I had known early on that we belonged together. The way he was holding me now was proof. "I love that you're seriously into trying new things," I said.
"Me too. Without that drum circle, I wouldn't have met the love of my life."
"We'll have to go back and thank the hippies sometime," I laughed, then Warrick spun me around the corner so that we could make out in secret for a few minutes.
My gorgeous quirky inventor was still a bit socially awkward here and there, but as the heat flowed between us, giving me a tiny peek of what would happen later tonight, I was pretty sure that our public naughtiness would be forgiven.
EPILOGUE TWO
WARRICK ~ EIGHT YEARS LATER
The second I answered the front door, I was rudely shoved aside by stampeding little feet.
"Auntie Kat-ina!"
Katrina stepped inside and scooped Jacob into her arms. "How's my big boy?"
He grinned from ear to ear as he waved his fingers in her face. "I'm going to be my whole hand old next week!"
"Five years already, goodness." Katrina flashed me a smile as I led her inside. "Will there be a tiny party?"
Jacob looked at me, his eyes huge. "Party?"
"Possibly." I went to the living room to scoop up our seven-month-old baby Angela, who remained sound asleep. "I was thinking for your birthday we could have pizza, and maybe one cupcake each."
"Cupcake!" Jacob was so excited that Katrina had to put him down so he could run in circles around the foyer a few times.
"You're not telling him?" she whispered.
"Hell no. Otherwise he won't sleep for days."
She picked up the diaper bag. "Fair."
We tried not to spoil the kids too often, but my little man would only turn five once. I'd rented an hour of time at a local speedway, where one of the drivers was going to let Jacob sit in his lap and help steer while they did a lap of the empty track at ten miles an hour.
That would be followed by a massive racecar cake with a handful of his friends and everyone watching a few drivers doing practice laps afterward. Jacob was already completely into cars, and was going to lose his mind.
I walked Katrina out to our SUV. After buckling the kids into their car seats, I gave her a hug.
Once Brooke had temporarily put a little distance between her and her family, and everyone got a bit more perspective, the entire dynamic had changed. The parents were more focussed on enjoying their own lives, and gave Katrina some space.
Brooke hadn't even realized that Katrina had been feeling smothered, which was one of the reasons why the girls didn't particularly get along for a while. Now they were practically best friends, which was handy for me when I wanted a night alone with my lovely wife.
"Thanks so much," I said, opening the door for Katrina as she got in.
"Any time," she said. "Jacob is going to help me proofread my new book, isn't here?"
"Book!" he chirped from the backseat.
I waved as they drove off, then hurried inside to where I'd left Brooke.
Saturday afternoons I usually took the kids for a few hours so that she could have a bubble bath in her custom tub. She always pulled out all the stops, with a glass of wine, a bowl of fruit, and some fluffy movie that she would probably never admit to enjoying.
I heard her stepping out of the water as I approached the door, knocking quietly. "May I come in?"
"Sure."
When I peeked in, I was rewarded with the incredible view of Brooke's naked body, glistening from the bath. She gave me a saucy shimmy before reaching for her robe.