Epilogue
SAM
I put the truck in Park, and my head hit the back of my headrest.
It was a long day. A long, dirty, dusty, grimy kind of day.
The kind that made me feel a hell of a lot older than my forty-nine years.
The kind I had been working to avoid before I met Avery.
Now, days like this, I took with a grain of salt because the fucking reward of a hard, long days of work was something I felt the moment I crossed the threshold of our home.
Though by the way my youngest was peeking through the window today, her big toothless grin and bright blue eyes, it seemed I was rewarded early.
It was funny. The plans we make for ourselves as we go through life.
When we’re younger, the shit we think is so damn important, so damn life changing, but it’s nothing in the big picture of things.
I’d given up on the idea of wanting a family of my own after helping my mom raise my sisters and love just never happened by the time I was thirty-eight.
So, I had it in my head it never would. I had simply planned the rest of my life out.
Little did I know, two years later, my woman would literally move across the street from me and change my entire goddamn life. Give me things I had been so damn sure I was too fucking old for.
Even now, I couldn’t help but grin as I slipped out of my truck, lunch bag and backpack tossed over my shoulder with the water bottle my wife made me chug daily in my hand.
So many things I’d thought were no longer possible—a partner to share everyday moments with, kids, a family.
Hell, even a goddamn dog. Though, it wasn’t a golden retriever waiting inside with my kids and Avery, but a border collie with more attitude and an overprotective nature that made me feel safe leaving for work every morning.
I was a happy man.
A fulfilled one who lived and breathed for his wife and kids.
There wasn’t a mountain I wouldn’t move, or an ocean I wouldn’t swim across for either of them.
Before I reached the door, it swung open.
Two little heads popped out. Blonde curls and stick-straight dark hair shifted in the summer breeze just before a high-pitched half-whisper half-shout sliced through the summer air.
“Daddy! Daddy!” my twin daughters called out as they ran towards me.
I bent, bracing my body for the impact of theirs when they ran straight into my arms. I hefted them up and reminded myself to hit the gym tonight because my girls were only growing, and I needed to make sure to stay as strong as I could for as long as I could so they would always know their pops would be able to pick them up, no matter how old they got.
“Your glasses tipped.” Sunny giggled, fixing them on my face. “How was work, Dad?”
“Good, baby. How was camp?”
“She got in trouble,” Skye tattled, and Sunny shot her a glare.
“No! I didn’t,” she pouted.
“Ya huh!” Skye laughed. “Mommy’s mad.”
“She’s not mad,” my wife’s voice rang out.
Our eyes caught on one another’s, and I couldn’t help the smile that found itself there.
She was standing at the doorway, leaning against it, her eyes tired but happy.
I was still mystified by how he hell it was possible to be even deeper in love, find her even more beautiful than that first time I laid eyes on her.
“You two know better than to just open the door and run out,” she gently scolded.
“Sorry, Mom!” they said in unison.
“Okay, go wash your hands. Dad’s home, so what time is it?”
“Dinner time!” our two twin girls shouted and wiggled out of my hold to run back inside.
“It’s pizza night,” she shared. The smile on my face grew wider.
“Mmm, my favorite.”
“Really?”
“No, my favorite is dessert. With my wife after everyone goes to sleep.” I winked, and she giggled.
Nine years later, and I was still installable for my woman.
We still played here and there, but with twin seven-year-olds it was hard to find the time.
Though, I had a plan for that this weekend.
Stella and her hockey-playing man, my best friend, if you could believe it, were coming home from Houston to watch them for the long weekend so I could take my wife out on a surprise getaway where I planned to remind her of just how much her daddy loved her.
“What happened with Sun?” I asked, setting my bags on the end of the couch. My princess, my queen, made a face.
“So… there’s a boy.”
“Shit,” I muttered, pressing my forehead against hers. “She’s only seven.”
“I know, but it’s not what you think.”
“Okay,” I sighed.
“He was saying stuff about Skye, and Sunny, well… defended her sister,” Avery shared. I tried and failed at not smiling. “Don’t smile. That will make her think you’re encouraging this kind of behavior.”
