Page 109 of Fighting Fate

EPILOGUE

FIVE YEARS LATER…

The Eiffel Tower is sparkling in the background as I look out of our penthouse window. The place is a mess, and all the candles I’ve laid out can’t hide it. Life with two kids isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. Oddly, it’s better.

When Rory told me we were moving to Paris for seven months, we’d just found out we were expecting again. The idea of being in a foreign country without our parents, siblings, and friends around was terrifying. But as with everything with Rory, it was another adventure I couldn’t shy away from.

“Mummy…Mummy,” Finn calls from the darkened hallway. His blanket is clutched in one of his hands as he drags it behind him while his teddy is in the other.

I watch his reflection in the window as he pauses and looks around the open living space before coming to stand next to me.

“Cuddle?” he asks, looking up at me and opening his arms wide.

The invitation is impossible to resist. I pick him up, perching him on my hip so that he can see the Eiffel Tower over the tall balcony wall. After six months of living on top of it, we finally visited today. The weather isn’t the best, but it was a lot easier going up with a baby strapped to my chest than it was when I was pregnant. Heights aren’t my thing, and with vertigo, it was a no-no.

“You see that bit right at the top there?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s the museum we went to.”

“With the funny wax people?” He pulls a funny face that tells me he’s still not keen on the wax models of Gustave Eiffel and his daughter.

“Yep.” I put him back down on his feet and head to the beeping oven.

“I don’t like it,” he tells me with a groan, following behind me. “Where’s Daddy?”

“He’s on his way home. Do you remember what he said this morning?”

Big brown eyes widen on mine with a sullen pout. “That I should be in bed.”

“Don’t look so sad.” Taking the teddy out of his hand, I grasp it in mine and take him back to bed. “Nanny Sue and Grandad are coming to visit this weekend,” I remind him while I’m tucking him.

“Only because they want to see Evie again.”

“I think you’re being very silly, don’t you?” He shrugs, but the look he’s giving me tells me he’s putting on all the dramatics he can so he can stay up until Rory gets home. “Nanny and Grandad come to visit you all the time.” I press a kiss to the dimple on his chin, brushing his mousy brown hair off his face before I sit on the bean bag beside his bed and pull out Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book.

After the first few pages, he settles down, and I’m almost at the end when Rory peers inside the room.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He smiles, offering me his hand. When I take it, he pulls me to my feet with a hard tug so that I’m bending backwards over his arm as he kisses me. Long, slow, and growly. Just the way I love.

I have to catch my breath as he pulls back and straightens me up. “Hey, Fight Club.”

“You got the little monkey to sleep.”

“Only just. I figured he’d be tired after our mooch around today, but he was intent on waiting for Daddy.”

Rory chuckles, pressing the back of his fingers to his lips and then stroking them lightly over Finn’s cheeks. “I wish he’d stop growing.”

“Me too.”

It seems like it was only yesterday that we were bringing our two-week-early baby home from the hospital, and now we have him and the tiniest little girl.

“How was madam today?” he asks as we head back to the kitchen. “She was a little stuffy this morning when I was feeding her.”

“I had her in the carrier today to stop her from getting any more congested, and she was fine after their bath.”

“She was fast asleep when I checked on her.”

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