Page 65 of Petals & Promises

“Home, we’re going home to start the rest of our lives together. That sound good to you?” I asked as I kicked open the front doors of the station.

“Sounds like a dream come true,” Bailey-Rose answered, snuggling her face into my neck.

twenty-eight

Epilogue

With everything that happened with Randall, we decided as a family that we needed one more additional week of leave. We were down to the last two days with Lysse and Yun-Sun returning to work on Monday. However, my mother decided it was the perfect time to host a party at their house and invite everyone. Well, everyone but Vili’s fathers since this party celebrated our bonding and Vili legally changing his last name to Thatcher.

“We have to do something,” Mother argued. “This is a big deal, one that should be celebrated. After everything you’ve told me his family put him through, he deserves to know what it truly means to have loving parents.”

There was no way to change Jolene Thatcher’s mind once it was made up. I suppose I might have inherited a slight bit of that, or so they guys tell me.

“Care Bear, we need to go. The pack of honor can’t be late,” Warrick pointed out.

“I know, I know, but Deanna is going to be there, and I really wanted to give this to her while she was in town,” I muttered, adding the last few dots of white. “There, now it’s done.”

Stepping back, I gazed at the masterpiece I’d been working on, off and on, for the past week and a half. It was my interpretation of that day Deanna had told us about with Callie. Only in my version, Gareth was there with them. I wanted her to look at this and know that no matter what, she had two wonderful children who loved their mother to the moon and back.

“Will you help me carry it out to the car?” I asked, dropping the paintbrush into the water.

“Yes, but it will cost you,” Warrick said, stepping up and cupping my face.

I smirked, knowing what was coming next. “How many kisses?”

“I’d say about ten,” he answered. “It’s a steep price, but I’ll let you put a down payment of two kisses now since we’re in a hurry.”

“My hero,” I teased, popping up on my tiptoes to pay the man his fee.

“No, nope, you two can’t be doing that,” Gareth ordered. “If you do, then you'll start taking off her clothes, and we all know what that leads to, so wrap it up.”

Warrick muttered under his breath something about Gareth being a buzzkill. Sneaking in one more quick kiss, Warrick grabbed one side of the painting while Gareth took the other. I followed them out of my studio into the showroom where Vili and I were creating our new business. After much thought and many conversations with lawyers, Vili decided he would no longer offer his designs to Silveda. Instead, he was going to create all new designs and start his own jewelry line. We hadn’t come up with a business name yet, but that would come with time.

Since Randall trashed most of the downstairs, we needed to remodel it. We divided the workspace for Vili and me to share along with creating the upstairs to be his showroom floor. I didn’t need the whole upper level as an office, so we made a small room on the main floor showroom instead. Not only was I thrilled to watch Vili create something amazing, but it made me feel much safer in the studio.

My brain understood Randall was in jail and would be there for the next thirty-five years. Yet when I was left alone in the big building, I couldn’t help but feel like someone was going to jump out of the shadows at me. My therapist felt this would pass with time but not to be too hard on myself. What happened to me was a traumatic event, and I needed to accept that reality. The upside was nightmares no longer were a problem, but I still didn’t want to keep my phone on me all the time. Thankfully, I had a monitor I could wear so my guys knew where I was at all times. Plus Waffles, my faithful shadow, would never let something happen to me.

When we arrived at my parents’ house, I knew we were far later than I expected. “Didn’t Mom say the party would start at three?” I asked.

“Rosie, it’s almost four,” Lysse pointed out.

I cringed a little, knowing I lost all track of time when I was painting.

“Don’t worry about it. I called Jolene and told her what you were up to, and she understood,” Lysse assured me.

If anyone understood my bad habits, it was my mother. She’s witnessed firsthand this particular trait many times. Once parked, I decided to leave it in the vehicle and give it to Deanna later. Right now, it was better for us to just get to the damn party.

Yun-Sun helped me out of the car and wrapped my arm around his as we walked down the path to the patio. It was such a beautiful day, with the sun shining and the last blooms of the season flowering as fall headed our way. Mother spotted us first and rushed over to envelop me in a hug.

“Oh, there’s my girl,” Mother cheered. “Better late than never, as they say.”

“Sorry, Mom, I can’t believe I lost that much time,” I apologized.

Mom tapped my nose with her finger and gave me a wink. “Think nothing of it, darling. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last. You are who you are, and that’s exactly who I love.”

Moving on from me, Mother hugged the guys and gushed over Vili, making the poor man blush.

“Thank you, Jolene. I am honored to be part of your family,” he said as Mother squished his face between her hands.