When we finally reached the SUV, Frankie looked up at all of us, eyes swollen but shining.
“Take me home,” she said. “Please. I just…I need all of you. I love you.”
It was easier than any of us ever thought it would be to say those three words right back.
We loaded into the car. We put her in the middle seat, tucked between us like she belonged there.
And maybe she always had. Tomorrow there would be blood to clean up, alliances to shift, and a new dawn for the Butera family under my name.
But tonight, tonight we were alive. Together. And our girl—our fiercest, bravest girl—was coming home with us, carrying our future in her miracle of a body.
All of us were excited to see what came next.
EPILOGUE: FRANKIE
OVER A YEAR LATER
The biggest and best first birthday shindig ever was in full swing, the streamers strung and a large, pink princess cake decked out with a garish candle in the shape of a number one prepared for the moment we’d light it and get our little girl to make a wish.
I didn’t have a single wish to make.
Everything I wanted was right here in this room, from the far end where my baby was giggling in the arms of her doting aunt, to the other corner, where one of my broody husbands was watching the party unfold with a peaceful look in his eye that someone less familiar with him might mistake for disinterest.
Stacks of presents practically tumbled off the table of our home’s entryway. Baby Sofia was too little to open them all herself, but we’d manage together, the way the five of us did everything these days.
The little girl of the hour was in the arms of my mom, who was proving to be a perfect party co-hostess even though I insisted she didn’t need to help with anything.
Still, for now, her arms were full of the chubby child who’d made me a mama, and she was hanging out by a table we’d turned into a build-your-own sundae bar.
What was even sweeter than the sundaes, though, was seeing my mom joined by the man she’d been dating for the past few months who treated her like a queen.
Though she’d ultimately decided against dating her physical therapist long term, that first foray into romance taught her she could do it.
Then she’d met Rick on the cruise.
The kind older man, a little more age appropriate for my mother than the prior guy had been and with his own baggage in the form of a long-dead beloved wife, had passed every test my guys and I had put him through so far.
I liked Rick a lot, and I loved seeing my mom happy even more.
Even her health had seemed to improve now that she was so happy—now that we all were.
And of course, she took to grandmotherhood perfectly.
“Is it time for cake yet?” Devin’s voice broke through my happy, dazed thoughts. He slung an easy, muscled arm around my waist and planted a kiss on the side of my head. “I’m starved, and I can’t wait to see Alex’s face when Sofie smashes the little one. You know he’ll be stressed about her getting stains on her new party dress.”
I leaned into Devin’s embrace, grinning. “Oh, don’t worry. She’s changing to a stain-proof outfit before cake time. But it’ll be soon. Grab some pizza in the meantime, babe.”
As if summoned by our good-natured teasing, another of my three gorgeous men joined my side, a soft, secret smile on his lips.
“Our baby is the star of the show,” Alex told me. He wasn’t one for PDA, so he stayed beside me, keeping his hands to himself other than reaching over to squeeze my hand in his own.
The warmth stayed with me even after he dropped it.
I followed his Tundra-blue eyes to where Sofia had now been handed off to one of her aunties, Elena, who had quickly become one of my best friends.
Lucia and Ava were getting there, too, though they didn’t have a shared love for romance novels that drew me and Elena together.
Sofia and Elena were laughing, playing some kind of silly game that entertained all the party guests in their vicinity, too. My heart squeezed at that sound.
