Epilogue
Warren
FOUR YEARS LATER
“My God,” I drawl, walking into the bathroom and finding my hot wife soaking in the tub.
“About time you got home.” Maisie grins. “Join me?”
I’m already unbuttoning my jeans. “Don’t have to ask me twice.”
I had errands to run in town or I would’ve been home a lot sooner.
Once I sit behind her, I pull her against my chest and wrap my arms around her swollen belly. Gently rubbing over her bump, I hum at how beautiful she looks carrying our baby.
“I wonder who she’ll look like,” Maisie says, leaning her head back on my shoulder.
“Hopefully you. Although instead of being weak against one girl, it’ll be two.”
She chuckles, shivering against my stubble when I press my lips along her neck .
“And I have no doubt she’ll be wrapped around your finger,” she adds.
“Her mother certainly is.” I slide a palm up between her breasts and rest it around her throat, then tilt her chin to claim her mouth. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Mhm…” She moans, wiggling her ass.
“Careful,” I growl. “That’s how we got here in the first place.”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re addin’ extra bedrooms to the house.”
As soon as we found out we were expecting, I recruited my dad, brothers, and Silas to help me add a couple extra rooms to the back of the cabin.
They’re almost finished and then we’ll get the nursery ready.
Maisie’s already buying clothes and stocking up on diapers, which are mostly taking over her office.
I’m proud of how well she’s managed and grown her business. She has two assistants and three agents working for her now. Although she works hard, she’s learned to take time off and enjoy our life together.
It’s all I’ve ever wanted for us.
And now I couldn’t be happier to be growing our family.
“Have you added any more baby names to your list?”
Last I checked, she had fourteen listed, in order from most favorite to least, but it changes every few days based on her mood.
She tucks in her lips and looks away from me.
That’s a yes .
“Well…do I get to hear ’em?”
She lists off five more she found online that I don’t hate , but none are really hitting for me.
“There’s one more I considered, but I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it. ”
“Okay, tell me.”
“I was rereadin’ your annotations in my book the other day and the sister’s name popped out at me. When I read her book, I also thought it was cute, but then I dunno…it stayed in my head and I kinda love it now.”
The continuation of her favorite book released last year, but she was able to read an early copy of it. Then she let me read it and it was as good as the first, maybe even better since you got to see both so happy.
“Birdie…” I try out the name, loving the way it sounds aloud. “I really like that.”
“You do?” Her gaze finds mine. “What about a middle name?”
“Hm…Grace or Gracelyn if you want her to have yours? Otherwise, could we give her Aunt JoJo’s name? She would be so honored.”
“Birdie Josephine,” she says slowly, a smile covering her face. “That’s perfect.”
“However…” I contemplate mentioning it. “Kids might call her BJ or tease her about it once they learn what it means.”
Maisie nearly growls at the thought. “It’s a good thing she’ll have a dad with two brothers to teach her how to kick their little asses.”
A laugh bubbles out of me as I press my lips to her temple. “That’s my girl. Teachin’ our baby how to fight back before she’s even outta the womb.”
After I rub some bath scrub over her body and we rinse off in the shower, we change into some comfy clothes, and I start making dinner for us.
Maisie comes into the kitchen and sits at the breakfast bar with our memory box that has since been upgraded to a much larger one. We celebrated our ten-year wedding anniversary two years ago with a vow renewal ceremony at the Willow Chalet.
It was important for me to give her the wedding she had always wanted, so we took a ton of photos, made a new wedding album, and hung up more pictures in the house.
Now our memory box is filled with our past before and after we reunited. The most recent addition being our ultrasound photos of our first child.
And yeah, I’m hopeful we’ll have more than one.
But I’ll be happy either way.
Getting to spend the past several years as a married couple and getting to know each other again isn’t something I’d give up for anything. Things happened exactly the way they had to, so we ended up here and more in love than ever.
“What’re you doin’?” I ask, watching her flip through the baby book she picked out a couple months ago.
“I wanna write a message to the baby about the moment we decided on her name.” She beams, grabbing a pen. “And that if the kids tease her, she has our permission to beat ’em up.”
“You are not puttin’ that in there.”
“Oh yes, I am!” She writes aggressively, and I don’t even attempt to stop her. It’ll be something funny to read years from now.
“Don’t forget we’re babysittin’ for Nicky and Darla tomorrow night,” she reminds me when I set her plate down in front of her. “The terror twins.”
She shudders and so do I.
“And who got us into this mess?” I arch a brow. “Pretty sure I’ll be busy.”
Doing literally anything else.
No one’s more shocked than me that those two not only stayed married all these years but then got pregnant with twin boys right after their honeymoon.
“Like hell you will be. Unless you mean busy helpin’ me with ’em.”
“You volunteered us,” I remind her.
“Darla cornered me at the grocery store, talkin’ all about their anniversary. I couldn’t say no!”
“Well, then you better call Posey and Bellamy for backup.”
“Warren Garrett,” she scolds. “This’ll be good practice for us.”
“Startin’ with toddlers? I don’t even know what to do with ’em.”
She breathes out a breathy laugh. “Whatever it takes to keep ’em alive.”
Baby Announcement
Birdie Josephine Langston was born five days past her due date, causing her Mama to perform outrageous activities to do whatever it took to get her out—including but not limited to: eating spicy foods, hiking up the mountain in ninety-degree weather and almost passing out, strenuous sex, and bouncing on a yoga ball until she nearly peed herself—and when none of those worked—her husband put her on bedrest. Birdie finally debuted at the end of summer weighing seven pounds, three ounces, and was twenty-inches long.
Daddy, Mommy, and baby are all doing amazing and are happier than ever.