Epilogue Two
HARPER—MANY YEARS LATER
"They used all the powder sugar," Bloom's four-year-old said, her gorgeous green eyes flooded with tears and her bottom lip trembling.
"It's okay, sweetheart. Auntie Harper brought more. Dad and Uncle Rhone always use it all. It's a tradition."
"What's a tradition?"
"Something that happens every year. So every year, during the Cake Off, they use all of the powdered sugar," Bloom explained, wiping her daughter's tears gently.
The Vampire/Werewolf Cake Off had become the Boys Vs Girls Cake Off when the four-year-old insisted that she was going to be on a team with me and Bloom. The little werewolf was too adorable (and too stubborn) for anyone to fight with her about it.
“It’s so mean, mommy.”
I grabbed the extra bag of powdered sugar that Rhone "hadn't noticed" me bringing and held it out toward her. "Surprise! We have plenty of sugar. We're all set, and we're going to crush them."
"Not my baby brother," she warned me, taking the powdered sugar and hugging it to her chest.
"Of course not. We all love the little squirt way too much."
"We love dad and Uncle Rhone too," she argued.
"Right. But we still want to crush them," I agreed.
"Stop with the crushing," Bloom whispered.
"She has to learn slang eventually," I whispered back. “And her dad is Mav, so crushing things seems like a necessary part of her life.”
The little girl's whole chin quivered.
Bloom gave me a look.
I shrugged.
"It just means that we're going to win, sweetie." Bloom slid the bag of powdered sugar from her daughter's arms and dumped most of it in a bowl. "Do you want to help me pour the milk?"
The distraction worked. The four-year-old lit up immediately. "Yes!"
Bloom helped her up onto the countertop, and I glanced over at Rhone. He was making their frosting, while Maverick rocked his and Bloom's baby in one arm and held his bottle in the other.
Unlike the little guy's sister, his eyes were red. His tiny fangs hadn't come through yet, so they had to add a little blood to his bottle to make sure he got enough.
The smell of formula mixed with blood made me nauseous instead of bloodthirsty, thank god.
Rhone noticed me watching him. "Having fun?"
"Of course. Kids are just a little exhausting after this many hours." I let out a soft breath. "You and I haven't talked about kids in a while."
"No, we haven't."
We'd talked about it right after Bloom announced her pregnancy, and had come to the conclusion that we were nowhere near ready. We didn't have the desire, anyway.
I was stable, but my bloodthirst was still a struggle for me. It always would be. We could figure out a way to manage the kids if we wanted to, but it would be a risk.
"Have you changed your mind?" I asked.
"No. I'm still not really interested. What about you?"
"Honestly, I just want to be the cool aunt."
"Thank fuck."
I bit back a grin, and went over to him long enough to steal a taste of their frosting.
Rhone pulled me in for a kiss. Bloom and Maverick's little girl squealed in excitement, and Rhone plopped a chunk of frosting on my nose before pushing me lightly back toward her.
She laughed way harder than she needed to about the frosting.
The light in Bloom's eyes as she smiled with her daughter made something in my chest grow just a little bit brighter.
She was happy.
We all were.
Being turned was shitty, but I wouldn't have traded it. It had given me everything.