Bonus Scene

PARKER

Several years later…

“And the Tony for Best Costume Design in a Musical goes to… Cinderella and the Glass Slipper!”

The crowd went wild, including my wife, sitting at my side, who was screaming for her twin sister.

“Oh my god,” she screamed in her twin’s ear. “You did it! You won!”

Ella just blinked, like she hadn’t fully processed what was happening. The sisters were both dressed in sleek gowns, in pink and blue, of course, and had gotten dolled up to the nines for the evening.

Cam was sitting on the other side of the girls, who’d had their hands gripped tightly together the whole time. Both of us were dressed in tuxedos, and though I attended the Architect’s Ball each year, it was nothing compared to this event.

“Go up there,” Audrey said, urging Ella to her feet. She shifted her skirts, a peek of her silver heels showing as she got up from her chair, clearly still in shock.

Cam stood also, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Congratulations, Princess.” His dark eyes were full of love for his wife, and I could see the pride shining from them.

She scrambled up on the stage, accepting the statue before standing in front of the microphone. “Oh. Wow. Um.” Ella gave a nervous laugh. “This is such an honor. One I didn’t expect, but thank you so much. I wouldn’t be here today without my cast and crew, who made this job the best—and easiest—one in the world, and some very special people—my husband, my real-life Prince Charming, who encourages me and believes in me. My twin sister, whom I’ve had the honor of working with many times now in my career, and is my best friend. And all the friends along the way who supported the quiet wallflower who wanted nothing more than to fade into the background.” She let out a genuine laugh this time. “Thank you again for this amazing award.”

Everyone clapped, though the loudest people in the room were us three, cheering for Audrey’s sister.

When she sat back down later, she had flushed cheeks, her eyes glassy as she stared at the award. Although it wasn’t technically hers alone, belonging to the entire costuming department, I knew how much work she’d put into the show.

“That was insane.” She put her hands over her cheeks. “Are we sure I’m not dreaming?”

Cam wrapped his hand around her neck, bringing their lips together and kissing her without a care in the world for who was watching.

“Nope,” he murmured. “Definitely not dreaming.”

The awards show went on, more being announced, and then it was my turn to squeeze Audrey’s hand as they announced the results of the category Audrey had been nominated for. This was her first leading role and her first award nomination, which were both huge.

“Even if you don’t win, I’m so proud of you, sunshine,” I murmured against her ear.

Her violet eyes were rimmed in silver when she looked up at me, and I grinned. God, I was so fucking proud of her. For following her dream and that it had led us here. She’d known what she wanted, and damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell.

The presenters stood in front of the microphone, announcing the nominees for Audrey’s category, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing. Well, I knew I wasn’t.

“The Tony for the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical goes to… Audrey Rose?—”

I didn’t even hear the rest because I was too busy cheering for Audrey, who had her hand on her chest, eyes filled with shock.

“Holy wow,” she gasped. “I—” Audrey looked at me, shaking her head. “I never expected this,” she said, breathless. “I mean, I know I was nominated, but…”

“I knew you would,” I said, kissing her on the cheek. “Go get your award, baby.”

Her sister hugged her as she stood, whispering something in her ear before she went down to the stage. The rhinestones on Audrey’s pink gown glittered as they caught the light, and then she was standing in front of the microphone, accepting her award.

“Hi.” Her eyes scanned the crowd before coming to rest on me. Like I was the center of her world, as much as she was mine. “It was truly an honor to be nominated for this award, and truthfully, I can’t believe I’m up here in front of all of you. Especially considering the talented names that were on the list with mine. So thank you. It’s so surreal to me to get to share this special night with my sister, Ella, and that we’ve been lucky enough to work together over our careers. To my family, especially Parker—my knight in shining armor—I love you and am so glad I get to come home to you every night.” She blew a little kiss towards the screen before finishing her speech by thanking the cast, crew and the director of her musical.

When she returned to our seats, I smoothed a hand down her back. “I’m so proud of you.”

Her eyes were filled with heat as she looked at me. “How proud?”

I chuckled, leaning my lips in close. “I’ll show you when we get home tonight, Rosie Girl.”

She fluttered her eyelashes. “Is that a promise, Dream Boy?”

Sitting back in my chair, I let my hand rest on her thigh possessively. “Always.”

#

Hours later, I looked down at Audrey, who had her eyes closed, her head resting on my chest. We’d gone to an after-party but were finally in a car on the way back to Ella & Cam’s house since all four of us had come together tonight.

I could tell she was wiped out, but I also knew that the people waiting for us would be just as excited and proud of her as I was.

“Audrey,” I murmured in her ear twenty minutes later when the car pulled up outside the house. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Hm?” She blinked her eyes open, tilting her head up at me. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” My girl yawned. “Sorry.”

“Figured you needed your sleep before you got bombarded.” I chuckled, unbuckling her seatbelt before sliding out of the car and extending my hand towards her. “Everyone’s going to be so excited.”

