I move forward and offer Elijah my hand. He slides the ring on and it’s a perfect fit.
“I love you,” he says softly before standing and lifting me up in the air, spinning me around like a little girl before he lowers me into his arm and plants a kiss right on my lips, gently, like lovers do. “Always and forever,” he adds.
“And I love you,” I freely confess, gripping his face with my hands and kissing him hard, as he turns and walks us right out of my old life and into my future, with him and only him. Forever.
Epilogue
Emma
One year later
“Official time,” the announcer says. “One hour…seventeen minutes and three seconds, beating the old time by exactly one minute and capturing the one million dollar prize!”
I jump up and down like a wild woman, trying to be careful as little baby Ethan bounces in my arms. I grab his tiny three-month-old hand and wave it to Daddy, who steps onto the podium where he’s sprayed with champagne and handed one of those big, TV game show, checks for a cool million.
After he finishes answering questions I hand Ethan off to dad and run to Elijah, jumping into his arms. “Be careful, little girl,” he says, and the microphones pick it up broadcasting it to all the spectators here in Key West.
Elijah has just broken the Cuba to Key West speedboat record that’s stood since August of 2017. Speed boat racing isn’t nearly as lucrative as the high stakes world car racing, and F1 with its glamorous sponsorships, but a million bucks that Elijah won for breaking the record will sure go a long way…and now Elijah will be able to buy his own boat again.
As it turns out after I left his boat a year ago, with the papers I needed to show my dad I knew what was going on, Elijah showed up at his boat just a few hours later, emptied all the hidden contents, sold it to a guy who’d been trying to buy it from him for years, and promptly used the proceeds to buy me a ring.
I’ve felt guilty ever since knowing my ring was the speedboat he loved in a prior life. Well, now he can buy an even bigger and better speedboat and probably some more jet skis too for our burgeoning family business.
A few days after Elijah and I laid things out in no uncertain terms to my dad, and then got engaged and walked right out of his life in front of him, he woke up, so to speak. It was the wakeup call he needed, and thank God, he hasn’t touched the bottle since.
These days he helps run our jet ski on the beach business. At seventy-five dollars a pop for fifteen minutes it’s crazy profitable. Who knew owning a few jet skis in a touristy part of Florida could bring enough money to put food on the table, a roof over our heads, a comfortable bed to sleep in, and then some.
Not to mention decorate out baby room with the cutest crib, wallpaper, and toys for little Ethan.
And the best part is that dad met a woman from the United Kingdom who was over here on vacation, or holiday as she calls it, a few months ago and he’s traveled to see her and she’s traveled back since then. I see romance in the air and it’s not even springtime.
I’m glad to see dad back to living life as it’s meant to be lived.
And speaking of living, life with Elijah is like living in the fast lane.
The man is still addicted to me, still finding new ways to spice up our life, including a play room of our own where we can do all the Daddy and little girl playing we want, and he likes nothing more than to take me on weekend get-aways either across the country or even to countries in the Caribbean and beyond, where he spoils me beyond belief…and keeps me up all night with his need for me that sometimes we miss seeing all the sights because we have to sleep in the next day after our marathon lovemaking sessions.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Daddy’s going to have his way with you tonight, lil’ mama,” he says, after making sure his microphone isn’t live.
“I like the sound of that,” I say.
“And you’ll like the sound of this more,” the announcer says giving us a wink before putting his hand over the microphone and whispering, “I’m a daddy dom my damn self.” He clears his throat and switches back into his announcer’s voice. “Because the record was broken by a full minute the record-breaking kicker kicks in…get it?” he laughs and the crowd follows along, “and the prize doubles to two million dollars!”
“I feel dizzy,” I say, thinking what all that money can do, not to mention we got it honestly this time. No get-rich-quick grey area deals like dad and Daddy used to get involved in.
“I feel some new toys for our playroom,” Elijah corrects.
I give him a knowing wink and wrap my arms around his neck. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, little girl.”
Extended Epilogue
Elijah
Five more years later