Epilogue #5
She stood up on tiptoes and untucked his shirt. Putting her hand on the small of his naked back, she whispered, “I’m so fucking horny, Ghost. I swear I don’t know how it’s possible when I’m this big, but I am.”
“I’ll take care of you.”
“I know you will. I’m gonna take a nap, but call me if you need me.”
“I’m not going to need you. I can survive one night with them.”
She nodded. “Make sure you wake me up when you get the kids put down for the night.”
“I will. Now go.”
Ghost watched as his wife waddled up the stairs toward their bedroom.
The pregnancy had rounded her out once again, much to her chagrin.
Ghost knew she’d worked really hard to get rid of the weight she’d gained when Greta was born, but he liked her this way.
Lush and curvy. He wasn’t sure what the night would bring; sometimes Rayne only wanted to get off, with either his help or with her vibrator, and other times she wanted actual intercourse.
But whatever she wanted and needed, Ghost was happy to provide.
He was more than able to get himself off, and in fact, Rayne loved watching him masturbate in front of her.
Life certainly wasn’t easy or calm, but it was exactly what Ghost had dreamed about.
He loved having a hectic life. Loved watching his kids grow up and explore the world.
This was why he’d become a soldier. Why he’d joined Delta Force in the first place.
To keep families safe and ignorant of the evils of the world.
When Greta screeched and came running into the living room, Ghost quickly scooped her up and flung her over his shoulder. Billy, who’d been tormenting his sister with his soapy hands, wanted in on the fun, and sat on his dad’s foot and wrapped his arms around his calf.
With two squirming kids hanging off him, Ghost smiled and made his way into the kitchen. He needed to get them fed, play with them for an hour or so, read them a story, put them to bed, and then he could take care of his wife.
His smile grew as he thought about what that entailed. He couldn’t wait.
Hollywood and Kassie, Seven years after the weddings.
“That kid’s a menace,” Hollywood groaned as he watched Fletch’s little boy chase Kate around the backyard. They were hanging out with their friends and watching the kids play.
“No, he’s not,” Kassie told her husband. “I bet he’s just like you were at that age. Besides, he likes her. That’s what kids do when they like someone else but don’t know how to tell them.”
“Kate is only seven!” Hollywood said in horror. “She’s too young to have a boyfriend.”
“Annie knew Frankie was the boy for her when she was seven,” Kassie said calmly.
“No. Just no,” Hollywood said, folding his arms across his chest.
Kassie giggled and turned into her husband and wrapped her arms around him.
Hollywood kept his eyes on his daughter and the little boy who seemed enamored with her, even as he hugged his wife to his chest. The kids had grown up together, spending a lot of time playing, but the thought of them liking each other hadn’t even dawned on him until right this moment.
Just then, Kate fell. She’d been running from Ethan and laughing and had tripped over something in the yard. Hollywood jerked and moved to go help her, but Kassie held him tightly.
“She’s fine,” she whispered.
Hollywood clenched his teeth and forced himself to not run to his daughter to make sure she was all right.
He watched as Annie went over to the children and made sure Kate was okay. She had the little girl laughing within seconds. Hollywood didn’t miss the way Ethan patted Kate on the shoulder lightly, as if comforting her.
“Fuck, I’m in deep shit, aren’t I?” he asked.
Kassie merely chuckled. “Yup. Are you seriously just noticing for the first time how pretty our daughter is?”
“No,” Hollywood admitted. “I already knew she was the most beautiful girl in all the world…second only to her mom. But I am just realizing that it’s a problem. The boys are gonna be all over her.”
“Look at me,” Kassie ordered.
Hollywood continued to stare at his baby girl—who wasn’t so much a baby anymore—as she played with Ethan. When he felt Kassie’s fingers on his cheek, he tore his eyes away from the child who meant so much to him.
She’d been sickly as an infant, and when she was two, they’d found out she had sickle cell anemia.
The doctors had been surprised, as it mainly affected African-American children in the United States, but somehow Kate had inherited the sickle cell gene from each of her parents, resulting in the anemia.
It had been a tough road for a while, with tons of doctors’ appointments and trying to get her medicine right.
But today she was a happy and beautiful child.
As a result of everything they’d been through with Kate, Hollywood and Kassie had decided to not have any more children.
They didn’t want to risk passing on the disease to another child.
