Epilogue

Brian

Eight years later

It's barely past dawn and the water is still dark, but the rusty morning light gleams off my gorgeous wife's dark hair, slicked down her back. Her strong legs straddle her board and she stares at the horizon with a slight scowl on her face.

"Where are the waves, Mom?"

Our seven-year-old daughter, Ava, a perfect blend of Clarice and me, is astride her own small board, kicking the water impatiently. She's already adept at swimming and bodysurfing, and she's been hitching rides with us on our boards since she was a toddler. We finally agreed she needed her own board and that this morning was calm enough to let her give it a go. A bit too calm, but that's fine by me. I still get a little nervous when I see my daredevil wife shooting into a curl that's twice her height, but we've made sure to follow all the safety precautions with Ava. She's already planning on being a lifeguard when she's old enough, now that Whitecross City Beach has two towers and a dedicated roster. Even I take a shift every once in a while, since I cut back on office hours.

"Maybe we can try again after school," Clarice tells her, because it's clear the waves aren't cooperating.

"But Daddy won't be home," she says. "Surfing is a family sport."

"I can rearrange my afternoon," I tell her, reveling in her smile, a perfect, miniature replica of her mother's.

Clarice reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. "You sure you can?"

I nod. Of course I can. I gave up my offices in New York the moment I put a ring on Clarice's finger, along with a lot of superfluous business that took up way too much of my time. Time I wanted to spend with Clarice. Surfing, getting our house ready to live in, helping her start her massage business.

I can't help but laugh, making both my girls look at me strangely.

"Are you secretly happy I can't catch a wave by myself?" Ava accuses.

"No," I say, splashing her and blocking with my arm as she splashes me back. "I was just thinking how perfect everything is. Our life is absolutely perfect just the way it is."

"You always say that," she says. "The water isn't perfect today."

"Sure it is," I tell her, reaching for Clarice's hand. "We're all out here together, aren't we?"

"Yes," she gripes. "But I'm hungry, and nothing's happening, so we might as well go in."

Clarice raises an eyebrow at her and she rephrases it as a question, without the sassy tone. As we paddle in, I catch Clarice's furrowed brow and her eyes are troubled as we lean our boards against the fence.

After a lot of conversations, we compromised on making a small swathe of her beach private, so there's a narrow strip that's just for us, with a row of palm trees on one side and the jetty separating our house from the condos on the other. It's mostly a private beach in name only, since Ava's friends are always running around on the sand with her, and we always have barbecues for our neighbors and friends. But we can stay away from the crowds and still have a perfect view of the newly rebuilt bandshell when there's a concert.

Before we get inside, Clarice tucks her hand in mine, the look of uncharacteristic worry still etched onto her face. My stomach clenches. Is something wrong? Is our life not as perfect as I imagined? Have I missed something important?

"Ava, why don't you run to Kelly's and get breakfast tacos?" she suggests.

Ava jumps up and down at the treat and hurries inside to grab Clarice's purse. She returns with shorts and flip flops on and Clarice gives her some cash, then grips her phone in her hand as Ava skips down the short block to the bakery.

"Is something wrong?" I ask. "Who are you texting?"

She leans against the bamboo wall that surrounds our big patio where we eat most of our meals when the weather is nice. "I'm messaging Kelly to keep Ava there for a few minutes so I can tell you something."

My stomach twists in a tighter knot and I stand in front of her, but her chin is on her chest. I tip it up, one hand on the wall beside her, and look beseechingly into her eyes. "Tell me what's wrong."

She shakes her head and tears glisten in her eyes. "I'm not sure that anything is wrong, but when you said our life is perfect just the way it is…"

"It is," I say. "Why is that upsetting you?"

"I work while Ava's in school, and then pick her up. You get home shortly after and we do family things…"

"I'm not seeing a problem."

"What if… what if something changed that little rhythm we have?"

