Epilogue
Eighteen years later
“Mom, Dad is being a horrible person again. He’s being so cruel,” Bethany said, moaning.
Raven smiled as she finished making up the cookie batter with her youngest daughter, Lora. They had five kids, with their sixth child on the way. Yes, she was forty-three years old, and their sixth child had been a little accident, but she was going to love him all the same.
There was suddenly the slam of the door, and once again she heard Bethany screaming. “What did you say to him?”
Their voices were getting closer, and she saw her smug husband entering the kitchen. “I just told him what every father’s right is.”
“You’re so weird. I can’t get a boyfriend because of you. You’re ruining everything.”
“Bethany, if he’s not man enough to stand up to your father, and take the crap he has to dish out, then he’s not good enough to be with you,” Raven said. She had seen the logic in her own father’s words.
“Yeah, right, I bet Granddad didn’t give you a hard time,” Bethany said.
“Actually, he did,” Raven said, coming to her husband’s defense. “Your father took all kinds of crap. He even had a shotgun threatened as well, and you know your grandfather loves his shotgun.”
“I’m doing it for you, honey.”
“He was a complete lame-o anyway. I think you’re ugly, but you could do better than Malcolm,” Sean, their sixteen-year-old, said.
“Don’t say things like that about your sister,” Drew said.
“It’s the truth.”
Eighteen years, five kids, ten dogs, fifteen cats, a baby on the way, a ranch to handle, and several godchildren—it had been so great, so exhausting, and so totally worth it.
When the cookies were in the oven, and the kids were clearing up, and Bethany had conceded to her father, Drew finally pulled her against him. “How’s my little incubator doing?”
“Seriously, you think that’s romantic?” she asked.
“It’s not?”
“No! It’s far from romantic. It’s very not romantic. I can’t even believe you’d think that.”
“Proposal!”
She paused, turning in his arms, and glaring at him. “Drew Reynolds, don’t think that you can remind me of the time you were romantic to get out of it.”
“Honeymoon speech.”
“Still not going to work.”
“First anniversary.”
Raven sighed, put her hand on her hips, and glared. “I’m not an incubator.”
“Would it make you feel any better if I said you were all mine, no one else’s?” he asked.
He stroked her hips, moving his hands around her back. She knew what he was doing, but like every other time he’d pissed her off, she’d been too weak to deny him.
“I’m still not happy.”
“You’re my very sexy incubator. Without you, we wouldn’t have our large family.” He nuzzled her neck, and she knew with a few more kisses, she’d have melted away her anger. Not that she was angry. She rarely got angry, and he just liked to say and do things that got her temper burning.
“I can’t wait until I get you to bed.”
“Even with this?”
“Baby, your tits are huge, you’re fucking soft, and like always, you’re horny as hell. I’m in for one hell of a ride tonight.”
And he was.
Her bad boy was a sucker for her pregnant body.
But then, Drew was a sucker in love for her, just as she was for him.
The End