EPILOGUE

TOMMY

Our house was bustling with family, and Christmas music was being piped through the house. From my recliner in the lounge, I watched the goings on. More than comfortable with not moving as nobody would be happy if I woke the baby that was fast asleep on my chest. This was not the first time I’d found myself in this position over the years. There always seemed to be one of us that ended up sitting holding one of the many babies that had been born into our family over the years.

I marvelled at how much my life had changed over the years and how much had stayed the same. My wife was still as gorgeous as ever at forty-seven, just as she’d been at twenty-seven. She was still Christmas-mad, and we started decorating the first week in November to ensure all the outside lights were up by the first week of December. We were lit up like a beacon the entire month of December into the first week of the new year when we had to take them all down again.

We’d accumulated so many outdoor decorations over the years that I’d built a shed specifically just for them. Our house was a little different to the one I’d grown up in as we’d had to add on as our brood got larger. I’d also added the veranda just as I’d wanted, and much to my surprise, we used it all year round.

The only dark spot on this otherwise happy day was that this was the first year that we wouldn’t have Uncle Colm sitting at our table, and I’d found it harder than expected when he’d passed.

But like he’d told me a few days before he died, he’d lived a good life, seen his children, his grandchildren and some of his great-grandchildren grown. He was tired and ready to go now, which he’d done a few days later when he’d passed away quietly in his sleep. It had hit us all hard, but in the end, we’d made it through as a family, our women pulling us together and getting us through it until we came out the other side.

As if she’d known where my thoughts had taken me, my Sprite appeared next to me with a smile on her face. As always come Christmas, her hair was dyed its usual bright red for the season. Her Christmas clothing came out on the first of December and didn’t get packed away again until the new year. Tonight, she was in one of my favourites, a pair of leggings and a dress that hugged her figure that was a little fuller than when I’d met her but still as sexy as ever. Her brown eyes still sparkling with happiness.

Resting a hand on the back of the baby on my chest. Our great-niece was only a few weeks old and hadn’t been happy at the change in her routine.

Lana smiled before walking around to the other side of my recliner and sitting down on my thigh, leaning against my chest, she rested her head on my shoulder.

“How are you doing?” she asked softly.

“A little sad he’s not here this year, Sprite, but also happy and thankful for all that we have. He may not be here anymore, but he left us with an amazing family. And I have you. You’ve always made my life so much better.”

“And you, my biker man. And guess what?” she smiled cheekily at me.

“What?”

“We have the house to ourselves tonight, so your night is bound to get even better,” she grinned wickedly, wiggling her arse against me, making me groan under my breath. Aware that I had a sleeping baby on my chest and the last thing we needed was for her to wake up and go back to screaming the house down.

“Behave, Sprite, at least until Jackson comes and gets his sprog. How soon can we kick them all out?”

Throwing her head back in a wild, happy laugh. I grinned at the delight on her face.

“We haven’t even eaten yet,” she chortled, her voice full of joy.

“Damn, you’re such a tease, woman.”

“And you love it,” she smiled at me, settling back down against me. She wasn’t wrong. I did love it when she teased me. You’d have thought that our sex life would have tapered off over the years; instead, it had gotten better. And I, for one, wasn’t complaining that my wife still found me sexy and wanted me.

Settling back, we were content to watch the festive goings on in our house.

Over the years, we’d each taken turns to host big holidays. This year, Christmas was at ours, and it had been decided that Easter would be at Liam’s. I had no idea how the women decided it; all I knew was that we turned up at whichever house was hosting and helped out if needed. I guess it helped that we all lived close to each other. Johnny and Maya had taken over the big house with their brood. Uncle Colm had built himself a small granny cottage close to them. It was sitting empty for now as none of us had the heart to go in there yet and clean it out.

Liam, Adam, and their ladies had each built their own houses on Uncle Colm’s property. We’d taken down the fence between our property and theirs the first year I’d been home. Instead, we’d fenced both our properties to make one big plot with only one gate to enter. It meant we’d had to move our entryway. We’d also added a road from our house to the rest of the houses so that we never had to open gates between us. It made it easier when the children were growing up, and they’d all ran around like a feral pack. You never knew whose child you’d find in your house, not that it mattered—all we cared about was that we knew they were safe.

For me, that was a big thing. I needed for our children to know they were safe, no matter whose house they were in. Lucky for me, Johnny, Adam, and Liam had felt the same way.

I’d never gone back to work; instead, I’d enjoyed my retirement by staying home. I’d been a hands-on dad. I’d loved spending time with our children while Lana worked, not that she’d needed to, but as she loved her job she’d wanted to continue. When the children were older and at school, I’d sometimes give Adam a hand at the security company as a consultant, but other than that, we managed to live off the money I’d made doing the work I’d done and off the investments that Bella, still to this day, looked after for me.

My entire life had changed the night Lana had picked me up from the side of the road. I’d never been more grateful for a deer running across the road than I was at that moment in time.

We said the words often, but as I looked out over our family, I had to tell her again. “I love you, Sprite,” I whispered against her hair.

Lana tilted her head back to look at me, her brown eyes shimmering. “And I love you, Tommy. I loved you when I picked you up off the side of the road, wondering what the hell I was thinking bringing a strange man into my house.

“I loved you when you told me that this was your house growing up and what you endured here.

“I loved you when you let me measure you against our pantry door.

“I loved you the first time we made love and every time since.

“I’ve loved you more with every baby you gave me. I’ll always love you from now until the end of time.

“You’re my man, my husband, the father of my children, and my biker man. You’re the best Christmas present that I ever received, and you always will be.”

When she’s finished, my chest is tight with emotion, and I’m not ashamed to say that I had a tear on my cheek.

This woman!

Bending my head so she could give me what I wanted, just like she always has whenever I needed her to, her lips met mine, and it was like it was the first time all over again.

“Thank you for an amazing life, Sprite,” I whispered against her lips.

The End