Epilogue - Declan
THREE YEARS LATER
B lue eyes stare up at me, full bottom lip pushed out into a pout.
I shake my head. “I said no, baby.” Those eyes overflow with tears, making them sparkle like crystals, and my heart clenches painfully in my chest. “Okay, one more, but that’s it.”
Maisie throws her fists into the air with a spine-chilling victory yell and then she’s running from the room, her socked feet sliding on the floors as she races for the kitchen. “Daddy said more!”
A minute later, Lily rounds the corner with an accusatory expression on her face, and our two-year-old in her arms, munching on a cookie. “Declan,” she starts, shaking her head. “You have to learn to say no to her.”
“She was gonna cry,” I protest half-heartedly. “It’d be like saying no to you when you cry.”
“That’s different,” she sniffs. “You shouldn’t be saying no to me, ever.”
“No say no to my momma,” Maisie adds shrewdly, eyeing me with a squint. “Momma right.”
My brows climb my forehead, watching as color blooms in Lily’s cheeks. “Oh, really?”
“I didn’t teach her that.” She clears her throat. “Sasha did.”
“Maze love Shashwa!” Maisie declares feelingly .
Lily brushes her nose against Maise’s, her eyes bright. “That’s right, buttercup. We love Sasha.”
“I could do without her,” I grumble. “Especially if she’s filling our baby’s head with lies.”
Lily’s eyes narrow. “What lies?” she asks dangerously, and I step back.
“Adam agreed to be my executive assistant," I announce, hoping to distract her. “It only took four months of convincing.” I frown. “And several additions to his contract, but seeing as I haven’t found anyone quite as efficient as him in over three years, I won’t complain.” I shrug.
“I’m sure he won’t, either.” Lily smirks.
“Carter was walking in today, just as Adam was walking out. Carter told me that it’s the third time their paths have crossed in just over a month. He’s decided the universe is sending him a message.”
“That’s a scary thought,” her voice is dry. “What was the universe saying, exactly?” Maisie finishes her cookie, brushing her crumbly hands all over Lily’s shirt. Lily smiles patiently, pressing a kiss to her chubby cheek, unconcerned about the mess.
“I didn’t ask,” I say, stepping closer and dragging my girls into my arms. “But he’s asked Adam out, apparently. They’re going on a date on Saturday.”
Maisie pats her dirty hand against Lily’s cheek and then mine, laughing at the slapping sound it makes. I grin at her, tapping a finger against her nose, unable to believe the life that’s mine, and something I almost lost.
I can’t imagine a world without Lily, and Maisie has completed the picture, adding a lightness to our worlds that we didn’t even know we were missing.
Lily leans against me, shaking her head.
“Hope Adam knows what he’s in for.” Her nose scrunches.
“Actually, maybe it’s Carter I should be worried for.
” She looks up at me, her eyes soft and happy.
“Dad and Julie fly back in tonight. I thought we could take some takeout around to them. Buttercup has missed Pop and Nan, hasn’t she? ”
Maisie perks up at the names, her eyes going wide before her head swings around wildly. “Where, where, where?”
Grant and Julie had gotten married two years ago, tying the knot while on a cruise around the Caribbean.
After Maisie was born, they’d come to visit us in the hospital and while Julie had been holding the swaddled newborn, Lily asked if it was okay if Maisie called her Nan as she grew up.
Julie had bawled her eyes out, especially when Lily had told her that she’d been a second mother to her for over half her life.
I think she’d always worried before then about how her relationship with Grant had changed so quickly, and how Lily had felt about it. But I don’t think Lily had lied when she’d told Grant that she’d choose Julie over him.
And Grant had definitely lied when he’d replied that he’d choose me over Lily, not that I blamed him for that.
I’d choose Lily, too.
“That sounds perfect,” I tell her now, stealing Maisie out of her arms and spinning her around, making her shriek in glee. “Does Maisie-Maze want Pop, hm?”
“No, no!” she yells. “Maze wants Shashwa!”
I bring her back into my body with a roll of my eyes, even as Lily cackles.
“Always knew that woman was trouble,” I mutter, before complaining to my wife, “How come she never picks me? I thought girls were always supposed to be obsessed with their daddies.” I cuddle Maisie close, inhaling the smell of baby shampoo and cookies.
Lily watches us, her eyes warm. “She does,” she says softly. “Just like I do.” She comes closer, going up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to my lips over Maisie’s head. “I pick you every time.”
“Kiss!” Maisie yells, puckering her lips up, making us laugh, before smothering her face in kisses until she’s laughing like a hyena.
After a moment, Lily steps back, lifting her eyebrows. “But maybe we should test the theory.”
I flick a look at her, confused. “What theory?”
She shrugs casually, but there’s something in her eyes that has me focusing on her. “The theory that girls are always obsessed with their daddies,” she says, eyebrows climbing her forehead. “We can’t know for sure, unless we test the theory, right?”
My throat feels like it’s closing up, my voice coming out choked.
“You saying…?” I ask as she just watches me, eyes heating up.
“You wa nt another baby, Lily?” Her smile widens into a cheeky grin.
“And you’re telling me this right now? When I’m holding our daughter, and we’re about to go to see your father for dinner? ”
She winks and spins on her heel, walking away.
“You better watch out,” I call after her. “As soon as this kid’s asleep…”
Her laugh floats back to me, right as Maisie slaps her hand against my face, a little too hard to be called a pat. “Daddy! Maisie have baby, too.”
I turn my attention to her, tickling my fingers into her belly. “You want a baby? Well, you’d better go to sleep tonight, Maisie-Maze,” I say mock-sternly. “As soon as your head hits the pillow, hm?”
She agrees easily enough. I hold my hand out, waiting for her to grip my finger and shake it gleefully. Her smile is wide and innocent, showing off that same gap between her teeth that her mother has. But then it falls away as she eyes me seriously.
“Cookie, Daddy?”