“For what?” he asks against my hair.
“For loving me even when I’m not perfect.”
I can feel his smile against my head. “Oh, baby, you’re pretty perfect to me. I should be the one thanking you for showing me what love truly is. Thank you for showing me this was the reason.”
I wait for him to continue.
“I waited all my life for this season, and even though it has been long awaited, it was definitely worth it.” He smiles, and I suddenly forget everything but him. “And I’d do it again if this is the outcome.”
11
EPILOGUE: NEW YEARS EVE 2035
All My Life by K-Ci and JoJo
Asher
“Happy birthday,dear Daddy, Happy birthday to you!” Cash and Hailey sing while she bounces Hollie on her hip.
I blow out the candles on the double chocolate cake we baked earlier today, as is tradition for us now, but I have no need to make a wish. Everything I could ever want was granted to me ten years ago when I accidentally spilled that drink on Hailey’s dress.
I give Cash a kiss on the top of his head and grab Hollie from Hailey’s hands.
“You didn’t close your eyes,” Hailey whispers against my ear while passing me the baby. “Your wish won’t come true.”
I smile at our sleepy baby before looking at my beautiful wife. “I told you last year and the year before, and the year before that . . . ” I kiss Hollie’s forehead, and she cuddles against my chest, closing her pretty grey eyes that match her mama’s.
“My unspoken wishes have come true, and all I want is for a lifetime with all of you.”
Hailey rolls her eyes, as sassy as ever. “Keep your voice low then. She’s about to go to sleep. I can’t believe she’s still up.”
I don’t have to look at the clock to know it’s midnight. Just like she promised, Hailey has been keeping the kids up to wish me a happy birthday right as the clock strikes midnight every year. She wants me to know how much she loves spending another year with me and that she won’t ever let me forget.
Like I could.
“Come on, Cash. Let’s go night night,” she says, offering him her pinky and walking away as I wave our son goodnight.
I stay in the living room, swaying to K-Ci and JoJo playing in the background as fireworks explode in the distance. We wanted another baby, and even though it took a couple years, Hollie finally came, and she’s absolutely perfect. If it was up to me, Hailey would always be pregnant. She disagrees with me, though, and since it’s her body, she gets the final call.
Hollie’s heavy breathing interrupts my thoughts, and after laying her down in her pink crib in her dark, starry sky bedroom, I walk back out to the living room, where Hailey waits for me. Her hair is up in a top bun, her pretty bangs styled the familiar way I love, a glass of wine in hand. I join her, propping her legs on top of my lap as soon as I sit across from her on the soft couch.
She takes a sip of the dark liquid, sliding her tongue over the rim of the glass, and my dick stands in attention immediately. One simple move, and I want her. I always want her.
It seems like if our bodies are not intertwined, I can’t breathe properly, can’t think straight.
The one place where I know I belong is with her—inside her heart, by her side, and between her legs.
“So, thirty one, huh?” I shrug at her question, and she continues in amusement, “Such an old man.”
I smirk, testing the water and seeing if she’s in the same mindset. When she returns my smile, I know she is. “I heard the thirties are the new twenties.”
“Actually better.” Hailey sinks deeper into the couch, her eyes closing as a smile paints her face. Gosh—breathtaking. “Do you miss it?”
The question takes me by surprise. “Miss what?”
I know exactly what she means, but I want to make sure I answer correctly. I’m a maritime instructor now—you can’t keep me out of the water for long—and it’s been years since my last rescue mission. I’m happy though. Can’t she see that?
The storm behind her cloudy eyes tells a story I wasn’t expecting to hear today. Does she really think I regret anything in my life? She sighs. “Your job.”
