Epilogue

Jaime

A rush of excitement flows through me and I can't wait to find Bryan. We've been wanting this for so long I was almost afraid it wouldn't happen again. Not that I don't love our little boy to pieces, but neither of us wanted our sweet Rowan James to be an only child. It just didn't happen until now.

By the time the new baby will get here, he'll be three, which is so hard to believe. Then again, since Jillian's youngest will be one next next month maybe it's not.

At least I know my boss won't argue about me working from home more. Not when one word to Jillian will have him agreeing to anything to keep her happy. Plus, it's not like I need to be in the office to do my job, which is closer to part-time anymore anyway.

Rowan and I love to go to the bookstore and visit Aunt Maia. He even calls Ellen his aunt because she always makes sure to find him the newest stories with dragons for him to take home with us whenever we visit.

Bryan is still working as a relief detective which can make it difficult to get time together. Especially time where he makes me feel like his extra special princess. Although…this baby may very well have been conceived when Jillian kept Rowan for us for the night, giving me and Bryan some very quality daddy and princess time to let us indulge ourselves.

Jillian's girls love Rowan to bits. Scarlett is about six months younger than Rowan, so she just turned two, while Sabrina will be one very soon. I teased her when she announced she was pregnant with baby number two not even six full months after Scarlett was born that I was right that she was more like Mom than I was. She's so in love with her family though that she didn't care in the least and gave Sabrina the middle name Elizabeth after me even.

This new baby will be here sometime in February most likely. My last period was in May, but we were so busy last month I kind of forgot about it until now. It's been like clockwork since I stopped breastfeeding Rowan, coming every four weeks even when we didn't want it to, until now. It should have started just after the fourth of July holiday, but didn't, and I finally got up the nerve to test. Sabrina coming on my birthday was an amazing gift, but this one…it's the best early birthday present ever.

I slip through the house, finding my boys in the family room. We love the space and the huge windows that overlook the lake the house was built near.

It's a private lake that the four properties around it share, each of us with our own side even, and we don't have to worry about people trespassing thankfully. The yard is fenced in with an alarm on the gate as well, so Rowan can't sneak down to the water without us hearing it go off.

Bryan's eyes pop open as I debate about waking him, smiling when he holds open his arm for me to join them in the huge recliner. I slip into his hold easily and give him a happy kiss, glad that he has the week off with us since he was on duty for the holiday this past week.

"Missed you, princess," he says kissing my temple as I snuggle into his side getting comfy.

"Missed you too, daddy," I sigh. "But maybe we'll get to spend a bit more time together since I'm probably gonna want to work from home even more in the next month or two," I add, smiling as I feel Bryan lean up a bit.

"Why's that, princess? Not that I'll complain at all about you being home more for when I don't have a shift to cover."

"Well, if this time around is anything like last…I'd rather throw up in my own bathroom than the one at work," I state, lifting my face to his, seeing the utter joy in his eyes at the news. "Best guess is about eight to nine weeks, but also explains why I felt sick to my stomach the last two weeks. The morning sickness with Rowan really kicked in around then. I hope it won't last forever this time though."

"You're sure?" he asks barely breathing and I pull out the test, showing him the ‘pregnant' as the only word on the screen. "If our little boy wasn't in my arms right now, I'd kiss you breathless, princess. I love you so much, baby. You and Rowan…you're everything to me and I hate missing so much time with you both."

"We miss you too, daddy, but we know your job is important to you."

"Helping people is important to me and with Chief Davidson retiring…he told us on my last shift," he adds, and I know there's no guarantee whoever takes his place will be as diligent about keeping the force above board as he was. "Doug offered me a job this morning on their investigations team. It would be researching and ferreting out information for the most part. Something I could do from home as easily as in the office. It shouldn't require me to be away from home overnight except for rare occasions if no one else could go out of town in my place."

"And?" I ask, holding my breath as he gives me a smile.

"And I was almost to the yes on it already, this…another baby," he says giving me a grin. "It's such an easy yes, princess. Daddy needs to be around to take care of his princess, our little prince, and whatever this one will be," he adds, letting his hand rest on my belly and it's such a relief to know he'll have a more normal schedule going forward.

By the time we tell the family the news, after confirming I was right about how far along we were, about the baby and Bryan's job change, Jillian's already let me know that she's having another. She came over to tell me first not wanting to upset me knowing we've been trying, which just shows why she's my best friend all over again.

I couldn't hold it in, especially learning that we're due just a week apart, her before me, and spilled the news to her. Which meant telling the family before she slipped and did it herself.

The entire family is excited to hear. Mom especially is thrilled to be getting more grandbabies any way she can.

She's even more excited when I end up going into labor on Jillian's due date, only to find her coming in an hour later after her water broke while at her doctor's appointment. Thankfully, our little girl, Cordelia Leann, gets here an hour before Jillian's little Weston Jake does letting Mom be with both of us.

Dad's chest puffs a bit hearing his name. I can't blame him though, not when thanks to him, twelve of his thirteen are all currently married. Joe's the odd man out, but one day, he'll find his baby girl I'm sure.

Being Bryan's princess is the same thing and it's the best life ever. So I'm hoping he finds it soon, letting him have all of this joy for himself, have someone to love and adore the way a daddy should.

Our daddy takes care of us so good, I'd never want to have it any different. I might have ended up making the first move, but now, I don't have to worry about any of that, or if I'm loved. Bryan shows me just how much he loves me every day, in everything he does, so even if it takes us three years to have another baby, I'll never stop wanting to try and seeing our little girl in his arms, I know he won't either.