Epilogue-Thayne
FLINT: Anyone seen Blaze?
MACK: Nope.
ODESSA: You lost him again?
FLINT: Correction. Ryker lost him.
LYNNIE: I’m going to need another new glass panel put in. Come and get your bull, Flint. NOW.
COLTON: Oh, she used capitals.
RYKER: It’s serious now.
EMBERLI: Are we going to come home to a funeral?
WILLOW: Everything is fine here!
C ar horns blare beneath us on the busy road and the people squeezing past each other look like ants from our view on the eighty-eighth floor. Emberli is in the pool peering over the edge as she looks down into the working district beneath us.
Torchbury was known to be the city that never sleeps, I think both Emberli and I had figured out that meant the people who visited too. We barely slept last night. The view of the skyscrapers and buildings swarming us reminds me just how much I love my life back home, especially now Emberli resides there with me.
I stand on the poolside with a towel, waiting for her to get out. She’d inevitably gotten slower this last month and I’d made sure to not leave her side during this time. Odessa gladly took the reins of Spooky Hoots whilst I took time off to spend with my girl.
Emberli wasn’t thrilled at the idea of not performing and working around the ranch so she was tasked with looking after the baby animals that were rejected from their mothers’ in the main house. Rhea had said that the baby would be due in a few weeks from now, and was against the idea of Emberli flying in a helicopter at thirty-seven weeks so we settled for the next best thing.
A rooftop infinity pool.
Aca had managed to pull some strings which meant that Emberli had completed all of her list, apart from the helicopter ride that I promised to take her on after her son was delivered.
The best part was, Emberli corrected me. Our son.
I couldn’t wait to meet him. I couldn’t wait to give him the world.
“I wonder if people down there think it’s raining.” Emberli asks, splashing her hand over the edge before she makes her way over to me, steadying herself on the rail and taking the towel I offer her.
“Maybe.”
I hear something barely audible and when I look at Emberi, she’s frozen before she slowly looks to her thighs where water gushes down.
Shit.
“I think my… I think my waters just broke.”
“Fuck.” I mumble. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
** *
Nine hours later, a gorgeous baby boy had made his mark on the world. Both of our families had arrived hours before and had been waiting patiently in the waiting room.
I place a kiss on Emberli’s forehead and stare down at the newest addition to our family.
“Have you thought of a name?” I ask.
Emberli bites out a yawn and then a wince. “Tucker Desmond Rawlins.”
Tucker Desmond Rawlins-Taylor
I stare at the incredible woman below me before blinking back tears.
This woman.
“I wanted to have my dad’s first name but I wanted him to have your last name.”
I zone out completely, glancing up at the ceiling, knowing that my mom would be watching this moment with such pride. I think of my dad, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I’m not angry at him.
“I understand if you don't, but I want him to have your last name, Thayne. Neither of us would be here if it wasn’t for you.”
I kiss her to quieten her, thanking her before kissing Tucker’s head. “I love it. I love you.”
Emotion hits her face. “I love you too, Superman.”
And suddenly, all the pieces fall into place.
This, right here and now, is where I want to be forever with my favorite people.