Page 51 of Monster: King of Nevada

Several Months Later.

“Last push!” Dr. Edwards says excitedly as she meets my eyes.

We already had one baby a few minutes ago, and it was briefly explained to me that sometimes the second baby can take longer to come. Ours decided to pop out almost immediately.

Ella has been a trooper since the start of her thirty-six-hour labor up until the very first delivery five minutes ago. I fall increasingly in love with her with every ounce of pain she endures bringing life into this world.

“You’re doing amazing, doll,” I encourage from her side, where I’ve got one arm wrapped around her back and one holding up her leg under her knee.

“Almost finished,” she pants before pushing again.

“Here we go!” Dr. Edwards then speaks to the nurse beside her quietly, and after another push, a second infant comes screaming into the room. “Give us a few minutes to clean them up, and then we’ll reveal the sexes to you both.”

That same nurse smiles and takes the baby to their sibling.

“You did perfect, doll. Fucking perfect.” Kissing her lips, I don’t pull back until a throat clears from behind us.

“Mom, Dad, are you ready?” a different nurse asks while two others hold the babies behind her.

“God, yes, please,” Ella begs gleefully.

During every ultrasound, the twins hid their sexes from us, so we never had the chance to find out. Ella’s anticipation has been through the roof all day. So has mine.

“Baby one”–they do a fake drum roll–“is a boy!”

The nurse hands him to me, and I marvel at the tiny life in my arms as I try to take in all of him at once. He’s the spitting image of his mom, with a light dusting of dark hair on his head, the same color as hers when it’s wet.

“And baby number two is…” Another drum roll that puts me on edge. “A boy!”

I nearly lose my balance as relief slams into my sternum.

“Thank fuck,” I mutter, not quietly enough because Ella smacks my side lightly. “I’m sorry; I’m not ready for girls.”

The women in the room laugh and reiterate that many men aren’t.

As they hand Ella the second baby, her face the merriest and most relaxed I’ve ever seen, I realize I wouldn’t have cared if they were both girls because they’re a piece of her. And I love her more than anything else in the world.

EPILOGUE TWO

ELLA

Ten Years Later.

After all these years, I never imagined I could love my husband any more than I do at this moment. I’ve spent the last week in bed, sick with a terrible case of the flu, and Theias has been picking up all my slack. Not that he minds. If it were up to him, I’d sit on a pedestal and accept his praise and love all day, every day.

This week, however, he’s had to help out with our five-year-old daughter's ballet recital. He’s been learning the moves so he can help her perfectionist heart get them right every time. He’s also been honing his skills on the Dutch braid she likes for practice.

We had three boys and only one girl before we called it quits on children so we could enjoy them all without the competition of more. We have one big, happy family, and no one gets left out.

“She looks just like you,” Theias whispers after our daughter runs off to show her brothers how well their daddy did her hair. Those boys love that girl nearly as much as her father does.

“But she’s all you,” I tell him as I lean back into his chest. “She has those boys wrapped around her finger.”

Our daughter is the epitome of a princess. Always in charge and forever innocent in the lives of the men and boys around her. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of them tell her no.

“This the life you wanted?” Theias spins me around to gaze into my eyes.

“Always. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect life if I tried.” Pushing myself up, I drop a kiss on his jaw before he takes my mouth possessively, leaving little to the imagination about what he wants to do to me when all the kids go to my parents for the weekend.

It took a month from their arrival in Vegas before they approached Theias about Blake and some evidence they had to ensure that he never came near me again. To this day, I don’t know what it is, nor do I care. He’s gone, and I’m cherished and wanted by the only man who matters to my heart.

Theias loves us unquestioningly and without hesitation. And I give him the same in return. Together, we’ve created the perfect life and family and will never allow the past to get in the way of that.

The End!

---