Epilogue
Seth
W e were set up on blankets around Pierce Lake, eagerly awaiting the fireworks to start. The day had been filled with food, family, laughter, and frivolities. It was nice to not be on guard all the time, and the last few months with Regan had been more than I could have ever asked for.
She and I decided that living with Rhys and Hannah or Booker and Caldwell wasn’t going to work for either of us.
We both wanted a fresh start, so last week, we bought a house in Pierce Bluff.
It wasn’t huge, even though Regan could afford it, but it was big enough for us, Edgar the fuzzy asshole, and our newest addition, Charles.
He was a beautiful red Doberman that Stella bought Regan, and next week, he was going into training as a protection dog.
There weren’t any threats against any of us, except for the normal people we’d pissed off, but I wasn’t taking any chances with Regan’s safety.
Charles would be Regan’s companion when I couldn’t be by her side, and she would always be carrying a weapon—a silver bracelet designed by Jacob that would cut a man’s throat if necessary.
Regan would never be the victim of anyone’s demented desires ever again.
“Wagan, I sit wif you,” DJ said as he walked from his parents’ blanket to ours.
“Did Mommy and Daddy say you could?” she asked, and he nodded.
Devlin lifted a thumb into the air, and Regan smiled at the adorable little guy. She patted her lap and said, “Have a seat.”
He plopped onto her lap and leaned against her as she sat between my legs and leaned against me.
I kissed her head as she listened to him ramble about something he found fascinating.
She loved him, but we’d recently discussed children and I discovered Regan had no desire to be a mother.
She loved all the kids in the family, but her feelings were valid.
She explained that since her childhood was so difficult and chaotic, she had never developed the maternal instincts other women had.
Regan didn’t long to have kids of her own, and when I really thought about it, neither did I.
The thought of a mini-me running around didn’t make me excited or cause any kind of longing, so she and I agreed we wouldn’t pursue that avenue.
If it changed in the future, so be it, but I didn’t need a child to feel complete and neither did she. We had enough love to fulfill all our dreams, and for us, that was enough.
We still hadn’t told the family, as I believed she was worried about their reaction, but I promised her I would shut down any interrogation or browbeating attempts to change our minds. It was a decision we’d made and it wasn’t for public consumption.
Regan and I were going to travel, filling our adventure book with memories of all the exciting and bucket list items we experienced. We were going to sleep late, dance until dawn, eat all the delicious foods we wanted, and make love every chance we could.
And to answer your question, yes, she and I had been intimate with each other.
Multiple times, actually. But what she and I had in the bedroom wasn’t for your prying eyes.
Regan’s been exposed enough that I didn’t want either of us to discuss it, but you could use your imagination and picture our limbs intertwined as we climaxed together, reaching euphoria and crashing back to Earth.
For this story, that’s all you’re going to get. Maybe one day, she would want to share the details of our passion, but that would be a story for another day. Or not. There’s no telling around here.
It’d been quiet for months, and its given everyone a chance to relax and enjoy the lives they’d always dreamed of. And I got to include myself and Regan in that, which was more than I ever thought possible.
The first time I saw her, she was handling her 9mm handgun like a professional, and I was instantly smitten by her beauty and badass shooting skills. The more I saw, the more I wanted to know her, until finally, I couldn’t stay away any longer.
Our start was rocky, and her pain kept her in a defensive stance, but when she was forced to face her past, she emerged stronger, happier, and she was finally free.
The fireworks started overhead, and DJ slammed his hands over his ears as he looked up at the bright starbursts in the night sky. Regan placed her hands over his to help shield the noise, and I kissed her again, loving her more every minute of every day.
After the grand finale, I looked to see DJ was fading fast, and a moment later, Devlin appeared and picked him up from Regan’s lap. “I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning. Do you have your cardkey?”
“Secured in my pocket,” I responded, and he gave me a nod as he carried his half-asleep son over to his wife and other child.
We were staying in his building while our new house was being renovated, and he was nice enough to give us an entire floor.
I swept the apartment and covered or took offline sixteen security cameras.
Creepy bastard liked to joke he was always watching, but I realized that day that he wasn’t fucking around.
As we walked hand-in-hand back to the building overlooking Pierce Lake, I couldn’t help but think about how all this started and where it all ended up. Devlin and Elise were walking ahead of us, and I realized it had all started with them.
He adored her so much that he couldn’t help but tell the world about them and their love.
That started a chain reaction that incorporated four and a half years and twelve different couples, all connected through invisible strings that bound us all together.
And with those strings, a family was built.
A family that would fight for you.
A family that would go to war for you.
A family that never gave up.
A family that always had your back.
And, most important of all, a family that would always loves you.
Even through the bad times, they’d never let you wander in the dark alone.
When you thought about it, the family we had here in Tennessee was built off love and not blood. That’s the true mark of someone’s affection for you. If they chose to love you instead of having to, then you knew it was for real.
And in the nightmare world of Portstill, Tennessee, love could save your life.
It did mine.