Hollywood wasn’t sorry. He loved Kate with all his heart, but it wasn’t easy being a parent. He was more than okay with only having one kid.
“She’s smart,” Kassie told him. “I have a feeling you’re right, and in a few years she’s going to be fighting off boys with a stick…”
Hollywood growled, but Kassie ignored him and continued.
“But by then, she’ll have learned from observing her dad how a man is supposed to treat a woman, because she watches you with me.
She sees how your teammates treat their women.
She’s gonna want that for herself. She’s not going to put up with anyone treating her badly. ”
“She’s not allowed to date until she’s eighteen,” Hollywood said with a frown. “I know how boys are…I was one, you know. They’re gonna want to get in her pants and they don’t like hearing no.”
“So we’ll teach her how to protect herself if there’s a boy who doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Hollywood growled. “If anyone touches my little girl, they’re gonna wish they hadn’t.”
“I love you,” Kassie said with a smile.
“I love you too,” Hollywood said immediately. “But I don’t know why you’re smiling like that.”
“Fifteen,” his wife told him. “And only if she’s at either our house or his when adults are home. When she’s sixteen, she can start going on dates.”
Hollywood closed his eyes. “Why can’t she stay this age forever?” he whined.
Kassie turned in his arms until her back was against his front and Hollywood interlaced his fingers together over her stomach.
“Because as much as we want to stop time, we can’t.
She’s going to grow up and be a beautiful woman.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she got into modeling, she’s literally that pretty.
But she could also decide to go into construction and I’d be just as happy if she wore a hard hat every day and was covered in dirt. ”
Hollywood lowered his head until his lips were next to Kassie’s ear. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“For what?” she asked.
“For loving me. For being amazing. For just being you.”
Kassie chuckled, and Hollywood knew he’d never get tired of hearing that laugh. “It’s not a hardship loving you…except when you come back from a mission and smell like you’ve been crawling through shit for a month.”
Hollywood huffed out a laugh…she wasn’t exactly wrong. Some of the places he’d been and some of the things he’d had to do weren’t far from what she’d described.
“I talked to Karina this afternoon,” Kassie told him.
“Yeah?”
“Uh-huh. She’s dating a new guy.”
Hollywood rolled his eyes, knowing Kassie couldn’t see him.
His sister-in-law was a serial dater. He knew Kassie worried about her, but she was still young.
She had plenty of time to settle down. Better she figure out what she really wanted in a partner now than regret a hasty decision later.
“When is she coming to visit? Kate was saying the other day that she missed her aunt Karina.”
“I’m not sure. She loves it out there in California. I told her that maybe she’d meet some hunky Navy SEAL and could bring him home for you to check out.”
Hollywood grunted. “You better believe she’s bringing home any man she wants to marry for me to check out. I’ll call Tex and make him do the complete workup on him.”
Kassie turned in his hold again and laughed. She ran her fingers up his chest suggestively, and licked her lips as she looked at him. “Think we can talk Emily and Fletch into keeping Kate for a sleepover tonight?”
“You have something you need to do tonight?” Hollywood asked, knowing exactly what his wife was thinking.
“Oh, yeah,” she agreed. “There’s someone I need to do tonight.”
Hollywood leaned down and kissed his wife. Not caring who was around. Having a child meant they didn’t get as much private time together as he liked. Anytime he could have his wife to himself, he’d take it.
After he’d kissed her senseless, Hollywood lifted his head. “Fletch’ll take Kate for the night. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
Kassie sighed in contentment. “Good.”
“Love you, Kass.”
“Love you too. Now go,” she said, pushing him away gently. “Tell your friend he’s on babysitting duty. I want to go home.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hollywood said, and immediately turned around to find Fletch. He couldn’t keep the small smile from his face though. He was as much in love with his wife today as the day he’d married her. More. Life was amazing.
Fish and Bryn, ten years after the weddings.
Fish yawned and stretched, reaching out his good arm for his wife. When he encountered nothing but cold sheets, he frowned. It wasn’t unusual that Bryn got up before him, she didn’t need a lot of sleep, but he couldn’t deny that he hated waking up without her.
He quickly got up and pulled on a pair of jeans, not bothering with a shirt. He did what he needed to do in the bathroom and went looking for Bryn.
He found her in the living room. She was sitting on the floor cross-legged, hunched over what he thought was their toaster, with their six-year-old son.