Epilogue

EPILOGUE

It turns out that my surrogate family and Virginia's sister already know each other.

"I can't believe the coincidence," Virginia says accepting her niece from her sister Annabeth and cradling her against her soft breasts. "I mean, I know Stonewood Ridge is a small town, but still she looks at me smiling. Isn't that funny?"

I wasn't sure quite how funny it was, but it did make my life easier. Annabeth was Virginia's best friend, and they were incredibly close. The fact that she was now somehow in a serious relationship with my best friend's brother would make get togethers that much easier and his sweet Virginia would be happy.

We all sat around a table at Nate and Ford's restaurant called The Rusty Spoon. Ford had been my best friend since we were in kindergarten together and we stopped a bully from picking on another kid together.

Nate kicked me under the table. "Maybe if you came in here more, you would've met Virginia first instead of having to steal her from your brother."

I roll my eyes, putting an arm around her and staring down into the wide curious eyes of baby Eleanor.

"It's true," Virginia says, smiling at me. "I'm here all the time. Long before Annabeth started working here. Their pulled pork is amazing."

Ford beamed at him from across the table looking smug as shit. "I'm surprised he's even sitting with us considering how difficult it is for him to stop working while the place is open. Sure enough, I've caught his eyes wandering around the dining room a couple of times. To his credit, he hadn't moved yet."

Hanging out and hearing about what had happened between Virginia and Chad and then how we'd ended up together, Ford and Nate were aware that I had been developing feelings for my brother's girlfriend long before the cruise. So the only thing they had been surprised about was how long it had taken me to make my move.

Annabeth was looking at the pictures on Virginia's phone, oohing and eyeing over all of the flowers and fish and everything else that Virginia had insisted on capturing on her phone.

"Everything is so beautiful," she says.

"Yeah, I'm really glad that I went for more than one reason," Virginia said, glancing at him.

Leaning over, he pressed a kiss into her temple. "You want to grow on a cruise someday?" Nate asked Annabeth, his hand disappearing under the table.

She jumped a moment later, her cheeks flushing as she shot him a look. "I mean, would anybody say no to something like this?" She turned the phone toward him. "Look at that view."

Nate met my eyes over the phone and I knew we would be going on a cruise at some point, probably me and all of the Strong brothers and their sister, Mary Ellen, who could be just as wild as the rest of them.

He was speeding a little on the way back to his house, but Virginia didn't notice at first, chattering about how good it had been to see her sister and niece and how grateful she'd been and how grateful she was that Nate had been there to help her when Annabeth's piece of shit of an ex had shown up when it was just her and baby Eleanor.

When she glanced over and caught sight of the number on the speedometer, she raised her eyebrows. "Are you in a rush?"

"I am," I said, reaching over and slipping my hand between her thighs. She was wearing leggings instead of one of her sundresses that she'd worn most of the time on the cruise, but I could still feel her heat as I cupped her sex. "Seeing you with that baby in your arms..." I shake my head, not even sure how to put it into words, just knowing that I needed to be inside of her before my head exploded.

In the weeks since we'd been home from the cruise, I'd gotten her moved into my house, dealt with her landlord when he tried to be an ass about her breaking her lease, and attempted to breed her every second I got. With the image of her cradling Eleanor and looking so incredibly happy and natural, I couldn't get it out of my head.

"You're too late." I glance over at her as I slow and take the turn into our driveway. It needs to be graded. The bump's getting annoying and I don't want her having to deal with that when she wasn't with me.

"What do you mean? Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Not for a few months," she said smiling and reaching down to grab her purse where it was sitting between her feet.

I pulled up into the garage, liking the sight of her small Camry in the stall next to me, and shut the truck down. I unbuckled and then turned to her prepared to demand she tell me what she was talking about and found her holding a pregnancy test. I take it, my fingers trembling, and read the word pregnant half a dozen times before I finally look up into her smiling face, her eyes damp.

"You're sure?" She nodded and dug out two more tests. All three seem to be different brands, but all three either said pregnant or positive on them.

"I'm sure. I'm usually pretty regular and when my period didn't start the other day-"

I stop her, unable to hold off from kissing her for one more minute. My heart is exploding with happiness and the primitive side of me is bursting with male satisfaction. She was pregnant. She carried my baby. We were a family forever.

"I love you, Virginia," I said against her lips, unable to completely stop peppering her with gentle kisses.

"I love you too," she says, voice a little watery, and I wipe at the tears clinging to her lashes. "You sure you're happy?

"I'm so happy," I tell her, pressing our foreheads together. "You just made me the happiest fake boyfriend in the whole world."

She laughs, tilting her chin up to kiss me again. "Still so ridiculous."

"Still so ridiculously in love with you."