Epilogue Two

Wyatt

3 years later

Judging by the lack of cars in front of Mom and Dad's house, it was obvious Brandy and I were the first ones to get here. We both started making our way out of the car when a blue Tahoe parked right behind us. Colt and Scarlet.

"I'm just going to go inside." Brandy's voice brought my attention back to where she was outside the passenger side, smiling. Every time she smiled like that I couldn't help but question how I got so damn lucky twice.

I nodded. "I'll be right behind you. I'm just going to—" I waved in the general vicinity of Colt's car.

"I know. Take your time."

I watched as she walked away, but was nearly tossed off my axis by my nephew, who must have run at full speed before crashing into my legs and wrapping his arms around them, as much as he could anyway. "Hey there, little man." I groaned as I picked him up and looked into those big brown eyes of his. It was like looking into a pool of chocolate. "You're getting big, Brandon. How old are you now? Twelve? Thirteen?"

He threw up his hands in hysterics. "Uncle Wy, I'm not that old!"

I laughed. "Oh, yeah? Yeah?" I started tickling him all over, still having a good grasp on him and he broke out in a fit of laughter.

"You enjoying your time with Uncle Wy?" Scarlet asked her son, her expression filled with love and joy.

Colt had told us how it was in the beginning with her, but I had to admit, motherhood certainly agreed with her. She was always glowing, and I happened to have it on good authority that she wasn't pregnant again, so the glow had nothing to do with her expecting a third child.

Colt walked to where we were and shushed us. "Penny finally stopped crying. Let's not start her up again. This kid's got the lungs of a rock star."

Scarlet chuckled and looked up at my baby brother adoringly. "Why don't we make our way inside?"

I put Brandon down and watched as he ran to the front door, fell midway, and then got back up again to run right in after Scarlet opened the door for him. I patted Colt on the back as he passed me by.

"You and Brandy thinking of having kids yet?" Colt asked.

I shook my head. "We're just enjoying being married for now. We both want them, but we're in no rush."

He laughed. "Good, man, because they're a lot more work than you'd think."

I quirked a brow. "Did you think they weren't going to be?"

"Funny, Wy." He repositioned Penny in his arms. "You just don't realize how little time there is for romance with little ones running around, crying, making a ruckus. Our living room looks like a war zone half the time with all the toys and shit they come with. Come on, you've seen it."

Now I laughed. I was only screwing with him. I knew how much life changed with children in the picture, but I also knew how rewarding it was. And as much as they complained about the lack of sleep and date nights, neither one of them would do things any differently. They loved Brandon and Penny more than anything. "Yeah, I've seen it," I finally said.

I closed the door behind us and made my way into the kitchen, where I heard the most noise, as Colt turned to the living room. There she was, my wife, looking busy with my mom. "What are you two doing?"

"Preparing my lasagna," Mom answered.

I leaned against the nearest wall and just watched in rapture. Yeah, I didn't think I'd ever get used to the fact that this was our life now. Just a few years ago most of us were in the Army, serving our country, and now my brothers and I managed to make new lives for ourselves, find women we loved, settle down, and start families. It was fucking wild how things had changed.

"What are you thinking about?" Brandy asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

I walked up to her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "How I am the luckiest man on the planet to have met you."

She chuckled and elbowed me lightly, since her hands were busy at work chopping an onion for the chopped meat. "I'm the lucky one, Wy."

"Agree to disagree?" I asked and winked at her.

"All right, all right," my dad came in and interrupted. "Don't be drooling all over the food, okay?"

I backed away and put my hands up. "Hey, I was just leaving."

Brandy shook her head and chuckled, never taking her eyes off what she was doing.

I turned on my heel before making my way to the living room because I heard bickering in the hallway.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. You have to back me on these things," I heard Jenna say. I'd know her voice anywhere.

Jenna was wearing an all-white suit and I imagined she came from the office. She'd been working overtime for her dad who was about to name her partner finally. Deke told me how happy she was about it, but I wondered how burned out she was.

Not to mention, Deke's non-profit was finally getting off the ground, so he'd been busy lately, too. I didn't know how either one of them managed to do it all.

Deke responded, "She's going to wear whatever she wants anyway, so why fight her?"

That's when it hit me, I knew who they were bickering about. And it looked like so did she— "Hey, guys, I'm right here, you know? I can hear you." Vivian was a firecracker, much like her mother. Well, adoptive mother.

After much deliberation, Jenna and Deke decided to adopt. They both wanted to give a home to a child who really needed it. That was how Vivian—sorry, Vi—came into our lives. She was fifteen years old, though, and had her own sense of style. Every damn time I saw her she was wearing tattered jeans, a tee shirt of some variety, biker boots and a beanie, much to Jenna's dismay.

I watched Jenna sigh. "I know, I'm sorry, honey." She began rubbing her back, but grabbed the beanie off the top of her head before she took another step.

"Mom!" she yelled back at her.

Jenna shook her head and went to stuff the beanie in her purse. "I'm sorry, honey, but this isn't even a hat. It's just— No, you can't wear it. It doesn't go with your outfit."

"I'm wearing jeans, Mom. Everything goes with jeans."

As if she refused to believe it, she shook her head adamantly. "Not everything."

