Epilogue

Life as a parent was better than we'd ever dreamed, or at least than I had. Clay enjoyed working at Animals but didn't need the money, of course, and after his paternity leave ended, he decided to stay at home and be a full-time daddy.

When he left his life before, the one of power and wealth, he hadn't been sure what he wanted to do except try out an ordinary job for a while and maybe meet some sincere friends who liked him for himself. My friends fit that bill from the moment they met him, making him as well as Rome part of our circle as if they'd known them all their lives. But while he had gone from an amateur server to very competent at the job, by the time he left for paternity, it wasn't his passion—being a daddy was. And watching him in action with the little ones could bring tears to my eyes.

I didn't know why Fate had chosen me to belong to Rome and Clay because I couldn't think of a thing I did that made me worthy of them, but as I sat in the nursery on a beautiful warm San Diego afternoon, I was flooded with nothing but gratitude. And of course love.

"You coming outside in the yard?" Rome's voice cut into my contemplations. "They're going to break ground."

"Be right there." We were finally going to break ground on the ADU which, rather than being an adult-dwelling unit, as originally planned, would now have a whole other function. Between the master bedroom, the hoard room, the guest room, and the nursery, we were decidedly lacking in a space just for our children to play. And where better than in the middle of the backyard? It would be a place we could rock and read them stories, but as they grew, it would become their playroom. I started for the backyard where I found my mates each holding one of the babies. The contractor we hired was directing his men to start on our project, and for a moment, I wondered if we'd regret starting something so noisy when the babies were little.

But watching them giggle in their daddies' arms, I knew they'd be fine. The little troupers slept through anything life threw our way, and they'd do fine. They took after their rock-star daddies. My great loves. All four of them.