Epilogue
EMILY
ONE YEAR LATER
YOU AND ME AND A BABY MAKE THREE
Shandy looks over at me, and I can’t help but smile. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud—a cotton candy cloud. I didn’t think I could get any happier. It’s been a year since Baylor and I moved in together.
A year of living with three men and loving every second of it. In fact, I didn’t think I would like living with Boone and Briggs. I was extremely nervous that it would be too much. That they would think I was too much or get tired of me and want me gone.
But it’s been the opposite.
They’ve not only welcomed me with open arms, but they’ve also become my brothers.
I’ve loved every second of living with them, and I wouldn’t want the last year to be any different.
But life is funny because it’s ever-evolving and ever-changing, even if you don’t realize it’s happening until it slaps you in the face.
And this morning, I was slapped in the face.
But in the best possible way.
“You’re smiling awfully big,” a voice calls out as the bell above the door dings.
Lifting my eyes, I look up to see my boss walk through the door. My boss and my sister, Maisie. I worked at the bar until she had her son, Gray.
Then I took over managing the Yellow Rose. It was supposed to be temporary, but Maisie didn’t want to come back full-time. She didn’t want to come back at all.
I can’t blame her for that.
What she does do is what she loves. She brings in desserts every day and does all of the paperwork associated with the restaurant. I’m good with it because I am not a baker. Aiden is still the chef, and he’s an amazing one at that.
My second family is here in this diner. Maisie and Aiden. I didn’t think my life could be this good, and while I’m terrified of what’s to come, I’m also excited at the same time. Because my world is about to be flipped upside down and shaken like one of those snow globes.
“I’m happy,” I announce.
She tilts her head to the side, her gaze narrowing on mine before she shakes her head once, then she hurries toward the counter, closing the distance between us. She places her container of desserts down, then leans forward, her gaze never leaving mine.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she hisses.
As much as I want to keep it from her so that Baylor is the first to know, I can’t.
I need to tell someone. I am bursting on the inside, about to completely combust. I have to tell Maisie what is going on, and I know if I do, she’ll keep it under her hat until I tell Baylor—as long as I tell him sooner rather than later.
“I’m pregnant,” I whisper.
Her eyes widen. “Pregnant?”
“Pregnant.”
And that single word, it sinks in. Down to my bones, deep into my marrow. I’m having a baby—no, it’s bigger than that. I’m having Baylor’s baby. Wow. Now that is really something. Baylor Cooper’s baby.
“Have you told him yet?” Maisie asks.
I shake my head; I can’t even tell her with words that I haven’t given Baylor the news yet. All I can think about is the fact that I’m having his baby. I’m having the baby of the man whom I love more than my own life.
“Tonight,” I whisper. “I’m going to tell him after work tonight.”
“Wow,” Maisie murmurs. “More babies,” she says. “I can’t wait.”
That’s when I realize that this is a really big deal. Gray is going to have a cousin very close in age, a little built-in best friend.
“Me neither,” I whisper. “Gray and this baby are going to be first cousins. They’re going to always have each other. I’ve never had anybody. And this baby is always going to have someone.”
Tears fill my eyes and slide down my cheeks almost instantly, but Maisie doesn’t let me cry alone because wetness fills her own eyes and escapes as her fingers squeeze mine.
“Yeah,” she whispers. “They’re going to always have one another, and it’s going to be beautiful.”
She’s right. It will. Absolutely gorgeous.