Page 98 of Full House

EPILOGUE

4 months later…

Lights flashed, blinding Victoria as she took Nate’s hand and stepped out of the limo. The long skirt of her gown flowed, the empire waist unable to conceal her eighth-month belly as she walked toward the theater’s entrance.

Reporters shouted questions at a rapid-fire rate impossible to respond to, and Victoria didn’t even try. Their picture told their story—Nate and her happy smiles, her rounded belly, a diamond flashing on her finger.

The lobby was crammed with elite attendees, cast, and crew all there to watch the premiere of their movie. Victoria spied her parents through the crush. She waved but knew she wouldn’t be reaching them any time soon, as she and Nate were surrounded.

It wasn’t hard for her to notice one person was missing from the group. Byron wouldn’t be attending the premiere or anything, for that matter, for a very long time. A small part of her regretted he was missing the fruits of their labor, but the bigger part—the ninety-nine-percent part—would never forgive him for what he had tried to do.

She placed a protective hand over her stomach, shuddering at how close he’d come to succeeding. The police had contacted Nate and her a few days after the incident just as they were leaving for Vegas. The lab reports had come back, confirming high traces of Misoprostol in the coffee. The same drug the police had discovered in Byron’s car which he had a prescription for to treat his stomach ulcers. Surprisingly to Victoria, was doctors also use Misoprostol to trigger abortions and induce labor. A very dangerous drug for a pregnant woman to take, making Byron’s premeditation that much scarier.

She’d refused to let the news dim her excitement as Nate whisked her off to the marriage license bureau as soon as their plane had landed in Las Vegas. She’d become Mrs. Nathan Reed not two hours later in a quaint, little chapel a mile off the Las Vegas Strip then honeymooned for two weeks in the swankiest hotel Victoria had ever been to. If she hadn’t already been pregnant, Victoria was positive she would have been by the end of their trip, spending the majority of it in bed and only coming up for air to spend one evening with her parents and one with River and Alec.

As she’d predicted, Nate and Alec had hit it off when Nate had turned off his caveman attitude and relaxed. It had taken a while, but seeing Alec only had eyes for River, helped. Not to mention, seeing Alec’s protectiveness as he hovered and doted on River who had recently recovered from being shot by a sleazy loan shark. A story, that when Victoria had heard it and then had shared her own, had brought the two women closer together.

“Victoria, darling, you look absolutely radiant. You’re practically glowing,” April said, giving Victoria an air kiss.

Victoria smiled at Nate’s manager. While she and April weren’t BFFs, they now had a mutual respect for each other. After Byron’s shit had hit the fan, April had shown her support, working like a bulldog, weeding through the media, debunking false news stories and reporting the facts, and Victoria couldn’t help but be grateful to the woman.

And April’s attitude had changed toward Victoria when she found out about the baby. No longer fighting their relationship, she rallied to Victoria’s camp, calling her weekly for health updates, and even inviting her to lunch a time or two. Who knew the hard-assed business woman had a soft spot for kids. Already the baby’s room at home was filled with gifts from Aunty April—a title she’d given herself, not the other way around.

“Thank you, April. You look lovely as always.” And she did. Dressed in a skintight red dress, showing off her curves, such a far cry from her usual business attire, the look was jarring in a good way.

“And Nate, you’re your usual handsome self.” April came up on her toes, giving Nate an air kiss, as well. “Not to mix business with pleasure, but seeing as this technically is a business function, I thought we could go over a few things before—”

Nate held up a hand. “Victoria and I are here to enjoy ourselves, and that’s what we plan to do. If you’ll excuse us.” Nate wrapped an arm around Victoria’s shoulders and led her deeper into the crowd away from a sputtering April.

“That was pretty slick, Mr. Reed,” Victoria said as Nate steered them in the direction of her parents.

“Many years of practice, Mrs. Reed.”

“Shush, not so loud, you’ll blow our cover.”

“I’m sick of all this sneaking around. When are you going to make a public honest man of me?”

Victoria laughed, patting his chest. “Sorry, stud, but you’ve got to wait at least six more months before I even contemplate getting into a wedding dress.”

He leaned over kissing her temple. “You’d be beautiful wearing a potato sack.”

They’d reached her parents. “Mom. Dad. I’m so happy you guys could come.”

“Are you kidding, we wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mason Lee said, stealing Victoria from Nate and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Good.” Victoria moved to her mom’s side, giving her a kiss.

“Nice to see you again, Nate,” her dad said, holding out his hand.

Nate clasped it. “Nice to see you, as well.” Nate gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. “Did you two have a good trip?”

“We had a blast,” Shannon Lee answered. “Who knew RVing would be so much fun.”

Victoria was just as surprised as anyone when her dad purchased an RV and coaxed her mom into traveling the states. So far, they’d only hit the West Coast, but they planned a trip cross country for their next adventure.

“If I can have everyone’s attention,” a man dressed in a tux said into a microphone from the outskirts of the crowd. “Please file into the theater and find your seats, the movie will start shortly.”

Victoria grabbed Nate’s hand as waves of excitement coursed through her.

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