Epilogue

Jake

Three Years Later

"Daddyyy!"

"Dad!"

"Daaaaaa!"

I grinned down at Clara, and she smiled back at me.

"Thwarted," she whispered.

"Little cockblockers," I murmured against her upturned lips. Louder, I called out, "Hold your horses, I'm coming!"

Clara snickered. "Good thing they're cute."

"Damn right."

I rolled off my wife and threw on a T-shirt. "Sleep a little more. I'll see what the ruckus is about."

My beautiful Clara stretched languidly in our bed, her eyes already fluttering closed. A lot had changed over the last three years, but she was still a night owl who loved her sleep-ins. I tried to give her that as often as I could. Our kids, on the other hand, didn't always cooperate.

All three were waiting in the hall. Nellie's hands were on her hips, but her sass was hard to take seriously when her hair was a tangled cloud of brown on top of her head.

"Hi, Daddy," she greeted. "Nico went into my room. Can you tell him not to do that, please?"

Nearly seven, Nellie had long since stopped saying "peas," which had just about killed Clara. Our girl was growing up faster than either of us was ready for, but she was full of the kind of vim and vigor that made a dad proud as hell. I didn't have to worry about her being pushed around at school or in the world. She handled her business and sometimes tried to handle other kids' too, which they didn't always appreciate.

"He was saying good morning." Sage bounced her brother on her hip, and he melted into her. Clara and I had been worried about the vast age difference between them and whether they'd bond as siblings, but they were two peas in a pod.

Nellie stomped her little foot. "He was trying to steal my capybara stuffie."

Sage ruffled her sister's messy hair. "Don't worry, Nell-Belle. I wouldn't have let him."

Nico waved at me, the dimples in his round cheeks popping. "Hi, Da!"

"Morning, buddy." I plucked him out of Sage's arms, kissing the top of her head as I did. We only had a couple years before she was off to college, so I made sure to get my affection in when I could. "Let's get out of the hall so Mommy can sleep. All right?"

Our noses led us to the kitchen, where Marina was cooking breakfast like she did every morning. When Clara and I had gotten engaged six months after that night in her driveway, we'd planned where we'd live together, and whether Marina would come too had never been a question.

That meant buying a new house near my old one and adding an apartment over the garage. Sage could still walk back and forth between the new house and her mom's, and I still had the view I'd loved most about my old place.

Here, we had room to spread out. A big garage for our bikes and the kids' toys. And most importantly, there'd been room to grow.

Clara had once said she'd thought she was too old to have more children, but we'd both wanted to share that experience together. The moment we'd said, "I do," we'd started trying. A few months later, she'd taken five pregnancy tests before finally believing it was happening.

I'd gotten to take care of her through her pregnancy and delivery the way she deserved. As long as I lived, I'd remember the feeling of holding her hand as we both saw our son for the first time. That squalling, angry pink thing of beauty who was part of us both.

Being a team with a newborn had been brand new, but we'd rocked that phase, just like every phase since. We were good together and balanced each other out.

Clara joined us in the family room a while later. Sage was on the couch reading, Nellie was dancing along to her favorite pop star's music video, and Nico was using my stomach as his own personal trampoline.

A typical Saturday in this house.

I couldn't think of anything better.

"Mommy, look!" Nellie twirled and kicked, then did some complicated hand motions. "Did you see that? I did it just like Sabrina."

Clara's eyes flared. "I saw, Nell-Belle. Your practice is paying off, don't you think?"

"Yep." Nellie beamed and spun back to the TV. "I'm going to do it again. Watch me all the way through, please."

"You got it, honey."

Clara perched on the couch by Sage, patting her knee while giving Nellie the attention she demanded. Nico instantly got tired of me and abandoned me for his mother. He pulled himself up onto the couch and climbed into her lap. She situated him there, her arms around his little round body, never taking her eyes off Nellie.

I sat on the floor, looking at my family, my wife at the center. Life was good.

Great.

Fuckin' grand.

It wasn't perfect, though. I'd opened my own garage a few months after leaving MZ, which had meant a lot of time and work. Almost three years in, my business was doing well. I was proud of what I'd made, and more importantly, I didn't have to drag myself to work every day. But I was busy as hell, as was Clara, and time was at a premium.

We made the most of what we had. Lazy mornings like this were my favorite thing. All of us in one room, together, enjoying each other's company. This was why I got up every day. These people, my whole world.

Later, when Nico was napping and the girls were keeping each other busy, I cornered Clara in the kitchen, pressing my front to her plush ass. Humming, she leaned her head against my shoulder and tipped her face so I could kiss her.

I took her offering, sipping from her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

I closed my eyes and groaned. Her saying that would never not affect me.

She tried to step away from me, but I wasn't ready to let go. I growled and held on tighter, making her laugh.

"You're distracting me."

I nibbled on her neck. "That's the point, mama."

"I'm trying to use nap time to get things ready for later."

I licked a line from her shoulder to her ear and nipped her lobe. "That's what I love about you. Always so organized." I slipped a hand beneath her shirt to touch her silky-soft abdomen. "But truly, fuck 'em. They can fend for themselves."

She snorted and shoved my hand out of her shirt. I let her turn around to face me, pleased to see her smiling.

"You know, you're the one who thought inviting your brother and mine over for dinner was a good idea," she reminded me.

"Yeah." I thought about it for a second and decided I stood by my original statement. "Fuck 'em. We'll cancel."

"We won't. The kids are looking forward to cousin time—and so are you."

We weren't the only ones who'd expanded our family. Saoirse and Luca's twins—Aiden and Guilia—were a month younger than Nico, and Jeremy and Anne had had their first, Oliver, last year. When we all got together, it was the kind of chaos that fed my soul.

"Yeah, fine." I kissed her temple. "If I don't get to fuck you, let me help you out."

"Are those two things equal?" she teased.

"I'm never going to complain about the time I spend with you."

Sighing, she leaned into me, her tits pressing against my chest. "That is one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me, and you're definitely going to get to fuck me later." She touched her lips to mine.

"Not why I said it," I told her.

"I know, which is exactly why I love you."

I loved her for a thousand reasons. Too many to name. And each day that passed, I continued to add another and another to the list.

At the very top was her bravery. It was the reason we were here.

She'd gotten on her bike and ridden it to a little dive bar all on her own. There, she took what she wanted and, despite everything, kept coming back.

She'd said yes to me when the odds of us working out were stacked high.

When it might have been easier to be alone, she'd grabbed on to us with both hands and held on with all her might.

We'd had smooth roads and rough. At times, we'd had to carve our own path and fight our way through. But no matter, we had each other, which meant our ride was always, always gonna be beautiful.