“I’m not.” We both knew I was. “She get kicked out of art camp?” I asked, not really surprised or upset my sweet little ray of sunshine would do something like that.
I had three younger sisters, after all. Not to mention that even if Sunny was a bright, sweet kid, heaven protect the person who even looked at her sister wrong. That girl was overprotective to the max, something my wife loved to remind me was something she got from me.
And honestly? I was okay with that.
“No, it was just a warning. I talked to her.”
“Okay. And how’s this little bundle of joy?” I asked, rubbing my hand over her belly. Almost as if she heard me, our youngest kicked her mama’s belly, and Avery laughed.
“She’s excited daddy’s home.”
“Yeah? She the only one happy daddy’s home?” I let my head dip into the spot where her shoulder met her neck. I breathed in Avery’s sweet berry scent and pressed my lips to her pulse point.
“Nope.” My wife blushed and grinned up at me. “How was work?” Her blue eyes were curious and genuinely interested. I still had no idea what kind of luck I must have had for her not only move across the street but catch her attention.
“It was work, and from the sounds of it, easier than what was supposed to be your day off.” I shot her a look because she knew I wanted her to call me when it got crazy. Especially since she was so far along.
“I was fine. I handled it.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should have to. We’re partners.”
“I know.” She leaned closer, resting her head on my chest.
“You should have called me. I would have taken care of it,” I grumbled yet kissed the top of her head.
“Don’t be mad. I’ll let you spoil the crap out of me tonight,” she teased, but she had no idea just how spoiled she was going to get.
But not before she promised she would call next time and beg me to let her come first.
“I’m going to get dinner served up. Why don’t you go sit and put your feet up?” I offered. She looked at me suspiciously.
“Why?”
“Why?” I repeated.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I want my wife nice and relaxed for later when I wanna spoil and punish her all at the same time.”
“Oh.” That beautiful smile of hers brightened her entire face, and there was no misinterpreting what I was talking about. “Okay, I can go with that. There is something I’ve been wanting to try out?” she whispered, and my cock started to get hard.
“Fuck,” I cursed. She giggled softly, pressing her curvy body against mine as she rose to the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to mine. “I love you, handsome.”
“Love you, too, baby girl.” I kissed her again, and just as my tongue parted her lips, I heard little footsteps rushing down the hall and ewwws ringing through the living room. We parted and exchanged a look filled with promises of a very sweaty and satisfying night ahead.
“Okay,” I sighed, stepping away from my wife and pointing at my troublemaker daughter. “Come on, little gremlin, you and I gotta talk,” I said as I swooped in to pick Sunny up. I glanced over my shoulder just as Avery slowly took a seat on the couch and Skye cuddled next to her.
My kid and I talked about keeping our hands to ourselves and asking a grown-up for help.
She told me more about what happened and how the boy was being mean and hurt her sister’s feelings.
It was tough to keep a straight face and not high-five her when she told me about how she glued the kid to his seat for being mean to Skye, but somehow, I managed.
We ate dinner together, and Skye showed me the painting she’d done at art camp before I read the girls a bedtime story.
By the time I was done with that, both girls were tuckered out, and I stood.
Every step full of intent filled my veins with anticipation.
It had been too dan long since I had been naked and alone with my wife—that morning, but still.
I was a man obsessed when it came to his woman.
I opened and shut then locked the door to our bedroom when she stepped out of the master bathroom.
“Fuck,” I whispered in a hiss as I took in just how fucking gorgeous Avery looked. A long pale-pink satin nightie with light cream lace trim highlighted every delicious curve and the slit up to her thigh on the left showed off those thick thighs I loved so much.
I tugged my shirt off and felt her eyes on my body as I took off my belt and loosened the first button of my cargo pants.
“I heard something about Daddy being extra nice to me tonight?” she teased.
“Oh, baby girl, I’m going to be so nice to you.” I grinned and walked right up to her, picking her up like I did the day we got married, only four months after we spent that first night together.
What can I say? When you know, you know.