Once she was out of the car and back on two feet, I wrapped my arms around her waist, tugging her tight against me before kissing her softly, savoring our last bit of time just the two of us.

“We’re headed inside, you two,” Cam chuckled as if they hadn’t just been doing the same thing.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. Audrey giggled.

“Let’s go see the girls,” my wife said, pressing another soft kiss against my lip. “Don’t forget, you still have a promise to fill once we’re home.”

I winked. “How could I forget?”

“Mommy!” The little dark-haired boy was already running towards the door as we entered, throwing himself into his mom’s arms. “You were on TV!”

“Hi, baby,” Ella said, pressing a kiss to her son’s cheek. “Did you watch?”

He nodded. “Grama and Granpa put it on for us.”

“How’d they do?” Ella directed that question at her parents, who each carried a toddler in their arms.

Audrey and Ella’s parents had babysat tonight and had their hands full. Figuratively and literally.

Cam and Ella’s first son, Declan, was five now and was every bit as sweet as Ella and charming as his dad. He had Cam’s hair, but Ella’s blue eyes. He’d been born three months after our wedding, and nothing had prepared me for seeing that little bundle placed in Audrey’s arms. How right it felt to see her holding a baby. How much I wanted to see her with our baby.

“Great,” Leah said, running her hands through Lily’s hair, who blinked up at her with wide eyes. “You know we love having the kids here. All of them.”

“Still,” my wife said, approaching her dad and taking the sleeping toddler from his arms. “We know five is a lot at once.” She tucked our three-year-old against her chest.

Her dad waved her off. “Nothing we can’t handle. The other two are playing in the living room. They were all so excited to see you on the screen earlier, even if they didn’t quite understand why none of you could hear them.”

“I’m sure that was fun.” I chuckled, following Stephen, watching as the two played with toys on the floor.

My son had a dragon in his hand, chattering animatedly to his cousin.

Though we had waited to start trying to get pregnant, when we had, we’d had the surprise of a lifetime: twins.

We had a boy and a girl, our perfect little family. Preston had my light brown hair, though it had a lot more gold in it, and Audrey’s violet-blue eyes, while Aurora was the spitting image of her mom, except for her golden brown eyes.

Not long after we learned the news, Audrey learned that Ella was expecting again—a set of identical twins. Lily Grace and Lacy Iris were born a month after ours.

Gone were the nights of going out to bars. Now, our double dates were mostly spent at one of our brownstones, chasing after five energetic kids.

I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Preston looked up at me, giving me a toothy grin. “Daddy!”

“Hey, Buddy.” Walking over, I kneeled in front of him, running my fingers through his soft hair.

“Did you see my dragon?” He held up the toy.

I nodded. “Very cool. Did Gramma get you that, Pres?”

“Yeah.” He clutched it to his chest. “Lacy and I play.”

Damn, we’d sure made cute as fuck kids.

Ella and Cam’s younger twin, Lacy, gave a little yawn from Preston’s side, clutching a princess doll against her chest.

“Very nice,” I said, picking him up. “Should we go home now?” Preston nodded, leaning his shoulder against my head. I dropped a kiss to the crown of his head, grateful for moments like this when they were small.

Cam crouched at my side, picking up his sleepy daughter, and we headed for the kitchen, where our wives were standing with the girl’s parents.

They’d come up to the city tonight to watch our kids, but they much preferred living outside of it

“You sure you don’t want to just stay here tonight, Mom?” Ella was asking, now combing her fingers through Lily’s hair.

“No, we’re okay,” she said. “It’s not that far, and you know how your dad and I prefer sleeping in our own beds.”

Audrey sighed. “If you’re sure…”

Their parents nodded, and after everyone had said their goodbyes, it left the nine of us, five sleepy kids and four equally exhausted parents.

“Award shows are no joke,” Ella murmured, rubbing her daughter’s back. “I’m glad we all got to go together.”

“It was the best,” Audrey said. “I’m so proud of you.”

Her twin waved her off. “Mine was a group effort. But yours? Ro, I’m constantly blown away by your talent. It’s almost unfair how amazing you are up there.”

Preston let out a huge yawn, and I knew that was our signal. “We should probably get home and get these kiddos to bed, huh? They’ve had a lot of excitement for one day.”

Audrey laughed, shifting Aurora onto her hip. “I’m sure Grandma and Grandpa totally wore them out.”

Which was perfect because if they went to sleep early, we could have our alone time.

“I bet they did.” Ella yawned, too. “Good plan. I think I could sleep for a week. I don’t know how we went to parties so often in college.”

That was a great question. “Senior year was the best, though, wasn’t it?” Audrey mused, coming to stand beside me and leaning her body weight against mine.

Cam sat on a barstool, pulling his wife in between his legs. “Yeah, because at that point, parties were just us hanging out at our own apartments and not having to deal with the underclassmen getting sick or punching holes in the walls.”

