Epilogue

Ian Six weeks later

Right after lunch, we bundle the babies in warm clothing—in sweaters that Ingrid knitted for them, along with matching hats. I lay them in our double stroller and tuck them in with matching gray fleece blankets with little white baby elephants on them. The blankets are gifts from Tyler's sister.

"Ready to go?" Tyler asks as he walks into the kitchen wearing blue jeans, a navy hoodie, and sneakers. As much as I love seeing him looking dashing in his black suit, I get a big kick out of seeing him dressed casually.

Tyler grabs my jacket off the coat rack by the back door and holds it for me as I slip my arms into the sleeves. He smiles down at Lizzie and Will, his voice softening as he talks to them. "Are you two ready to go out and face the world? Are you? Do you want to go for a walk?"

Hearing Tyler speak baby talk to our kids makes me weak in the knees.

Will kicks excitedly, and Lizzie blinks as she gazes up at Tyler. A moment later, she breaks into a big smile as she stares up at her Papa.

I grab Tyler's arm. "Oh, my God, babe! She's smiling!" I whip out my phone and take a picture of her huge toothless grin, which I then forward to our family group chat, which includes Tyler's mom and sister, as well as my parents and my sister. I caption the picture "Baby girl's first smile!"

Tyler holds the back door open while I push the stroller outside. We head down the driveway and turn right to head toward Lake Shore Drive. We cross the busy street at the crosswalk and then make our way over to the paved walking path, which is rather crowded today, but that's not surprising given how nice the weather is. The beach is filled with people, but of course no one's in the water. It's too late in the year for swimming. I'm excited about next summer, when we can take the kids out on the boat and play with them in the water.

"Which way?" Tyler asks me when we reach the path.

"Left. It's less crowded."

We walk for a good half-hour along the path that follows the shoreline. I glance out at the boats on the lake and feel a pang. I haven't taken my boat out since the kids were born.

"Do you miss it?" Tyler asks. He must be reading my mind. "Being out on the water?"

"Yes. Maybe next year when the kids are older, we can all go."

Tyler and I take turns pushing the stroller. I don't think either one of us has gotten over the novelty of it.

Two white-haired women wearing matching tracksuits stop to see the babies. They ooh and ahh over them, and then glance up at us with curious expressions on their faces.

"Who's the father?" one of them asks. She glances at Tyler. "I'm guessing you are. They have your coloring."

Just as I begin to nod, Tyler says, "We both are." And then he surprises me by laying one of his hands overtop mine as it grasps the stroller's handle.

The women smile, first at each other, and then at us.

"My, how things have changed," one of them says wistfully. She looks at the other woman. "Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day." Then, to us, she says, "Congratulations, you two. You make a very fine couple."

"Thanks," I say, grinning from ear to ear. "So do you."

The women's smiles broaden as understanding sinks in, and I could swear they're both blushing.

* * *

When we return to the townhouse, Kimi comes out through the carriage house door to meet us in the drive. "All right, guys. It's been eight weeks. Does this mean you're taking cases again?"

Tyler nods. "I suppose it does."

"Good, because we got a call a few minutes ago from a woman who's worried about her teenage daughter who's sneaking out of the house at night. Her mom wants to know what she's up to. I told her I wasn't sure if we could take the case, but I promised I'd call her back this afternoon. I wrote down all the details if you want to see them."

While those two are chatting about following up with the new client, I run down to the curb to see if the mail has come. I open the door to our mailbox to find a single white envelope inside, addressed to me. But there's no postmark on the envelope. It wasn't mailed through the post office. A chill goes down my spine when I realize someone put it in here.

I open the envelope and pull out a sheet of plain white paper. On it is a handwritten note.

Ian,

I know everything.

Your mother was a whore and a drug addict.

And you're no better.

I want a million dollars in small unmarked bills, or else I'll take it all to the press.

I have pictures. Lots of pictures.

And trust me, you don't want them going public.

I'll send instructions for where to deliver the money.

If you tell anyone, I'll make sure you regret it.

"Ian? Is everything okay?"

I glance up the drive and see Tyler watching me with concern. I realize I'm standing there frozen, staring at the sheet of paper in my hand. My heart lodges in my throat, and my chest feels like it's being squeezed in a vice. "Yeah. Fine." But even I don't believe me.

Tyler leaves the stroller with Kimi and walks down the drive to meet me. "What's wrong?"

When he frowns, I realize I'm clutching the paper to my chest.

His suddenly hard gaze searches mine. He's in detective mode now as he holds out his hand. "Give it to me."

I hand him the paper, and as he reads it, I look away. Instead I stare at my townhouse, my home for the past decade. I watch a smiling Kimi as she bends over to talk to the babies. They're probably awake by now and hungry.

Tyler turns the paper around to study the back. Then he takes the envelope from my hand. The note and the address are written in black ink. "Do you have any idea who sent this?"

I shake my head. "No one knows about my birth mother and my past, except for my parents and Layla, but they'd never do this. It was in the news years ago, but I imagine everyone's forgotten about the salacious coverage."

Tyler folds the sheet of paper and slips it back into the envelope. "I'll see if I can get someone to lift fingerprints off this. Besides yours and mine, I mean. As far as evidence goes, it's already contaminated." He reaches out to cup my face. "Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this."

I'm at a complete loss. "Do you think my mom—I mean my birth mother —could do something like this? I don't even know if she's still alive."

His hand slides down to mine, and he laces our fingers together. "I don't know, baby, but I'm sure as hell going to find out."

* * *

Thank you for reading Episode 1 of Tyler and Ian's new series, Daddy Detectives. I love these characters too much to let them go. I hope you enjoyed this first installment. Stay tuned for Episode 2. I'm envisioning these stories as TV episodes, each a short read. I hope you approve. If you haven't read their first three full-length books, I hope you'll check them out, starting with Somebody to Love .