Epilogue

EPILOGUE

NASH

Five Years Later

“Hunter Nash Jr! You better get down from there before your mama comes out here and spanks us both.”

I watch as my five-year-old son climbs down from the big playset. He comes toward me with a big smile on his face, and I shake my head. “Hunter, you know you are supposed to hang from the monkey bars, not walk across the top of them.”

Right then Emery comes out of the house with our daughter Avery on her hip. She looks between Hunter and me, shaking her head. “Like father, like son.”

I don’t think she’s meaning it as a compliment, but I smile anyway. Six years ago, if anyone had told me that I’d be settled down, no more traveling on missions, with two kids AND happy, I wouldn’t have believed them. I’m not going to lie; when we got the call about Hunter, I was scared to death. I hadn’t known it, but Emery had applied at some adoption agencies. When she got the call that not only she was accepted but they had a baby that needed emergency placement, we immediately said yes.

In the span of two weeks, Emery and I got remarried, decorated a nursery, our friends threw us a baby shower, and we became parents. It was definitely a whirlwind.

Emery worried about me. She kept waiting for me to freak out, take off on a mission or something else crazy, but I never did. And when we went to the hospital and picked up Hunter Jr., my whole life changed. I no longer feared that I would let my son down. I knew from the first moment I looked into his eyes that I would do anything and everything to love and protect him until the day I die.

Emery stops next to me, and Avery holds her hands out. “Dada!”

I can’t resist her. I take her from Emery, and Emery rolls her eyes. “I don’t get it. I carried her for nine months and gained all the weight. I’m the one that went through twelve hours of labor. You would think her first word would be Momma!”

I kiss Avery’s head and then move her to my hip so I can put my arm around Emery. She nuzzles against me, and I stare down at her, still not believing that she’s mine. “Let’s not talk about the delivery.”

She shakes her head and looks up at me with sympathy. “Nash, you have to get over that. I’m fine, and Avery was fine.”

I kiss Avery’s head and set her down in the grass. “Hunter, watch your sis for a minute.”

He walks over and sits down next to Avery and rolls a ball to her. “You got it, Dad.”

I grab on to Emery’s hand and walk up on the porch where we can still keep an eye on the kids but also get some privacy. I put my arms around her waist and hold on to her, breathing her in.

She usually melts into my embrace, but this time she’s holding herself rigid. “What is it, Nash? What’s wrong?”

My voice is gruff when I answer her. “You’re okay now, Emery. But those twelve hours you were in labor were the longest of my life.”

She just smirks and laughs like I made some kind of joke, and I’m not having it. I rest my chin on the top of her head and try not to get lost in the memories. “I’m not joking. I have lain in a wet swamp for ten hours, anticipating the perfect time to move to safety. I’ve had to sit completely still for fourteen hours, no sleep and make sure that I don’t move a muscle as we set in enemy territory surrounded by fifty men and pray to God that we were not found before help arrived. I’ve trekked across the mountains of Afghanistan on high alert as we helped ten women that had been trafficked across the border. I’ve been tortured, shot, burned... and with all of that, watching you in pain, seeing what you were going through and I couldn’t do anything to help was the absolute worst thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

Emery reaches up and puts her hands on each side of my face, forcing me to look at her. “Nash... I didn’t know... I had no idea.”

I shake my head, visibly shaken from the memories. “I couldn’t stand seeing you like that.”

She shakes her head. “No, I mean, I knew what you did, but I had no idea everything you DID. Oh Nash... that’s horrible, I couldn’t imagine.”

I turn my head, holding her hand and kissing her palm. “That part of my life is over, Emery.”

She tilts her head. “Do you regret quitting?”

I shrug. “Regret it... never. This... you... the kids... that makes me happy. Do I feel guilty sometimes? I do... I know I shouldn’t, but it’s hard sometimes being here and knowing my brothers are fighting and I’m not there to help...even though I know what I’m doing from the compound is important too... it’s just different.”

Emery is quiet, no doubt reflecting on everything she just learned. I’ve kept it to myself for so long. This probably wasn’t the best way to tell her.

She puts her cheek against my chest. I look at Hunter and Avery, and they’re still playing with the ball. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

I know my wife, and there’s something on her mind. I thought I’d let her come to me with it, but she obviously needs some pushing.

“I have something to tell you.”

I laugh at the rigid tone in her voice. She’s actually nervous about this, and there’s no reason for her to be. She can tell me anything. “You can tell me anything... except that you’re pregnant,” I joke.

Her whole body freezes against mine, and my mouth goes dry. Oh hell, no. I pull back and search her face. “Are you pregnant?”

She bites on to her lower lip and nods her head slowly.

Emotions from all ranges of the spectrum hit me. I’m happy, excited, scared, worried. It’s all right there.

She looks at me nervously. “Please, don’t be mad or upset.”

I know I need to man up here. The thought of her going through it all again is smothering to me, but I need to be strong for her. I lean down and kiss her. She moans, and I deepen the kiss, putting all my love, every emotion, into it. When I pull back, breathless, I lean my forehead against hers. “I’m not mad or upset. I’m happy. You... our family, makes me happy. I’ll just have a talk with the doctor and tell him we need to speed things up this time.”

She laughs, and I take in the way she’s absolutely glowing. I should have known something was up. She pats me on the chest. “I don’t think it works that way, Nash.”

I shrug my shoulders. “It will. I don’t want to see you in pain like that again.”

She looks at me with a crease in her forehead. “I don’t even remember it.”

I wait for her to laugh, but she doesn’t. My mouth falls open. “You don’t remember it?”

This time she does laugh and shakes her head. “No, I don’t remember the pain at all. You know what I remember about that day? I remember seeing you and Hunter holding our daughter for the first time. I remember you with a tear on your cheek because you felt so much love and emotion that you couldn’t hold it in. I remember you holding me, Hunter, and Avery all together on that little hospital bed and never feeling more loved than I did in that moment. That’s what I remember, Nash.”

I’m looking at her with such awe. I still don’t know what I did to deserve her, but I’m a lucky man. “Fuck, I love you, baby.”

For the first time, she doesn’t get on to me for cursing in front of the kids. She puts her arms around my waist. “I love you too, Nash.”

I kiss her one more time. “Okay, so are we telling them they’re going to have a little brother or sister?”

She looks at me excitedly. “Yes, let’s do it.”

And together, hand in hand, we join our kids, and I’m once again in awe that this is my life. Emery saved me by giving me a second chance, and I’ll never take that for granted.

Keep reading for Tara and Jason’s story.