could easily see both of them in her.
It would be kind of cool to see myself and Olivia in the next one.
But if our next child was biologically Kayden’s, I already knew I’d love the shit out of them.
Because our first child—that beautiful little girl sleeping soundly next to her mother—had brought us all together.
We were stronger because of her, and we’d only get stronger as our family grew.