Epilogue

Iwatch Heidi from across the room, my gaze locked on her as she rocks our daughter in her arms. The glow in her cheeks is fucking stunning, and although we’re both tired from taking care of a three-month-old baby, I can see how happy she is to be a mother.

As if she knows I’m staring, her eyes lift and find mine. The way she looks at me makes my insides heat. I didn’t think I could love anyone ever again, and I didn’t believe in second chances, but that is exactly what I have been given. I’m not entirely sure I deserve all the good I have now, but I sure as fuck am going to embrace it.

She gives me a dazzling smile before she returns her attention to the baby in her arms. Motherhood looks good on her, and somehow, she has managed to make Sophia feel included and secure since the arrival of Keira.

My girls…

They are everything to me. I had no idea I could feel so much love for my children, but I would die to protect either of them. Mara gave me the greatest gift in Sophia, and then Heidi made our little family complete with Keira. There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not grateful for everything I have.

As I glance around the room, it’s clear how much things have changed in our club. The bachelor days are long gone as the common room is filled with old ladies and kids.

Skye bounces her son on her knee, deep in conversation with a newly pregnant Ophelia and Elyse. Her half-sister, Sariah, is sitting in Lucas’s lap, talking animatedly.

On the other side of the room, Hope tries to corral an overexcited Maisie, while Terror and Hawk are standing near the bar, the former holding his son in his arms.

Wren and Hawk’s two youngest are playing pool with Elyse’s brother, who will be ready to become a prospect in just a few short years, if he chooses to.

Pia and Howler are talking with her parents and Blackjack while Brewer shows Wren’s older kids a card trick. Bobby watches, his brows drawn together. The kid got his full colours the week after he took down Desmond Richardson, and then he spent the next month cleaning up the remaining Pioneers soldiers with the Fraser brothers.

This right here… this is family, and I never want to lose this again.

My daughter rushes past me, but I sweep her up before she gets too far, tickling her side and earning one of her mad cackles. She’s never grown out of that, and I fucking love it. “Where are you going, Princess?” I ask her.

“Daddy, put me down,” she squeals.

I know I should, but instead, I hold my daughter close, just enjoying having her in my arms. She is a miniature version of her mother, as if the universe hit ‘copy and paste’ on her.

I miss Mara every day, though my grief is no longer as suffocating as it was. Once a month, we go as a family to the cemetery to visit those we lost. I never want to forget those we left behind, even though we’re working towards a different future.

“I love you so much, Sophia,” I say to my daughter. She grabs my cheeks between her hands, planting a kiss on my mouth.

“I love you too, Daddy.” Her words aren’t perfectly pronounced, but they melt my insides.

I let her down, watching as she rushes off to play with the other kids, and I trail her movements for a moment before I prowl across the room to my old lady.

I’m so focused on her that I don’t notice Rage until I collide with him. “Fuck,” I mutter at the same time as he lets out a “Shit.”

Steadying him, I try to gauge his mood, which seems off. “You good?” I ask him.

He glances over his shoulder at Skye and his kid before he gives me his attention. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Stop yourself from burning the world down to keep them safe.”

Rage and I aren’t exactly friends, so him asking me this feels like an olive branch. “Who says you stop yourself?”

He smirks. “Right. Heidi’s doing better?”

“She is. I was scared for a while,” I admit. Her pregnancy wasn’t easy, and the birth was a fucking nightmare. She’s still not really recovered from it, but every day, she gets stronger. But Rage didn’t ask about Heidi because he’s concerned. He can see she’s fine. “You okay?”

“Skye’s pregnant again,” he admits. Fuck. They’re young, but Rage has been a good dad to their baby. Doesn’t mean shit isn’t hard for them. “No one knows, so don’t say anything, but how do you deal with two at once? One is a fuckin’ full-time gig.”

I don’t know why he’s asking me and not Hawk, who has almost a football team now Wren is five months pregnant with twins, but I’m fucking happy he’s talking to me like we’re pals. It beats him wanting to smash my teeth out.

“Well, I can’t remember the last time I slept a full night, but my daughters are everything to me, Rage. It’s worth the shit.”

He rakes a hand over his jaw. “Fuck. Leo doesn’t sleep now. A newborn’s gonna be hard on top of that.”

“Yeah, but you’re young. You don’t need as much sleep as I do.” I pat his shoulder. “Besides, you got family here. Everyone’ll help. Congratulations, brother.”