I lay my palm on the side of her cheek. "You're scaring the hell out of me." I'm desperate to make her smile. "Do you need a spanking for that?"

Her cheeks turn red, even after all these years. Years of exploring each other, building this life together. She grabs my shoulders and kisses me deeply.

"I'm pregnant," she says, pulling away, her eyes searching mine for any hint of anything other than pure joy.

She's not going to find it because I'm thrilled. And relieved. I sweep her into my arms and turn us in circles until we're dizzy. I set her down and she leans against the wall, breathless with giggles.

"You really do need a spanking if you thought for one second this news wouldn't make our lives more perfect," I tell her, kissing her again until she melts against me.

Her arms tighten around my waist and she sighs when I begin kissing down her neck to her bare shoulder, already pushing her bathing suit out of the way.

"Wait," she breathes, pushing me away and grabbing her phone. "Let me ask Kelly to stall Ava some more." She stares at her phone until she gets a reply. "Okay, we have ten minutes."

I rest my hand against her still flat belly. "No more surfing."

She holds her hand over mine. "Don't be silly. I'll be careful. You know I went out until I was tipping over too much when I was pregnant with Ava."

I forget to argue when she guides my hand between her thighs. I press her against the wall as I nudge aside her bathing suit to sink my fingers into her wet heat. I will never get tired of my wife's body, of making her tremble with my touch.

"I need to see your tits," I tell her. "Show me your beautiful body."

She moans as I find her clit and undoes the top of her suit, shoving it down so each ripe globe bounces free. I lean down to take one in my mouth, dragging my teeth across her nipples. I want to savor every inch of her, but there's a ticking clock hanging over my head.

Her legs are already shaking as I work her swollen clit, easing my fingers in and out of her. She grabs my hard cock through my trunks, and with a feral noise, rips them open to curl her hand around my shaft.

"How do you do this to me?" she says, pushing her body against mine. "Make me so wild in just seconds. With just a look."

"You know how."

She nods against my shoulder. "Yes. Yes, I do." Her head tips back against the wall and her eyes meet mine. "I love you so much, Brian."

"I love you. You and our babies are my whole world."

She smiles, then her eyes darken when I push my cock against her belly. Wrapping her legs around my waist, she holds onto my shoulders as I lift her. With her back against the bamboo wall, I ram my cock home. Her sharp scream turns into an embarrassed laugh and she buries her face against my neck, moaning out her pleasure as I fuck her, hard and fast.

Gripping my hair, she kisses me, her body tensing in my arms. I manage to give the side of her cute little ass a small spank as I pound away at her pussy.

"For making me think something was wrong," I say, grinning down at her.

She's too far gone to laugh and the glazed look in her eyes throws me over the edge. As soon as I feel her tighten around my cock, I come inside her until she drains me dry. Still hanging onto my shoulders, her legs fall from my waist. Her bare feet hit the stone floor but I hold her up until her heart stops beating a million miles an hour. My own heart is still pounding as I yank my trunks back up and help her get her suit back in order just as we hear the slap of Ava's flip flops on the other side of the wall.

I laugh at my wife. "Your face is beet red."

She sticks her tongue out at me. "You have scratch marks on your shoulders."

I get a shirt on just as Ava bursts onto the patio with a bag of breakfast tacos clutched in her small hand. This ordinary sight almost topples me, because every moment of the day I feel like I might be the happiest I've ever been. And then my wife tells me I'm going to get to be a dad again, and my daughter grins up at me with a greasy brown bag held out like the world's greatest treasure.

I glance over our wall to the towering condos next door and wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't met Clarice before I signed the deal to develop this beach. Before she helped me remember how great it is to just sit on the sand with your toes in the water. I suppress a shudder, because it would have been no life at all.

With a sigh of relief that things went the way they did, I follow them to the table where Clarice unpacks our breakfast, already nattering on about something Ava has to remember for school.

Perfect. And still, somehow, only getting better.

~The End