I chuckled. “Alright, sunshine,” I said against her ear. “Let’s go home.”

Her eyes connected with mine, and she nodded.

We said our goodbyes—which consisted of about three thousand hugs and several weepy and sleepy toddlers, and then finally, we were heading back to our own house.

When we got inside, Audrey and I wordlessly headed into Preston and Aurora’s room to put them to bed. Both of them were out like a light, not giving us any trouble. They were already in their jammies which made it even easier.

Soon, we planned to give them their own rooms, and I’d been working on the plans for our very own house outside the city. It meant a longer commute for us both, but it would also have room for the kids to play in a backyard, and that felt more important.

“Finally,” Audrey whispered when we got to the threshold of our room.

“Look at that, Mrs. Maxwell,” I murmured, wrapping my arms around her waist once again. “Alone at last.”

She blushed when I adjusted our positions, lifting her up into my arms before setting her down in front of the bed, facing her away from me.

Slowly, enough that she let out a whimper of impatience, I drew the zipper down her back, placing kisses on the bare skin of her neck and shoulder.

“So beautiful,” I rasped, pushing the straps off her shoulders and letting the silky fabric fall off her body.

“Parker,” she whined, wiggling her hips so the fabric would fall to the floor. “Need you.”

I hummed, moving aside her little pink panties to run my finger up her clit. “Already wet for me, are you, Rosie Girl?”

She nodded, arching her back into me so her ass would press up against my already-hardening erection. “You promised you’d show me how proud of me you were when we got home.”

I dipped a finger inside her entrance, her soft gasp filling the room. Fuck, she was wet. We’d both been suffering all night. I’d had to think of every non-sexy thought in the book to keep from sporting a massive erection over the way she looked in that dress.

The way it hugged her gorgeous curves, even more pronounced after carrying our children.

Withdrawing my hand without giving her any more attention, I spun her around so I could see her face.

“I love you,” I said, nipping at her bottom lip so she would open up for me. “And I’m so proud of you, my perfect Rosie Girl.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as I kissed her deeper, holding her body against mine as our tongues met, diving into each other’s mouths like we hadn’t tasted each other in weeks. My thigh was between her legs, and she rocked against me, letting out a little moan into my mouth.

We pulled apart, panting roughly. I admired her pink and swollen lips, the flush of her skin, and the eager look in her eyes as I pushed her backward, letting her fall down onto our bed.

Tugging her panties off, she slid back till her head hit the pillows, that blonde hair spread out around her.

“Fuck, look at you, baby. My shining star.”

Without preamble, I pushed two fingers inside of her, feeling her stretch around me. She was turned on enough to take me without much effort, and I wanted to make her feel good.

I moved my attention down her body, still fucking her with my fingers as I kissed her bare skin. Her collarbone, that she’d dusted with some sparkly powder, making them shine. Those full breasts and hardened nipples, which I made sure to lavish fully with my tongue. Her stomach and the stretch marks there—ones I thought were sexy as fuck.

I left light kisses on each one before positioning my hips in between hers.

Audrey’s soft moans became louder as I worked her higher and higher with each pump of my fingers, and I knew she was close.

Pulling them out, she let out a frustrated moan, but I didn’t leave her waiting for long, unzipping my pants and freeing my cock, slamming to the hilt.

She cried out, already clenching around me, and shit, I knew this wouldn’t last. Not when she felt this good.

Not when I was buried inside the love of my life. The only woman I’d ever wanted.

Audrey Rose was my everything. My sunshine. Every star in the sky. My wife and the mother of my children. My childhood best friend. My forever Rosie Girl.

“I love you,” I rasped again against her ear.

She dug her fingernails into my shoulder as I began thrusting in earnest. “I love you too.” Audrey let out a little gasp, her head falling back as I fucked her hard. Just like she needed. We’d have slow and soft later when we inevitably woke up with me still buried inside of her.

“That’s my girl,” I groaned, feeling that telltale sign of my impending orgasm as she cried out my name, toppling over the edge. “So pretty when you come for me.”

“Yes,” she cried. “I want to feel you, too. Inside of me. Come inside of me.”

Who was I to deny my wife when she asked me to fill her up?

I came, and it felt like the universe had realigned just for us. Like nothing else in this world mattered except for the woman in my arms and the little family we’d made.

The two kids I thought I couldn’t love more, but somehow, I did every single day.

Spilling inside of her, I told her how much I loved her. How perfect she was. How perfect she took me. How much I loved seeing her on stage tonight.

How I’d wanted to rip that dress off of her from the moment she’d stepped out with it on.

When our breathing finally returned to normal, I kept my arms wrapped around her, Audrey’s cheek pressed to my chest.

And we fell asleep, just like that. Bare skin, bodies intertwined, and hearts beating as one.

I could have watched her like this all night, sleeping soundly in my arms.

My sleeping beauty.

Thankfully, I was her knight in shining armor because our Happily Ever After was better than anything I could have dreamed.