Epilogue
EPILOGUE
LAYLA
I loved the life I’d built with Roman and the time I had been able to spend at home with our children before they were old enough to go to school. But now that our youngest was headed off to kindergarten, I was excited to teach again.
Ryan glared up at me, his little fists planted on his hips. “I wanna be with you, Mommy.”
“Sorry, buddy.” I crouched down so we were eye level. “The school rules are that parents can’t teach their own children, remember?”
His chin jutted out. “Uh-huh, but it’s no fair.”
“I’m sad that I don’t get to spend all day with you too, but Miss Thompson is awesome. You’ll have so much fun with her,” I promised.
His lip curved into a pout. “But I getta have lunch with you?”
I nodded and ruffled his hair. “Every day.”
“Okay.” He heaved a deep sigh and stomped over to the kitchen table to join his siblings.
Ross stopped shoveling his waffle into his mouth long enough to roll his eyes and mutter, “None of us had Mom for our kindergarten teacher, and we did fine. Stop being a baby.”
“Be nice to your brother,” I chided my eldest.
Lea elbowed Ross in the side. “Yeah, going to school the first time is scary.”
“Scary?” Ryan echoed, his eyes widening.
“Nice going,” Ross snorted. “Now you gave him something else to freak out about.”
“Who’s freaking out about what?” Roman asked as he strode into the kitchen, heading straight over to me to brush his lips against mine. “Morning, gorgeous.”
“Good morning.” I jerked my chin toward the plate I’d already made for him. “There’s a waffle for you.”
“Only one?” He patted his six-pack abs. “I worked up an appetite.”
My cheeks filled with heat as I remembered exactly how he’d done that—by making me come twice in the shower this morning before he fucked me. “There’s another in the waffle iron that’s almost done.”
“Thanks, gorgeous.” He gave me another kiss before carrying his breakfast over to the table and dropping onto the chair next to Ryan. “You worried about the first day of school, little man?”
“Uh-huh,” our youngest mumbled around a mouthful of his breakfast.
Roman shook his head with a chuckle. “Glad to see it isn’t hurting your appetite.”
I often swore that both of our boys had hollow legs with how they could put away food. Not that it was a surprise since their daddy had a healthy appetite. In more ways than one as he’d aptly demonstrated at every opportunity over the nine and a half years we’d been together. Carrying his second waffle over, I teased, “Like you’re one to talk.”
“Only because you do such a good job tempting me”—he deliberately paused to tilt his head back and wink at me—“with all of the delicious food you make.”
“Don’t forget that it’s your turn to show off your cooking skills tonight,” I reminded him.
He gave me a light swat on the butt. “As if I’d ever forget something I promised you.”
Lea bounced on her seat. “Ooh, can you make burgers on the grill pretty please?”
“No, I want steak,” Ross argued.
“Pizza!” Ryan screeched. “With pineapple and ham.”
“Sorry, guys. It’s Mom’s choice for dinner tonight since this is a big day for her.” He patted Ryan on the shoulder while giving me the side-eye for having corrupted his taste in pizza toppings. “And you already got to pick breakfast since it’s your special day too.”
“It isn’t burgers, steak, or pizza, but I still think you’ll all be happy with my choice.” Four pairs of amber eyes stared at me until I added, “I want your dad to make his spaghetti and meatballs tonight.”
“Yay!” our children cheered.
“Hurry up and finish your breakfast so Dad can drop us all off at school.”
Roman still managed Liquid Silver for the club, so his mornings and early afternoons tended to be free. We normally traded off school drop-off and pickup duty, but the plan was for me to take it over from now on since I had to head there for work anyway. Except for today since my husband had put his foot down and insisted on taking us all this morning.
I wandered back to the counter and made sure everyone’s lunches were packed, including mine. Then I slid my feet into a pair of faux pearl and rhinestone ballet flats that were both adorable and super comfortable since I would be on my feet all day. As soon as everyone ate, we made the mad dash to Roman’s extended cab truck and piled inside.
The house we bought wasn’t far from the elementary school, so it only took a few minutes to get there. Pulling up in front of the school before the craziness of student drop-off officially started, Roman twisted in his seat to smile at our kids. “Okay, guys. Off you go. Mom will be out in a second.”
Proving that he was a great big brother when he wasn’t teasing his siblings, Ross helped Lea and Ryan out of the truck and waited with them on the sidewalk.
When the door shut behind them, Roman leaned over the console to kiss me. “You ready for your first day, gorgeous?”
Although I hadn’t stepped foot inside a classroom other than as a parent in almost a decade, I wasn’t nervous to go back. My life was too perfect to worry about stuff like that. Roman and our children were what mattered to me. “Yup, I’m good.”
“You’re more than good.” He unclicked my seat belt. “You’re fucking amazing, and every student in your class is lucky to have you teaching them.”
“I love you so much,” I whispered.
“I love you too, gorgeous.” He hopped out of the truck and circled around to get my door. When I climbed out, he swatted me on the butt. “Go kick some ass so you’re hungry for my spaghetti and meatballs tonight.”
I beamed a smile at him over my shoulder as I walked away and murmured, “Be ready, I’m going to be hungry for another kind of meat after the kids go to bed.”
His deep chuckle drifted toward me as I shuffled our children into the school, but he wasn’t laughing when he gave me exactly what I wanted later that night.