55. Epilogue
Epilogue
Leo
“Can I give you your present now?” I ask, sliding up behind Ria as she’s preparing her evening mug of chamomile tea. We’ve spent the day with Hunter and Jade, have walked through Hyde Park, and had dinner at a wonderful Turkish restaurant, but now I’m glad to have my wife all to myself.
“Only if I can give you yours?” She rests her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes, and the most beautiful smile curves her perfect lips.
“You got me a gift?” I kiss the delicate skin of her exposed neck, my arms circling her, leaving no space between us.
“Mm-hmm.” She sighs. “Two, actually.”
“Overachiever. I’ve only got you one.” Turning her in my arms, I dig into my pant pocket and pull out a small box.
She takes the box and opens it, a small gasp falling from her lips as she sees the delicate gold chain with her original wedding ring attached.
I gave her a new wedding band when we had our second wedding, but I knew she wanted to keep this one.
She kept it on her dresser next to Bartholomew.
She moved him to the bedroom after I nearly knocked him off the kitchen island when I was baking sourdough and dancing a little too enthusiastically to Celine Dion.
Apparently, I’m too passionate when I belt out a power ballad, but I can’t help it when the Queen of Love herself is reaching those powerful notes.
I have to try and match her energy. In my head I’m doing my own Vegas residency.
“I got you this chain so you can still wear this close to your heart and to remind you of where our chaos started.”
“Leo, it's gorgeous.” Taking the chain from the box, I motion for her to spin around, and I clasp the chain around her neck. She delicately touches the ring. “It’s perfect. Thank you so much.” She shifts to the side and collects a black bound album and hands it over to me.
“Now before you look at this, I want you to know I had them done for you but also a little bit for me too.”
Confused, I open the album and my eyes widen to saucers when I see the image before me. “Baby, you're naked in this picture.”
“Correct.”
I look down again before quickly whipping my gaze back to hers. “Like really naked.”
“Yes.” She laughs.
“Who took this picture?”
“Kenya.” She smiles.
Thank God.
“Baby, you look so sexy.” Staring down at the image, I swallow because fuck me, the angle and the position is so tempting.
She’s arched on a fabric couch, her head hanging off the edge and her legs draped over the back, one stretched up with her toes pointed so her muscles flex.
One of her arms covers her breasts, and the other is hooked around the back of her head, her fingers tangled in her long wavy hair.
She looks perfectly disheveled, the epitome of lust and want as her eyes are staring straight at me, daring me to approach her through the picture.
“There’s more.” She turns the glossy page and reveals another picture of her, kneeling on a bed surrounded by crisp white sheets, a huge white button-up shirt wrapped around her, seductively falling off one shoulder showing bronzed smooth skin.
“Is that my shirt?” I gulp.
She nods and pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth.
“You need to wear that at all times.”
“I’m not sure it’s work appropriate.”
“Then you only wear it at home,” I demand, my grip on the album tightening as I continue to turn the pages. Each picture gets me more and more hot as her poses become more provocative. “Baby, this is… I’ve no words.”
“You’ve brought out something in me. Since we’ve been together, you’ve shown me that I deserve to be seen, that my voice is worth being heard.
I’m not just my dad’s daughter. And sometimes stepping out of my comfort zone, allowing in a little bit of mess and chaos, I can grow even more.
I’ve been empowered being your wife, and you’ve shown me that trusting someone to help isn’t failure or defeat if they are standing next to you, not in front or above you.
” Turning the last page, she gazes up at me, placing her hand on my pec.
“This was a present for both me and you. To show you that I’m grateful for the woman you’ve helped me become, but also for when I’m away with work, you have a little piece of me. ”
The last picture has to be my favorite. It’s a close-up of her face, showing just a glimpse of her collarbone.
Her mouth is slightly agape as if in pleasure, and her eyes are looking right through me.
“I’m going to need you to recreate some of these poses.
” Placing the portfolio to the side, I loop my arm around her, pull her into me, and rest my forehead against hers.
“Gladly.” She steps back slightly, uncertainty flashing in her blue irises. “So your second present…” She drifts off, her voice wavering slightly.
“I’m not sure how you’ll top the first.”
“I’m hoping it will.” Reaching into her sweatpants pocket, she hands me a small white stick. My heart stalls when I take in what she’s given me.
Pregnant.
“Is this…?” Her lips twitch as she nods. “We’re…? You’re…?”
“Pregnant, yes,” she says quietly.
“Fuck.”
“I know we haven’t planned for this, and we haven’t spoken about starting a family, but I hope you’re happy.”
“Happy? Baby, this…” I grasp under her thighs, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I spin her around. “This is the best present.” Kissing her quickly, I draw back, still spinning her. “I love you so much.”
“So you’re happy?” She giggles, holding on to my shoulders as I stop spinning and place her on the counter.
“I’m ecstatic.”
“But we didn’t plan this.”
“Baby, what part of our relationship have we planned?” Dusting the backs of my fingers across her cheek, I smile warmly at her.
“I guess we haven’t.”
Hooking her legs around my waist and settling between her parted thighs, I feel my heart thumping wildly against my chest as I look down at the woman who I always thought was out of reach, the woman who owned every part of me, but somehow, somewhere she fell into chaos and allowed me to feel a sense of calm I’ve never had before.
“Thank you for bringing me silence when the noise gets too loud. And for loving me in the chaos.”
“Chaos can’t scare me when you’re with me.”
The End