5 Years Later

My dad'sbusiness didn't go under. With a great executive team under him, it thrived, despite his huge scale back. He was more often than not to be found in Hade Harbor, my mom by his side. They were closer than I'd ever seen them.

His wedding gift to us was a New York penthouse not too far from where Asher played in the NHL. In one of the best recruitment packages of the year, Asher Martino realized his dreams and got to stay close to home and his wife.

His one non-negotiable.

The first thing he bought with his newfound wealth? A cabin in the woods, just for us. We went there whenever we could. My photography portfolio grew quickly, and I worked in a gallery in the city when we were in New York. I developed my own pieces whenever we went home. Asher continued to be a superstar player, attracting offers from teams all over the country. He never wavered in his desire to stay on the East Coast. It looked like I'd managed to marry the ultimate family man. I couldn't be happier about that.

"Ice Queen, you have to look straight ahead. If you look at your feet, you could fall," Asher murmured, his arms going around me as I swayed.

"Alright for you to say, skating comes easily to you. I'd love to see you do a switch kick double twist basket, then we'll compare notes," I grumbled, hanging on for dear life. I was not a natural skater, that much was clear. Every single winter, Asher dragged me out to Miller's Pond and attempted to try and teach me, and each year, I failed to make much progress.

The ice was busy. All the little kids from town were on it, and they were all better than me.

"Come on, Your Majesty, how are we going to teach our own kids to skate if mommy hates it?" Asher teased me.

I stopped and looked up at him. "Our kids? You're throwing that term around awfully freely lately," I accused.

He shrugged. "Doesn't it just roll off the tongue though? Our kids. Our kids. Our kids."

"Stop trying to jedi mind trick me." I pushed his chest and would have fallen backwards on my ass if he hadn't caught me.

Laughing, he pulled me into the circle of his arms. "Seriously, though. Let's have kids. I want to have kids with you. I don't want to wait anymore."

"You're just getting started working, and I'm just getting my work into galleries."

"Ok, so I'll retire and become a coach in Maine. You keep getting your beautiful work into galleries."

"You're too young to retire!"

He just shook his head. "It doesn't matter. When we have kids, I want to be there every morning and every night, and all the time in between. I don't want to miss a thing."

"Well, me neither," I admitted. He smiled down at me, leaned in and kissed me.

"Can't you picture it? You, me, five kids…" he murmured.

"Five?" This time he didn't manage to catch me before my feet went out from under me and I fell on my ass on the ice.

"Ow!" I complained as he pulled me back up, chuckling.

"Poor baby. How about I kiss wherever you fell when we get home?"

I was rubbing my sore ass and shot him a look. "In that case, stand back, I'm going to roll around all over."

He trailed his lips across my forehead. "I'll kiss every single inch of you with pleasure, then fuck you deeply, and fill you right up and keep it there, rinse and repeat, until we start that family. I just need the right kind of plug to make sure you're full of me, all day, every day."

I laughed faintly. "You're joking, right?" My heart was racing. The idea of having kids with Asher already was only growing on me every time he brought it up. It felt right for us, the two lonely kids. The brat and the bully. Both determined to be the best damned parents we could be.

He smirked wickedly at me. "Sure, I am. Just don't open any packages for me anytime soon. I prefer the element of surprise."

I crossed my arms over my chest, my breath fogging out in puffs. "You wouldn't dare." He rubbed his thumb over my ring. I still wore his homemade one on one hand, and a white gold Lover's Knot shaped ring for a wedding band on the other. They were my prized possessions.

He laughed. "Oh, Ice Queen. Don't you know, there's nothing I wouldn't dare to do, when it comes to you. You offered me anything, and I'm taking everything… till death do us part."

The End