I gasp mockingly. “You will do no such thing, Mr. Garcia. When you do get to strip me, later, you’ll do so carefully and put the dress away in its bag.”
He growls, frowning, apparently not understanding my sense of humor all of a sudden. Well, just as well. I really don’t want the dress ruined by his Godzilla impression.
As we walk together down the world’s shortest aisle, towards the smiling officiant, I feel about as contented as I ever have in my life before. I have everything I want in the world. A loving almost-husband, my sister safer than she’s ever been, very little friction between myself and the rest of my family. Things have worked out for the best.
I halt and turn to Valiant, taking his hands in mine, and then lean into him, feeling him brush the top of my head with his lips.
“Before we do this,” I tell him. “Before it’s all official and signed and sealed, I just want to say this. I love you.”
He sighs and holds me, ignoring everyone around us. “I love you too, Scamp. I always will. But if you want that dress to stay in one piece we’d better get this over with, because I only have so much patience to spare. I’m sure you can feel how much I need you right now.”
I nod, snickering at the pressure of his cock against my stomach. I don’t think there’s a moment when he’s not hard and ready for me. “Okay,” I tell him, “I’m ready now.”
“Thank God,” Pip says from behind. “I’m starving. I want to get back to the food before you two make me lose my appetite.”
“Hey,” I say, glaring at her. Then I stick out my tongue. “My wedding, I’ll take as long as I like, Miss Impatient.”
She rolls her eyes but says nothing, and finally I get to walk arm in arm with the man that will very soon be my husband. The only man I’ve ever wanted.
The only man I’ll ever need.
Epilogue Two – Val – One Year Later
“No!” Pip says, shaking her head and sighing in exasperation. She picks up her tablet and double taps the screen, then turns it to the interior designer. “Look. Here. The mural is supposed to have six ducks, not five.”
I have to stifle a laugh, and she turns her eyes on me, frowning. Holding up my hands in surrender, I shake my head at the designer. “The kid’s in charge. Sorry, man. Six ducks.”
He nods, a pained look on his face, and runs his fingers through what’s left of his hair. “Six. Got it.”
The nursery is almost finished, which is just as well because Scamp is due any day now. Our miracle baby, and not a feat that will be repeated. The doctors have warned against any more after this one, which would put both Scamp and the baby at too much risk. We’ve discussed it though, and while we’ve agreed we don’t want to take that chance, this won’t be our last child. We have too much love to give between us, and while Pip and the new baby will be enough for now, there are too many kids out there that need a good home for us to settle at that.
Scamp said it best when she said she knew how it was to not have a mom or dad that cared. I know that still hurts her, and I only wish we could take that away for every kid in the world. But we’ll do what we can.
Which is, after all, what her charity is all about. She set it up almost a year ago, just after we were married, bringing kids from the city out here to our slice of paradise, letting them ride horses and pet our dogs and just have a good time in the fresh air. We don’t have a vetting process. Our goal is to make this a safe place for everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances or background. In some ways, those that have been in trouble before are exactly the ones we want to reach. We try to teach them about community and friendship, and helping others, and that would hardly be a challenge if we only picked those who were going to behave themselves.
“Hey, anyone hungry?” Scamp pops her head around the corner of the room, asking the question she asks about a million times a day at the moment. “I was going to order pizza.”
She still has half her hair dyed pink, but in the last stages of her pregnancy her usual style has been a little more subdued. Will she go back to short skirts and shorts? Crop tops and sexy dresses? That is entirely up to her. I’ll support her whatever she wants, though I can’t promise not to growl at any man that looks her way.