Deacon exhaled audibly. "Princess, maybe we can just let her wear it today, okay?"

He began rubbing circles on her back and I watched her calm down. He always did know how to make Jenna see reason. "I guess you could wear it today," she told Vi, giving it back to her. "But only today and we're not done talking about this, Vivian."

"Vi," she corrected, "it's always going to be Vi, Mom." She blew bubbles and stomped into the kitchen.

I nearly laughed because the whole time I'd been standing here and none of them noticed me. It was quite funny how they were in their own little world. Jenna swatted Deke's chest. "Why can't she see that Vivian is such a beautiful name?"

"She likes to be called Vi," he said and shrugged his shoulders. "What does it matter?"

She sighed. "Guess it doesn't."

He rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to brush a kiss on her lips. I interrupted before it got more intense, though, finally clearing my throat to announce myself.

Deke looked first. "Oh, hey, Wy, how long have you been standing there?"

I wasn't going to make them feel too bad, so I just left it at, "Long enough."

Jenna went in for a hug and then excused herself. "I have to make sure the car ride didn't wrinkle the Dolce Gabbana," she said.

"The, what?" I asked, bewildered.

She gestured to her suit. "It's designer."

I nodded. "Okay, then."

Deke only chuckled as Jenna made her way to the bathroom. "Hey, watch out for those sticky fingers," he hollered at her.

She looked back and chuckled. By way of explanation, he turned to me and said, "Before she left the house, I warned her she might want to change with Colt and Scarlet's kids around and their ‘sticky fingers.'"

I nodded. "Right." Then I laughed. "Jenna really never will change. Gotta love that. Meanwhile, most of the time I never know what to say to her."

"That's my girl," he responded, a look of pure bliss coloring his expression.

"Oh, God, come on, man, we're not really going to hear you wax poetic before dinner, are we?" Damon pushed through with his arm around Sabrina, who was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

Damon patted Deke on the back first and went in for a hug. "So what are you two going to do, sit around all afternoon and talk about how in love you both are?" Damon raised a brow.

Sabrina sighed beside him, shaking her head. "I think it's nice. You can join them. I love hearing how in love with me you are," she said, winking while also bringing her hand to her belly.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked, eyeing her hand. "Is it the baby?"

She stood up on her tip-toes and gave him a kiss on the lips. "I'm fine. I'm wondering why you're so neurotic, but otherwise I'm fine."

Damon sighed. "You're pregnant, I worry, what can I say?"

She laughed, in only a way Sabrina would over Damon's ridiculous behavior. "Say nothing. I wouldn't change you for anything in the world. I love you, Damon Ryder."

Blushing, he smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

"I'm going in the kitchen. I'll call you if I feel Marti kick," she promised, rubbing her belly as she walked away.

Eyebrows raised, Deke and I regarded our brother. "What's the matter with you?" I directed my question to him.

Meanwhile, Deke asked, "Marti?"

He groaned, brushing a hand through his hair. "Marti, for Martha, Sabrina's mother," he said answering Deke's question first. "And she won't let me help her do anything," he said, his answer directed toward me.

"She's pregnant, not an invalid," Deke pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's pregnant with our child. I feel useless."

I laughed. "That's probably how all men feel when their women are pregnant. You should talk to Colt. He's been there twice."

"Mom said he was worse," Deke noted, laughing.

Damon turned his attention to him. "You've been talking to Mom about us?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? You're an entertaining bunch."

Before any of us could get another word in, though, Brandon came tearing through the hallway with a paper airplane and ran it right into Deke's leg.

He picked him up immediately and the paper airplane dropped to the floor. "Hey there, little guy."

Damon played with his little hands. "Where's your little sister?" he asked.

Brandon pointed to the living room.

"All right, well, I'm going to go say hi to everyone," Deke said, putting Brandon down.

"Me, too," Damon added.

Just then, Mom shouted from the kitchen. "Ryders, kitchen!"

As we all piled into the kitchen for drinks and appetizers, I took it all in—the amount of chairs at the table that had been added over time, fits of laughter and side conversations that were going on all around me.

We were far from a picture-perfect family—we each had our own set of challenges we had to face to get to this place, but here we all stood. We came out the other side better because of them, and it was through an overwhelming amount of support and love that all of it was made possible. I didn't know what the future held for any of us, but I was looking forward to what the next chapter of our lives had in store for us.

There was one thing that would always be true, and that was how the Ryders stuck together, through thick and thin. We always had each others' backs. Our family was only growing, and that both excited and scared the shit out of me. I mean, at this rate, we were going to need a bigger dining room to fit us all.

I felt someone poke me on my shoulder. "You're blocking my seat," Vi said.

I grinned, realizing I was indeed standing between Jenna and Sabrina. "I suppose I am," I responded.

I walked around to the other side of the table and pulled out the seat beside Brandy. She smiled, giving my hand a squeeze as I sat. "Thank you," she said.

"For, what?"

"Bringing me into the fold. Nothing makes me happier than being a Ryder." I could see the tears in her eyes and wanted to kiss them away. She continued, though, "And, one day, Wy, when our children are racing around this house I'll be even happier."

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed the top of it. "I'm looking forward to it."