A few weeks after the birth – when we were still in the no-sex waiting period – he approached me one day from behind in the kitchen, slipping his hand down my pants and ever-so-softly stroking my pussy, cautious that I was still healing. I shifted against him, stunned at the lust I felt burning from his beastly greedy body.
Walking over to him now, I claw onto his shirt. “I can’t believe this is our life, Bennet. Just think. Just over a year ago we had none of this. No relationship, no marriage, no Colleen…”
“No writing career,” he says proudly, sliding his hands over my shoulders.
“It’s early days yet,” I murmur.
“You’ve had eleven short stories accepted. Your novel is almost done, and you’re already plotting the second. All while planning a wedding and giving birth and smashing your college course. You’re a superhero, Rory.”
His words cause a flutter in my chest.
As his hands tighten on my shoulders, I sense how close he is to pushing me up against the wall and claiming me. But then he lets me go, with an effort and offers me one of his trademark smirks.
“You’ll never stop driving me crazy,” he says, reading the look of lust on my face. “But first, let me say goodbye to this little lady.”
My heart fills with all the love in the world when he strides across the room, leans down, and talks softly to our daughter. The day after we found out I was pregnant, he rearranged his business, making it so he only took jobs that were close to home. Everything else, he delegates to his well-trained and loyal staff.
“I can’t be apart from either of you,” he said in bed that night, both of us sore and breathy and happy from the news… and the celebratory sex. “Don’t get me wrong, if it was necessary to provide for you I’d do it. But I’m lucky enough to be able to choose. And I choose you. I choose my family.”
He walks over to me now, my handsome hunk in a suit, smiling warmly down. “Ready?”
I take his hand, smiling wide, beaming, so happy I could pop. “I’m ready for anything with you, Bennet.”
He leans down, softly brushing his lips against mine. “Forever.”
Extended Epilogue
Ten and a Half Years Later
Bennet
“Daddy, what’s a good name for a spider who’s also a king?”
I grin down at Colleen, her brown hair as wavy and messy as her mother’s. She’s holding her favorite notebook in one hand – it has a waterfall on the cover, and Colleen loves waterfalls – and her pen in the other.
“Spider King?” I offer.
She giggles, shaking her head. “Daddy, that’s way, way too obvious. It has to be something clever.”
“I think you’re asking the wrong person, sweetheart. Your mother’s the woman for this job.”
“Well… duh, no offense.”
I chuckle as I flip the burger patties, the smoke whirling in the air, the yard filled with laughter and happiness.
“But mommy’s busy with little Sebi,” she adds.
Sebastian is the newest addition to our family. Along with Colleen, her younger sisters Annabelle and Katy, and our little bundle of energy, Tyler, he brings us up to five. Just like we talked about.
Five beautiful happy children, all with their own personalities, all with their own hopes and dreams.
And we’ll be there, every step of the way, supporting them.
Forever.
“Daddy. Please.”
“What about… Eight Leg Fred?”
Colleen laughs adorably, shaking her head fiercely. Even at ten years old, she often seems far younger, retaining her little-girl charm. “Yeah, maybe I’ll ask mommy.”
I grin, not at all offended. Rory has built a career for herself as a bestselling writer, selling her first novel when Colleen was two and eight additional novels since then. One is currently in production to be made into a Hollywood movie.
Colleen walks off, humming to herself, dropping into the poolside chair and tucking her knees to her chest. Tyler leaps across the swimming pool, splashing like crazy as he jumps toward Rick.
Rick stands with a broad smile on his face, my old friend laughing as Katy clambers over his shoulders.
“Get him, Katy,” Tyler laughs. “Get the giant.”
“I’ve got him, bro. Attack!” Katy squeals.
Rick growls and throws himself into the water, droplets splashing everywhere, as Samantha and Anna watch from the side. Anna is more reserved than Katy, sitting with her head held high, Samantha braiding her jet black hair.
Everyone says Anna looks just like me, she has my eyes and smile, and she certainly has my black hair… well, before it turned to steel, at least.
Next to Samantha and Anna, Yasmin and her husband Mark lean back on the recliners, Yasmin with her hand on her pregnant belly as she smiles at the mayhem in the pool.
It took Rory’s best friend a little while to find the man of her dreams, but she and Mark have been together for three years now, and they’ve finally gotten engaged.