68. Epilogue

Epilogue

A nsel helps me take the cake my mom and I made for the gender-revealing party out of the fridge and to the picnic table in front of the cabin. I know it’s silly, but I have seen so many videos of gender reveals in the past week I decided I needed one. So I turned to my mom and Angel for help.

Tyson and Jasper are in charge of the barbecue, while Mose and Rueben entertain the guests. We invited Jasper’s dad, Peter, Rin and his blood-brothers—who have yet to show up—and Angel and her men, as I only wanted to share this moment with those closest to us. Of course, the guys wanted to invite many more, but once I put my foot down, they let me do whatever I wanted. Besides, it’s not some major event. We are simply finding out if we are having a boy or a girl.

Spencer keeps looking at Sofia, who is sleeping peacefully in her stroller, close to Angel.

My father is keeping an eye on Spencer so he doesn't accidentally harm Sofia.

Ansel places the cake in front of Angel, who takes several moments to examine it.

“It turned out amazing!” she finally exclaims. I smile.

My mom and I spent several hours in the kitchen making it while on a video call with Angel, who gave us instructions. From what Angel told me, she took an interest in baking after she returned from her honeymoon.

My guys and I will leave for our honeymoon in a couple of days. It’s only been about a week since the Piercing Ceremony, and I’m still sore from how hard the demons fucked me. We are waiting for me to be able to sit properly in a chair before we leave for Hawaii. Or so the guys claim. I know they are joking. Or maybe not, since they have been more gentle with me than usual. I both hate and like it at the same time.

Tyson and Jasper bring a tray full of hot dogs and hamburgers to the table, and everyone digs in. It might be a gender reveal party, but we also want to spend time with our friends.

“Where’s Rin?” Alekos asks. “I thought he was coming.”

Tyson takes a big bite from his hot dog and chews slowly before replying, “He couldn’t make it. He and his blood-brothers are having some problems at home.”

“I heard they have a woman now. Maybe she’s giving them problems,” Stefan says.

Reyes puts his arm around Angel’s shoulders. “A good spanking will solve any problem.”

Angel flips him the bird.

And, of course, Spencer happens to see her.

“Mommy, what does that mean?” he quickly asks me.

Angel’s cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

Jasper, being a sweetheart, comes to her rescue, “You show that finger only to the persons you love the most.”

I glare at Jasper because he is making everything worse.

Spencer looks at his middle fingers before pointing them up in the air. “I love you, Mommy!”

“Good job, dickhead!” I hiss at Jasper.

It takes me one second to realize what I just said. I slap my forehead just as Spencer asks, “What does dickhead mean?”

Rueben grins before replying, “That word is only reserved for Jasper. It means ‘Daddy Jasper.’”

I swear to God, I’m going to kill my guys.

Spencer smiles as he says, his middle fingers pointing at Jasper, “Dickhead!”

Jasper grabs the grill tongs from the table. Rueben darts away before Jasper can hit him.

“I don’t think Daddy Jasper likes to be called dickhead,” Spencer sounds a bit down.

Ansel rubs his back. “He’ll come around, eventually.”

“Don’t. Even. Think. About. Starting!” I hiss each word. I turn my attention to Spencer, “Calling someone a dickhead is actually not nice.”

Spencer’s shoulders slump forward. “So, Daddy Rueben lied?” After a brief pause, he adds, “You said it first.”

“He must have heard the wrong word because I didn’t mean that. And let’s not show fingers at people, regardless of if we want to show our love for them or not,” I try to convince Spencer to forget about middle fingers and dickheads.

Spencer thinks for a moment then shrugs. “Fine.” Then he turns his attention back to Sofia, who continues sleeping.

Jasper keeps chasing Rueben around.

Peter smiles. “This reminds me of when Jasper was little. He used to fight with his brother all the time.”

“I didn’t know Jasper had a brother,” I say.

“They had a huge fight years ago and since then, they stopped speaking,” Peter explains.

“I see.” Maybe I will ask Jasper about his brother later.

When we finish eating, I say, “Time to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl.”

“How will we know?” Spencer asks.

Tyson starts explaining. “If the inside icing is pink then it’s a girl. And if it’s blue,” he lets Spencer finish.

“It’s a boy,” Spencer concludes.

“That’s right,” Ansel says.

I grab a plate and a knife.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Jasper and Rueben?” Mose asks.

I look around. Jasper is still running after Rueben, who laughs. “They don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.”

I cut a slice of the cake and put it on the plate. Then stare at it.

Spencer looks at the icing. “It’s green. What does that mean?”

“It means that I messed up the icing,” my mom says.

Jasper and Rueben finally stop running around and return to the table.

“Hey! You didn’t wait for us,” Rueben pouts. I shrug.

“What are we having?” Jasper asks excitedly.

“A goy!” Spencer beams with happiness.

Rueben tilts his head to the side. “A what?”

Spencer explains about the icing. “So you see, Daddy Rueben, since the icing is green, we are having a goy!” Then he goes to the cake and starts looking at it. “When will the baby come out of it?”

I blink.

The men start laughing.

“The baby will come out of your mommy’s belly,” Angel tries to explain.

Spencer looks at Angel, then at me. “How?”

“The doctors will help me,” I try to keep it short. “But we still haven’t found out what the baby is.”

My mom smiles softly. “It’s a boy.”

Laughter of happiness erupts all around the table. The guys clasp Mose’s shoulders before kissing me.

I’m happy too. Boy or girl, it doesn’t matter to me.

“A boy, like my pony!” Spencer says enthusiastically. “Papa Peter, you have to see Lincoln!”

Since Spencer is so excited, that makes all of us go to the stable. After we spend some time with the horses and the pony, we return to the cabin.

Angel stops in her tracks. “Is that a goat?”

To everyone’s surprise, Juniper is on the table, eating from the cake.

A black and white goat I haven’t seen before comes out of the cabin, with one of Rueben’s boxers in his mouth. The moment it sees us, it falls to the side, like one of those myotonic goats.

Where the hell did the new goat come from? And how does Juniper keep getting into trouble?

“Daddy, the goat is eating your knickers,” Spencer giggles, making Rueben embarrassed.

“Ay, cabrón!” Reyes says.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Angel explains.

Juniper keeps eating the cake.

Tyson and Mose try to get it down from the table but to no avail. Rueben goes to retrieve his boxers.

Spencer starts crying. “The new goat is dead,” he hiccups.

It takes a bit to calm Spencer and explain that Juniper’s friend is not dead. When the goat gets up, Spencer runs to it and hugs it. “Can we keep it? Juniper will be much happier if there’s a new goat around.”

I exhale loudly.

Rueben sits on a chair, with a beer in one hand and his boxers in the other, and looks at Juniper, who just jumped over Mose.

“If we don’t find out where the new goat came from, we might as well keep it,” I resign myself to my fate.

Spencer kisses the goat, who almost faints again. “We can call you Lana.”

“We could,” my Dad says, “but it’s a male, not a female. A buck.”

“Oh! Then Sampson!”

We debate over names for a bit, but in the end, we decide Sampson is as good an option as any other.

Rueben takes a long sip from his beer.

“Juniper jumped in the lake again and this time I’m not going after her.”

I sit in Rueben’s lap and watch Tyson and Mose go look for the boat.

For a long time, I was broken, without hope for love or a future.

Now I’m whole, with a family that loves me.

The future is something I’m looking forward to.

What more can I ask for?