EPILOGUE
JOSIE
I’m sitting on the side of the pool, swishing my swollen feet in the cool water, watching Skinny, Cairo, Blaze, Bond, Rogue, and Bull play with the kids.
It has been a scorching hot day, and we all needed a break.
I closed down the clinic early, and we closed the shops, deciding to spend the rest of the afternoon at the pool, trying to get some relief from the relentless October heat.
It didn’t help that I was the size of a whale.
Our boys are three years old and could swim like fish.
They’re pretending to drown their dad, and he’s hamming it up for them.
I put a hand to my belly as one of the babies decides to do some acrobatics.
You’d think with it being so hot they’d sleep, but no, I seem to grow hyperactive children, and I seem to like for them to come along two at a time.
Both Skinny and I’d nearly fainted when we’d again seen two heartbeats on the screen, not believing our eyes.
Although this time he did manage to stay on his feet.
A wet nose pushes at my arm, and I turn to look at the puppy that Skinny had found a few weeks ago.
Cinder had finally passed away in her sleep a month after our boys were born, and he’d mourned her for a long time.
I didn’t think he’d ever get another dog, but then he’d been to town and found this little one crying behind a shop.
Her sibling had been dead, and the mother was nowhere to be found.
He’d scooped her up and brought her home.
She’d been his shadow ever since. So much so that was what we ended up calling her.
From behind me, I hear the chattering of the Crow ladies as they come back out of the hotel with ice lollies and cool drinks for everyone.
“Ice lollies, kiddos,” Noni calls out. There’s a mad scramble as the kids all hurry out of the pool, mine and Skinny’s two boys pushing and shoving with the rest of them.
My boys weren’t small, taking after Skinny and Bull in stature.
Other than my hair colour, there was nothing of me in either of them.
And when they stood next to Van, you’d think they were siblings, not cousins.
Wet, cool hands slide up under the skirt of my short maternity dress to my bare thighs, distracting me from my sons.
Looking down into the warm eyes of my man, I bend forward as much as I can for a kiss that I know he’ll give me.
“Hey, baby, how are you doing in this heat?” Skinny asks, always concerned about my wellbeing.
‘ God, I love this man.’ All these years later and I still wonder how I got so lucky.
“I’m okay, love. I’m enjoying the half-day and watching the kids pushing and shoving like there aren’t enough ice lollies to go around.” I grin down at him, running my fingers through his hair.
He smiles a wide smile at me, and I can see the happiness in his gaze when he replies, “I love you, Josie. It’s always been you, baby, from that first moment to now.
Then you gave me our boys and now you’re giving me two more.
Never thought I’d have this when I was hiding in that wardrobe with my brother and Bond.
Not in a million years. I’ll never take it for granted. Love you forever.”
My heart just about bursts at his words because I know he means every single one of them.
“Love you, Skinny. Thank you for a beautiful life.”
The End