Page 73 of Britain

One Year Later

Britain runs ahead of me like her ass is on fire. “Babe, wait up!” She reaches the double doors first and has already pressed the button. “Heather and Marcus Lancaster,” I hear her say just before the doors swing open.

This time she doesn’t run, but she walks at a fast clip. My sister gave birth only a few hours ago, but Britain couldn’t wait to get her hands on her most recent niece or nephew since they’ve kept the gender of the baby a secret.

My girl has started dropping hints that she’s ready to start trying, and I’ve been dragging my feet about it. It’s not that I don’t want kids with her, but I’ve just been enjoying it just being the two of us. We’ve done a lot of traveling this past year, especially since I knew she hasn’t been a whole lot of places.

Since we’ve been married we’ve been to Aspen to snowboard, which of course she excelled at. We went whitewater rafting in Colorado and hiking in Moab. She’d never flown before, and we’ve learned she’s a little scared of flying, so we have to medicate her to do it.

Having kids is a big step, and are we even ready for that? We reach their room and Brit knocks before pushing the door open. We find my beautiful sister sitting on the bed and Marcus sitting next to her with a little bundle in his arms.

“Hey guys, come meet your niece, Lily.”

Britain hugs and kisses Heather before taking the baby from her brother and kissing his cheek. She stands up and turns to me with tears in her eyes and a smile so wide I’m surprised her cheeks aren’t cracking.

It’s the moment right now that I know I want to give her babies. Heather gets up and I wrap my arms around her. “She’s beautiful like her momma.” I kiss her forehead. I give Marcus a backslapping hug. “Congrats, man.”

I’ve never really been around babies until Keith and Beth’s son was born, and now my niece. I hold out my hands to take her, and Britain hands the baby over—reluctantly.

Lily is a gorgeous little baby. She’s got cupid’s-bow lips, the hint of an olive-colored skin tone, and little tufts of light brown hair. Her little fist is tucked up under her chin. I look up and find my girl smiling at me.

We only stay a little bit longer, wanting to give the new parents bonding time with their little angel. I hand Lily back to her mom—my sister’s a mom…wow.

On the way out, I wrap my arm around Britain’s shoulders. She automatically wraps her arm around my waist. We step outside and I lead Brit to her baby and open the door for her. I go around, climb in, and smile because I will always love the way the Chevelle rumbles, especially when I first turn it on.

I don’t pull immediately out of the parking spot—instead, I turn in my seat. “I’m ready.”

She raises her brow. “Ready for what?”

“I want you to stop taking the pill. I want to start trying for a baby.”

Britain looks at me closely and then dives across until she’s on my lap. “Are you serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious.”

Together at home we throw her pills in the trash and then we go about making ourselves a baby, or at least practicing—a lot.

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Britain

Five Years Later

Life has been nothing short of a whirlwind since Silas Beckett, the love of my life, came into the picture. Every day I wake up and am thankful that I have someone like him by my side. A few years ago, I stopped seeing my therapist. Those issues are long gone, and I’m so happy about that.

Meanwhile, Silas’s business is booming. He’s developed a line of software that several schools have purchased to help in their special education classrooms. I love that he’s able to split his time between home and work. I run the shop now, while my dad just does what he loves: fixing cars. That leaves me to deal with all of the business side of things. I don’t mind it and still get my hands dirty; I’m the only one who works on my baby.

I still write, but it’s honestly just a hobby and something I do that relaxes me. I’ll never try and publish my stories, but I love writing them and they’re for my eyes only.

Three years ago, I found a rusted out 1965 Ford Mustang and bought it. It took me two years and help from my dad to rebuild it, and then I gave it to Silas for his birthday. You’d have thought I’d offered to give him head every day for the rest of his life the way he was hooting and hollering and carrying on.

The best part was I had it painted the same color as my Chevelle. They both sit, protected from the elements, in our ridiculous five-car garage.

The moment the pregnancy test came back positive, Silas and I started house hunting. We found a beautiful ranch-style home that sits far back from the road and has enough space to expand the garage. It’s like he knew he was going to need a safe spot for a new car.

Our son Dash was born three years ago. Unfortunately I suffered a couple of miscarriages before getting pregnant with him. After each one we were both scared to try again, but Beth was great and talked us both through it since they had lost a baby before Gunner.

When I got pregnant with Dash, we didn’t tell anyone until I went for my twenty-week ultrasound. I was just too scared to get my hopes up and then have them crushed again, but nineteen weeks later, I gave birth to my healthy happy boy.

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