“Go to sleep, baby. We have big plans later.” He kisses me softly, then nudges my head into his chest. I fall asleep safe in his arms as he rubs my back soothingly.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy, and for once, I don’t worry about when it’ll end. For the first time ever, I think we’ve both found peace.
Epilogue
Atlas
Three years later.
“Noah!” I yell. “Let’s go! We’re going to be late.”How have we gotten worse at this time management thing?
“It’s not my fault!” he yells down the stairs. I’m rushing around, grabbing his things for school, when a small body plows into my legs.
Reaching down, I grab Amelia and hold her against my chest. “What are you doing running around? Where’s Mama?” I kiss her cheeks and nibble on her neck, making her squeal.
Our daughter Amelia is two, and she definitely got her mother’s eyes. Amelia Violet was almost a Halloween baby but instead came a week late. For as much mischief as she gets into, you’d think she was born then instead of November.
“Sorry!” Cora rushes into the kitchen. “I was grabbing my bag for the library, and I turned around, then she was gone.” She laughs.
Pulling her into me, I kiss her quickly. I’ll never get tired of the way she melts against me every time. It doesn’t matter if it’s thefirst kiss of the day or the one right before bed, she always looks at me like I hung the moon.
“Gross,” Noah grunts as he enters the kitchen. “You guys are the worst.” He rolls his eyes. I thought we still had a bit of time before the preteen stages hit, but apparently, ten is close enough.
“If you think that’s gross, you should have seen—” Cora cuts me off with a warning glare.
Smirking, I set Amelia down, and she runs back to her mom, my wife.My wife. God, that never gets old.
I probably should have waited to have kids with Cora but fuck, I just needed to see her pregnant with my child. As luck would have it, we found out she was expecting a couple of months after our wedding.
The front door opens, and Matt walks in with Dane. “Please tell me you’re ready to go.”
“D!” Amelia wiggles out of Cora’s hold and rushes over to Noah’s best friend.
Noah nods, grabs his bag, and waves in departure.
“Bye, Noah. Behave,” I remind him, giving him a look. Lately, he’s been giving his teachers a bit of trouble, nothing major, but I really think it’s just his age. I know I was a shit at ten too.
Cora hugs Noah and stops to talk with Matt. It doesn’t bother me as much anymore. He’s got his girl, and Cora is so fucking locked down with me. I didn’t want to wait long to call her mine, so we got married a month after I proposed.
It was one of the best Christmases ever. Daniel knew I was proposing and kindly gave me the space to do it, just the two of us. I had already talked to Noah and gotten his permission.
“Does this mean you’re my dad now?”
“Is that what you want?”
He’s quiet for a minute, and it almost makes me fearful for his answer. “Would that be okay?” he says, not quite meeting my eyes.
Pulling him into a hug, I reassure him, “It’s better than okay.”
Dane detangles himself from Amelia, and I snatch up my tiny terror before she goes into full-blown tantrum mode. For some reason, she really seems to love being around Noah and his friend, and even with their age gap, he takes it all in his stride. Walking back toward the living room, I head toward the bookshelves that now hold more photos than actual books.
There are a few from our wedding day. I take Amelia with me every morning to show her the pictures.
“Look.” I point at one of the photos of me and my brothers. "Who’s this?” I ask, pointing at each one of the guys.
“Kash! Kash!” she squeals.
Shaking my head, I try to correct her. “No. Remember, Seth.” I point as I name them. “Rhett.” Then say, “Kash,” as I point to him last.
