Epilogue
Ten Months Later
“How are you feeling?” Dani asked.
Peyton smiled and ran her hand over her swollen belly for the hundredth time. “Fantastic now.” She picked up the wooden sign Rhett had crafted. The name Clarkson was engraved on the espresso-stained wood.
Dani picked up the screwdriver from the changing table and shooed her out of the way. “Don’t you dare. You’ve got precious cargo.”
Peyton rolled her eyes and propped her hand on her hip. “You’re babying me as much as Rhett does.”
Dani stuck out her tongue. “You’re pregnant. Besides, you deserve it. Enjoy. From what I hear, you won’t sleep for the next two years or so. Better rest while you can.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Peyton waved that off. All the struggles would be worth it.
“I’m serious. I need you back to work. The business won’t last long without you.” Dani held up her hand, stopping herself. “I mean, I’ll handle things, don’t worry. I want you to enjoy the next few months off.”
As soon as Peyton returned from Key West, Dani had started begging her to join her event-planning business.
She’d been hinting since she started it that Peyton would be an asset to her team.
But Peyton had been stubborn, hadn’t wanted to change her ways, and hadn’t wanted to impose on Dani’s business.
Dani wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Peyton had joined her business eight months ago and had just finished her last week of work yesterday. Now it was time to get herself ready for the baby. She patted the top of her belly and was rewarded with a swift kick to her spleen. She jerked.
Dani leaped off the stepladder. “Did he kick? Let me feel!” She placed her hands eagerly on Peyton’s belly, and a wide grin split her face. “Clarkson, this is your auntie Dani. I’ll be there for all the sugar your mom denies you.”
Peyton swatted her shoulder.
“Ouch. Sorry, I meant I’ll be there for cuddles.”
“Hey, now. Don’t hog the belly.” Rhett breezed into the room, and Peyton laughed as he nudged Dani out of the way, dropped to his knees in front of her, and rested his large, warm palm on the side of her stomach.
The baby stopped kicking.
Rhett groaned and dropped his head forward. Peyton and Dani laughed.
“C’mon, ladies, you’ve been in here all afternoon,” Brock said, entering the room.
Dani cast him a glance over her shoulder. “Excuse me, look at all the baby clothes we washed. And we arranged the diapers, hung the curtains, made the crib—”
“And you both did a wonderful job. But Rhett and I had the brunt of the work assembling all the furniture.”
Dani rolled her eyes and Peyton chuckled. God it felt good to have her family around her, celebrating the baby. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, and Rhett stood and wrapped his arm around her. “C’mon, I’ve got the food ready.”
Ding-dong!
“That’s Serena and Milo,” Dani said, bouncing on her toes. “I’ll get it.” She rushed out of the baby’s room and everyone followed her down the stairs.
Rhett clasped Peyton’s hand as she descended the stairs of their new home. Immediately after returning from Key West, she’d moved into Rhett’s apartment. But four months later they’d been surprised when she’d found out she was pregnant and they’d sold his place for a single-family home.
It felt right. Everything did.
Rhett kissed her hand as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “I love you,” he said softly.
Warmth tickled her heartstrings, and she circled her arms around his waist. He was everything she’d ever wanted and had given her more than she’d ever dreamed of in such a short time.
Serena and Milo entered. A bucket seat was slung over Milo’s arm. Their eight-month-old son, Austin, blabbered away as Milo hefted him out of the seat and Serena handed gift bags to Dani. A few minutes later, Peyton’s adoptive parents and Rhett’s parents arrived, and the party was in full swing.
They’d spent the evening laughing, passing around Austin, opening gifts, and talking about her pregnancy.
After dinner, Rhett stood and held up a glass of non-alcoholic champagne and lifted it toward the table.
He’d told Peyton he didn’t want to drink alcohol when she couldn’t, but he’d bought an expensive bottle to celebrate with after the baby was born.
“Thanks, everyone, for coming, and for all the lovely gifts. Clarkson is so lucky and spoiled already—I can’t wait to see how much happiness he brings our families. ”
Peyton settled back in her seat and folded her hands over her jumping belly.
Rhett would be disappointed he’d missed Clarkson’s gymnastic work, but she didn’t want to stop his speech.
Glancing across the table, she saw her adoptive mother’s eyes fill with tears.
She winked at Peyton and nodded toward Rhett.
Peyton hadn’t realized how much, deep down, she’d strived for her adoptive parents’ approval over the years.
She’d kept their relationship at arm’s length because she knew her life path was a disappointment.
After she’d tossed all her equipment and moved her cash into investments and savings, she’d confessed the truth about her career to her mom and dad and vowed that things would be different now.
Maybe that’s why Loretta was staring at Rhett with hearts in her eyes.
Suddenly, Rhett turned and faced her, and then moved his chair out of the way and dropped to one knee.
The air left her lungs. He picked up her hand and placed his free one on top of Clarkson’s foot.
A fascinated grin spread across his face, like it did every time he caught his son’s movements.
She felt a flash of disappointment. For a second, she’d thought he was going to propose.
He must have simply sensed the action in her belly and stopped his speech.
He kissed her hand, and everyone around the table “awed.” Embarrassment brought a rush of heat to her cheeks, but she kept her gaze on Rhett.
“Peyton, I’m madly in love with you.”
Her heart rate slowed again then kick-started. She dragged in a shallow breath.
“Actually, if I’d told you I loved you when I first realized it, in Key West, you would’ve run screaming for the hills.
” He shrugged. “But like my mother always said”—he looked across the table and grinned at his mom’s plump, joyful face—“‘When you know, you know.’ And I have no doubt that you’re going to be an incredible mother to our son.
I pray we’re blessed with ten more babies . . .”
Her jaw dropped, and she swatted him.
“. . . and that you’ll please be my wife.”
Her stomach dropped and she sat forward in her seat. Tears, which had been rushing to her lashes more often now, as if pregnancy had removed some kind of emotional filter, rolled from the corners of her eyes. She brushed them away. “Are you s-serious?”
His gruff laugh shook away her doubt. Pleasure lit up his crystalline grays, and happiness threatened to explode from her ears.
“As a heart attack.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’ll marry you! Yes!”
He enclosed her in a bear hug and showered kisses on her cheek and hair. “You’ve made me so damn happy, Priss.”
She pulled away an inch and caught his cheek in her hand. “No, you’ve made me so happy. You and our son are my dreams come true. Thank you for loving me.”
He kissed her mouth, and she fought the urge to slip her tongue between his lips—later, when they didn’t have an audience. Cheers filled the room, and Rhett pulled her up to stand at his side.
She looked from one smiling face to the next—her parents, her future parents-in-law, and her friends who were closer than siblings—and her heart had never been fuller.
She stared at Rhett’s profile as he grinned at their guests, and a wave of gratitude hit her.
At one point in her life, she’d thought she’d never deserve this kind of happiness, had sworn it wasn’t in the cards.
She placed her hand on top of Rhett’s on her belly. This was all she’d ever wanted, and now she had found her own joy with the most incredible man, who treated her as if she were more valuable than the air he breathed.
Finally, she’d found her own family.
* * *
Rami Mitry doesn’t play hero.
But the second he finds Ivy half-dead in captivity, bodies start dropping.
Because the moment he finds her is the moment he loses himself.
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