Luke laughs loudly. “Pretty good, Eli. Pretty damn good.”
He opens the car door for me, I look up into his eyes and smile.
“Well, then I’m glad I have money set aside for bail.”
“I’ve got some of that too. A special savings account for when my brothers need it.”
“Oh Jesus….” I mutter.
Luke brushes his lips over mine. “You regretting your decision to be tethered to me for all eternity?”
“Of course not. In fact, I was just thinking that I am so glad you showed up to my house uninvited that day,” I reply.
“And I’m so glad you snarled at me and ran over my foot with your car.”
“I do not snarl.”
“You do and I love you anyways.”
“Hm,” I say, reaching down and cupping his erection. “Love you too.”
EPILOGUE
3 YEARS LATER
ELLIOT
“I’m home,” I shout, entering the house and hearing the babies screeching. It’s a symphony of horrendous tones and harmonies, enough to make my ears bleed.
Oh my god, this is my life now.
I turn the corner and see Luke wearing Amelia, Noah is in his swing, and Jacob is practicing tummy time in the playpen. They’re all screaming––some in happier tones than others. Except Luke, he looks surprisingly calm and unflappable, like he revels in the mayhem.
We have three fucking kids. Triplets.
Trust me, I about fainted when I found out. Our surrogate was humungous and handled it all much more gracefully than I did.
They were all born six weeks premature, and Luke and I spent hours in the NICU with each of them, as did his parents, his brothers, and my sisters.
It takes a village. I never really understood that until now. I need a whole fucking city to deal with this chaos.
“Ma just left,” Luke says, bouncing on his feet, rocking Amelia slightly. “Our little girl is teething or something, because she’s a total grump. Reminds me of you.”
I roll my eyes and lean up, pressing a kiss to her head and then to Luke’s lips.
“And the other two?”
“Just fine. Noah is always happy in that swing and Jacob likes his toys. Oh, and before I forget, Jane and Kate said they’d be over tomorrow to help out so we can go grocery shopping.”
“God, I need a break.”
Luke snorts. “Yeah, me too.”
Who would have thought that the idea of grocery shopping would be an ideal date night for Luke and I? Not me, but god, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“And Lex will be over later so we can just sit in the peace and quiet.”
“Who knew he’d be so good with kids?” I mutter and grab Jacob off the ground, nestling him into me. I inhale the sweet baby scent lingering on the top of his head and smile. He reaches out with his small hand and grabs onto my glasses, yanking them off my face.