“I reckon he’s gone home to recover. He must realize he’s not safe here. If he were a smart man, he’d have flown home last night already.”
“But there’s smart…and there’s arrogant,” Isaak shrugs.
“Well, he won’t catch us by surprise again,” Josiah says sternly.
“I’m so fucking happy you’re okay, man. We really need you. All of us. Don’t freak us out like that again, okay?”
“Okay, I promise not to almost die again,” Josiah smirks, but as the brothers look at each other, I feel the love between them.
We have an amazing family. A family I’ve never experienced before.
And in this moment, I fully understand the depth of how lucky I am.
“I’ll leave you two and go help make those pancakes,” Isaak says, winking at me.
Josiah pulls me close again. “I can’t seem to get enough of you,” he muses.
“Well, you’re stuck with me forever and ever now,” I grin.
“That sounds like pure heaven.”
Epilogue - Josiah
It took me a while to feel like myself again and fully heal, but now all I have left from that night is a scar. It’s a scar I carry with pride. It’s a night that doesn’t bring me trauma or misery.
I saved my brother…and I finally won the girl.
The love of my life.
My entire universe.
“My love,” she calls out from across the patio, waving at me where I am standing in the pool, holding onto both of the twins as they float on their pink inflatable flamingo.
“I’m here,” I call back.
“Oh, never mind, you’re still swimming. Can I get you another beer?”
“Nestor is bringing one,” I call back.
Alara and Izabel arrive next to Kayla, handing her a cocktail.
I grin, watching my wife smile.
She is too beautiful for words.
“Here you go, man,” Nestor says, sitting on the side of the pool with his feet in the water.
“This is the fullest my place has ever been,” I muse, looking around at all the Pakhans, their wives, and their kids. It’s beautiful chaos.
“The kids are all getting along great, which is always a plus,” he muses, taking a sip of his beer.
We hear a loud shout from Ardalion, who is playing ball with the kids on the lawn, except there is no ball, and they are allpiled onto him like a jungle gym. He’s laughing so hard he can barely breathe.
“Still no sign of Radev?” Nestor asks.
“Nothing. But we have eyes everywhere,” I reply, turning back to look at my twins.
“We want to go play!” Kira demands, trying to wiggle free of the flamingo.
