EPILOGUE

ARIES

According to my mom, you are supposed to get married and then have kids, not the other way around. Well, technically we were married when I got Dalia pregnant with Ares, but things didn't go the way they were supposed to, or maybe they did. I don't know, but there's something really fucking awesome about your kid being the ringbearer in your wedding. If there was a kid on the planet happier at a wedding than he was, I'd be awfully surprised. Like his mother, our son has a heart of gold, and I'm really pleased he got that from her.

Sundays are now family game night; tonight was Ares' choice, Uno. There are few things he enjoys more than listening to his mom squeal over having to pick up four cards. He has a competitive spirit, and while he's normally filled with love, well, there's no love in Uno. Some men would say this life is boring but it's not. I love spending every day with both of them.

We got married six months ago, and sure we have our ups and downs, but there's nothing we can't handle. Dalia is a ray of sunshine but she's also a little brat at times, but I have my ways of handling that.

Forcing her to marry me robbed her of everything a woman wants, most women anyway. The wedding of her dreams. Much to my surprise, my wife wasn't a bridezilla. She didn't even want anything extravagant. All she needed was her family, a pretty dress, and of course, dahlias to represent her mother.

I stand at the makeshift altar at the back of our house. Giada worked her designer skills to the max on this little project. Clear lights hang overhead as darkness sets in. To my left there is a signing table where we will sign our marriage license, and of course a vase of purple dahlias which will match the ones in her bouquet. The violinist starts to play the same song we walked down the aisle to in Las Vegas, ‘I Can't Help Falling In Love', and I stare at her as Damian walks her to me. Stunning. There doesn't even seem to be a word fitting in the English language to describe her beauty. Her dark hair is in some kind of an updo, with a few soft pieces hanging down, she wears her dahlia necklace her mother gave to her when she was a little girl. Of course, she chose a beautiful, form fitting, lace gown, equally classy and sexy, hugging all her exquisite curves. Yet, once again it's the eyes that have my breath hitching in my throat. The eyes are the window to the soul they say, but with Dalia it's window to fucking everything. Every single emotion can be found right there if you're paying attention, and I am. She blinks back a tear as she clutches her brother's arm, clearly overcome with the same emotion I am.

As she stands within arm's reach, it takes everything in me to not scoop her into my arms and kiss the fucking life out of her, but this isn't about me, it's about her. Everything is about her. And our son who stands next to me, wearing my lopsided grin, something I've always hated but have come to love. He looks handsome in his black tux, and purple tie, his suit matching mine, and my mom says he's my carbon copy.

The bridesmaids, Giada and my sister, stand to my right, while my groomsmen, Domenic and Max, stand to my left. The two men standing up with me are people that I never expected to become my friends. The dickhead, Domenic De Luca, as my best man was not something I ever would've predicted, but here we are.

It's ironic that making a lifelong commitment takes so little time. Yet, in under twenty minutes, the minister is pronouncing us husband and wife. Again. This time there are no secrets between us. Nothing threatening to tear us apart.

We stand under the lights as the band we hired announces to the small crowd, "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Lombardi."

I take my wife into my arms as they play ‘Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran, Dalia's choice of song, but I had no complaint because it fits how I feel about her to a ‘T'.

She smiles at me with that little glimmer in her emerald eyes as we sway around the green grass, "Are you happy, wife?" I ask as I lean forward to whisper in her ear.

Dalia giggles as I hold her tighter, "Yes. Are you?"

I kiss her neck and admit, "Happier than I deserve to be."

She runs her fingers into the back of my hair and speaks into my ear, "You deserve to be happy, Aries. I'm glad you found me."

I stop dancing and take her face into my hands, "I will always find you. In this lifetime, the next one, or even the one after that. You are my everything. One lifetime is not enough."

DALIA

One Year Later…

The last year has been a whirlwind for the De Lucas and Lombardis. Just after our wedding, my brother Damian and his wife Kat announced that, after trying to conceive for years, they were expecting babies. Yes, babies. Twins. Domenic and Giada are expecting child number three. And Natalia, Drake, and Dante, number two. And then there's Aries and I. Four months ago, I found out we were going to have another baby. My husband has always been a little over the top with me, but since I've gotten pregnant he's far worse. He spends his days concerned about how much food I consume, whether I feel okay, and of course, he's convinced that orgasms are the key to a healthy pregnancy. I don't ever complain about that, my husband fucks like a God and I'll never get tired of it.

He comes up behind me, and tugs at my ear with those teeth he loves to use on me.

"Get into the bedroom, insatiable slut."

I love to play with him, so I shrug, "No thanks."

He growls against my neck, his chest rumbling against my back and spins me around, so I'm facing him. Aries picks me up effortlessly and throws me over his shoulder, "Beautiful brat."

Marching us up to the bedroom, he sets me down, "You have exactly two minutes to get naked before I rip every stitch of clothing from your body."

I pull my dress off quickly, because over the last year he has proven that he has no problem destroying my clothes.

He loses his patience in less than the two minutes he gave me and steps closer to me, and rips my bra from my body, followed quickly by my panties.

"Animal."

He chuckles softly, "What can I say, baby? You make me feral. Now be a good girl and lie on the bed, and spread those beautiful thighs. I'm hungry."

I do as he says while giggling, "Kinky perv."

With that lopsided grin that still causes butterflies in my stomach, he retorts, "Insatiable slut."

I don't have a comment on that because it's true; when it comes to my husband, I am an insatiable slut, I can never get enough. Aries is right. One lifetime is not enough.

The End