Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Present Day

“I’m not eating that until I see the money,” came the magical words that had Eric slowly backing up and pushing his six-year-old sons’ bedroom door open to find his three youngest sons standing around a bowl of what he was really hoping was dirt.

“What are you doing?” Eric asked as he watched the twins share a look seconds before Joshua stepped in front of the large mixing bowl so that Mason could shove it under his bed and-

This was just fucking sad, Eric thought as his gaze shifted down to find Jacob trying to crawl through his legs and make his escape. Sighing heavily, Eric reached down and grabbed his ten-year-old son by the back of his pants and picked him up as he shifted his attention back to the twins to find them sitting on the bottom bunk, doing their best to look innocent.

“What did we talk about?” Eric asked as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he wondered, not for the first time, where he went wrong.

“To get the money upfront,” Jacob said, making his lips twitch as he dropped his hand away.

“Do I want to know what’s in the bowl?” Eric asked as he watched Joshua struggle to bite back a wince and failed miserably while Mason went for a hopeful smile.

“Probably not,” Jacob said with a heartfelt sigh as Eric tossed him over his shoulder.

“Where’s your brother?” Eric asked, moving to step back into the hallway to see if Nicholas was in his room when he saw it, the devious look in the twins’ eyes.

“Please tell me that you didn’t do what I think you did,” Eric said, sighing heavily as he turned around, not bothering to wait for an answer, knowing that it was pointless.

“He should have run faster,” Jacob said with a heartfelt sigh against his back.

“Is there a reason why you felt the need to gang up on your brother?” Eric asked, slowly exhaling as he considered his options.

“He knows why,” Jacob mumbled as Eric glanced from one end of the long hallway to the other and-

“Tell me that you didn’t do what I think you did,” Eric said, already heading downstairs, careful of the furry little bastard that had it out for him asleep on the stairs. Carefully stepping over the cat that Morgan had affectionately named Demon, Eric made his way down the grand staircase that had taken him a month to meet his wife’s exacting standards and into the large foyer.

“I would, but you told me that lying was wrong, Daddy,” Jacob said, making his lips twitch.

“I also told you that tying your big brother up was wrong, but that doesn’t seem to stop you,” Eric said as he made his way to the den that he’d turned into an office for Morgan when she was pregnant with Noah.

“Because it’s fun,” Jacob pointed out with a heartfelt sigh that had Eric’s lips twitching as he walked into the office to find Morgan working quietly at the desk that his cousin Devin built for her last year.

When she saw him, Morgan sent him a questioning look as she pushed her glasses back up her nose, only to sigh when she spotted Jacob hanging over his shoulder. With a grumble, Morgan pushed her chair back and headed for the bookshelf next to her while Eric stood there, running his eyes over his beautiful wife, taking in the light green dress that had him licking his lips, noting the way that it accentuated every generous curve and-

“Why?” Morgan asked, sighing heavily as she drew his attention to find her standing in front of the closet that he’d turned into a secret hideaway for her years ago to give her an advantage when she was playing hide and seek with the boys to find his two oldest sons standing there, tied up with what looked like balled-up gym socks shoved in their mouths. When they saw him standing there, they gave up trying to wiggle their way out of the closet and leveled a glare on their little brother.

“Was there a reason why you felt the need to tie up Noah, too?” Eric asked as he placed his son down on the floor.

“He got in the way,” Jacob said with a firm nod that had Noah’s eyes narrowing on him as he stood there, waiting for his mother to finish untying him, and once she did…

Jacob cleared his throat, nodded slowly with a mumbled, “Fair enough,” and turned around before he made a run for it. That was followed by Noah ripping the sock out of his mouth and going after his little brother while Nicholas waited his turn and once he was free…

“Put the superglue down!” Morgan said, forced to jump on their fifteen-year-old son’s back.

That was followed by a grumble, a muttered, “Fine!” and Nicholas tossing the tube of superglue back on her desk and-

“No stapler either,” Eric said, sighing as he reached over and plucked the stapler out of his son’s hands.

“Fine,” Nicholas said, slowly exhaling as he waited for his mother to climb off his back and once she did, he muttered, “I’ll use my hands.”

“Good idea,” Eric murmured, not really all that concerned as his gaze shifted back to his wife as he waited for Nicholas to race out of the room, and once he was gone, Eric was reaching back and closing the door before locking it.

“Your sons are truly terrifying,” Morgan said, nodding solemnly as he made his way around her desk and sat down in her freshly vacated chair.

“They’re Bradfords,” he said, watching as the woman he loved more than anything joined him.

“That doesn’t really explain half of the terrifying things that they do,” Morgan said as she climbed onto his lap.

“It really does,” Eric assured her as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Are you sure you want another one?” Morgan asked as she brushed her lips against his.

“We need a little girl,” Eric reminded her with a teasing smile.

“And if we have another boy?” Morgan asked, shifting to get more comfortable on his lap as the sounds of a door slamming upstairs, followed by pleas for mercy filling the large house that they’d turned into a home.

Chuckling, Eric said, “I honestly don’t think the neighbors will survive.”

“Probably not,” Morgan said, smiling against his lips.

“What are you working on?” Eric asked as he shifted his attention to the sketch that she was working on.

“The Victorian mansion in Rochester,” Morgan said as he reached over and brought the sketchpad closer so that he could take a look and slowly exhaled, still surprised by just how incredibly talented his wife was.

After they made the move here official, they started specializing in historic homes and thanks to Nathan, who’d been incredibly fucking understanding when Morgan decided to stay, they’d been able to add consulting to their services. Since she was able to work remotely, Nathan had been more than happy to hire Bradford Remodeling to come up with designs for their clients. While she came up with the designs and did the research, he created the blueprints for everything that she came up with, from the crown molding to grand ballrooms.

They loved what they did, especially since it allowed them to spend more time with their boys. He never thought that he would ever be this happy, but then again, he never thought that he would ever be lucky enough to marry the woman that he loved.

“I have to tell you something.”

“What’s that?” Eric asked, turning his head so that he could brush his lips against hers.

“Theo called,” she said, smiling against his lips.

“And this pleases you, why?” Eric asked as he placed his hand on the soft swell of his wife’s belly.

“Because it seems that your brother has finally met his match,” Morgan said, making him chuckle as he said, “He’ll never survive.”

“I know,” Morgan said with a satisfied sigh.

* * *

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Thank you for reading Pretend, the Neighbor from Hell Prequel. I hope that you enjoyed reading Eric and Morgan’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I truly appreciate the time that you took to read their story. If you have a moment and want to spread the word about Pretend or any of the other Neighbor from Hell Novels, I would truly appreciate it. Thank you!

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