Epilogue

LACEY

FIVE YEARS LATER

I leaned back in my chair and smiled as I watched Emilia play with little Xander around the Christmas tree. At nine years old, she was the perfect protective older sister to her little cousin. The two wolfling children were precocious and a handful at times, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

It didn't take long for me to discover I was pregnant with our first child. After all, Blake had done everything to make sure that I was constantly bred since we first consummated our mating. My hand rested on top of my heavily round belly. This time next year, Emilia and Xander were going to have a little girl as another playmate. My heart fluttered as I pictured a group of rowdy kids playing around the Christmas tree. Blake said he was happy with however many children we ended up having, but I wanted more. I wanted laughter and chatter to fill this big house. In the future, when the children had their own families, we could build them their own homes on the estate. Lord knows the land was big enough to fit a small town.

Nanny Grace came in, resting her hands on her hips. She was stern, but sweet in the way she helped raise the kids. "Come along, children. It's time for breakfast, then you can open your presents."

With three children under the roof, Blake had finally convinced me to hire Grace before the baby arrived. At first, the thought pained me. Was I not a good enough mother to Emilia and Xander? But Grace lived up to her name, assisting me when I was too tired to chase after the kids without taking over as their mom.

And she arrived just in time. Not only was the baby due in three months, so was the manuscript for my next novel. My first novel became an overnight sensation when the book went viral online. After more than a year of negotiations, the new TV series based on the novel was going to come out next autumn.

At the promise of presents, Emilia and Xander followed Grace to the kitchen.

In this brief moment of stillness, I admired the giant decorated tree. All sorts of ornaments hung from its limbs. Joining the original bread ornament, there was a bookshelf ornament, and bunnies of all kinds for Emilia. Xander's favorite animals were owls, so we also had owls perched on the tree next to ornaments of the places we had traveled to as a family. It was a family tradition now to add a new ornament to our tree every year. I couldn't wait to see it overflowing with ornaments in the years to come.

Blake finally came back from the pool deck where he had been working on a Christmas barbecue. The weather this year was unusually warm in Huntington Harbor, and we decided to have a surf and turf meal instead of the usual Christmas ham.

"Reeve and Katie just called," he announced. "They're on their way over."

I rested my head on my headrest and smiled up at him. "It's going to be a full house here tonight." For the past couple of years, our best friends had spent the holidays at our home, but I had a feeling this was going to be the last Christmas we shared. Reeve didn't know it yet, but Katie was going to announce her pregnancy as a Christmas present to her mate today. I was sworn to secrecy and surreptitiously, I eyed the present under the tree. Reeve was going to be over the moon when he unwrapped it and found out he was going to be a daddy.

Blake kneeled next to my feet and rubbed his hands on my belly. The baby kicked as she recognized her father's touch.

"Tell me if you're tired. I can watch the kids while you rest."

"I'm fine," I insisted. Lifting my hand, I ran my fingers through his hair and scratched his head softly. The diamond on my wedding ring caught the sunlight in the window. "I'm just so happy."

Blake placed his head on my stomach. The baby kicked again.

"Me too," Blake murmured.

If I had one wish, it was always to be this joyful and content. I told Blake this.

He smiled up at me. "Oh, Lacey. This is just the start of our joy."

I agreed. In the meantime, I was going to have the best Christmas of my life so far with my family.

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Thank you for reading Billionaire Wolf Needs a Nanny.