Wanting to be with my old lady, I walk off before he can say anything else.

Heidi glances up at me as I approach, exhaustion lining her face. I’ve tried to take a lot of the burden from her in the three months since our daughter was born while also being mindful of what Heidi needs, but there’s stuff I can’t do.

“Hey,” I say, dipping down so I can press a kiss to her mouth.

Heidi reciprocates, and I know her body is alight in the same way as mine. “You can’t kiss me like that,” she complains as I run my fingers over Keira’s head.

“And why not?”

She glares at me. “You know why not. The doctor said we have to wait another few weeks, and I’m going to combust if I don’t have you inside me soon.”

She lowers her voice as she says the last few words, and I don’t miss the way her cheeks pink up. I fucking love how embarrassed she gets talking about sex. It really is adorable. “Only a few more weeks,” I tell her, “and then I’ll feed you my cock as much as you want it.”

I don’t want to do anything that might put back her recovery, but she pouts anyway. “You’re not playing fair.”

I snort at her petulant tone. “I’m not trying to play fair. I’m trying to look after my wife.”

The smile that kicks up her lips is momentarily disarming. She is so fucking beautiful, and it is taking all my resolve not to bend her over the table, shove up her dress, and take her right now. “Wife?”

Fuck. My palms are sweaty and my kutte feels heavy as I get down on one knee in front of her. Her lips part in surprise, though I don’t know why. She gave me my daughter. Of course, I want her to be my wife.

“Marry me?”

I’m aware the room has gone silent, watching us, but all my focus is on Heidi. “You want to get married?”

That’s not the response I was expecting or hoping for. I know she’s not going to say no, but I didn’t expect a discussion during my proposal.

“Babe, I want to make you mine in every way possible.”

Her eyes roll, but I can see she’s happy. “So romantic.”

If she wants romance, I’m not the guy to deliver that, but I will love her completely. “Be my wife, Heidi.”

She glances around the room at everyone watching us and leans into me, holding Keira tight. “Are you sure? I mean… are you ready to do that?”

“If I wasn’t ready, I wouldn’t be down on one knee.”

“Daddy! Why are you on the floor?” Sophia tries to pull me up, and I gather my daughter in my arms, giving her a sloppy kiss.

Heidi leans forward to kiss her too, her eyes searching my face.

“You gonna leave me hanging?” I joke.

She shakes her head. “Of course not. I want to marry you.”

The room erupts into cheers as I kiss her, smirking at the little moan she makes as I slide my tongue against hers.

“I love you,” I say as I pull out a ring box from my pocket, slowly sliding the diamond band onto her finger. Her throat bobs as she stares down at it. “I hope you know that.”

“I know it,” she confirms, staring at the engagement ring. “I love you too.” She tickles Sophia’s side. “And I love this little princess.”

Sophia giggles. “What’s marry?”

“Something you’re not allowed to do until you’re fifty,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen. “Fifty? How long is that?”

“Not long enough.” I kiss her temple and let her down, watching for a moment as she runs over to play with Wren’s youngest.

The noise in the room fades into the background as Heidi’s fingers trail over the front of my kutte, over the patches that I earned back in the last year. It hadn’t been easy to earn my place back in the club, but I’d done it, and time and time again, I have proven to my brothers that I am loyal. Howler wants to give me a seat back at the table, but truthfully, I’m happy where I am. I don’t need the pressure of being an officer again, not with two kids under three.

“Are you happy?” she asks me, and the question takes me aback because I wasn’t expecting it.

“I just asked you to marry me. Do I not seem it?”

“Of course, but it hasn’t been easy to get here for either of us.”

I wrap my arm around her, pulling her into my side. I peer down at the baby in her arms, her big eyes staring up at me. “Babe, I’m happy, and that’s something I didn’t think I would ever be again. You, Sophia, and Keira complete my life in ways I didn’t know needed completing. So, yeah, I’m fucking happy. I don’t think I could be happier than I am at this moment.”

As I say those words, I realise how true they are. This might not have been the plan for either of us, but Heidi and I have found a common ground together. Our shared grief enabled us to understand the pain we both felt and to come out the other side better people for it. It allowed us to find that spark of joy again.

This life isn’t for everyone, and there are times when things are hard, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I don’t believe Heidi would either. The club is our family, and this is where we all belong.