Page 148 of Finding Forever

He kissed her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and lifted her from the sofa. She hooked her legs around his waist and kissed him back. Hungrily. With an eagerness that bordered on desperation.

He strode to their bedroom, never once lifting his mouth from hers and gently deposited her—on her back—on the bed.

He stared at her, his eyes warm, expression gentle.

“My father told me last week, that he’d felt like he’d lost me somewhere along the way. But what nobody knows is that I felt like I’d lost myself too—until I metyou. You found the man I’d buried deep down inside, beneath layers of granite and emotional debris. And you made me whole again.”

He kissed her, reverently, deeply.

“Thank you, Fern.”

Epilogue

THREE MONTHS LATER

His wife had a coronet of flowers in her hair and Cade found himself ridiculously charmed by how beautiful she looked. Like a heavily pregnant elven princess with her long, wavy platinum hair and her flowing teal chiffon dress with its empire waistline.

She had a becoming flush on her cheeks and happy sparkle in her eyes.

“How was it?” he asked as he tugged the seatbelt over her belly and clipped it in. A task which—at eight months pregnant—defeated her.

“Amazing. And did you know? Iris was there? Of course, you knew. She told me you knew… you were all sneaking around behind my back to make this work.”

“Trystan and I knew how much it meant to both of you to have her here,” Cade told her with a smile, before nodding at Ian to drive. “So, he shuffled some things around to make it happen.”

“Well, it works to their advantage because she tells methey’re going to view some houses while they’re here. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Hmm.” Cade nodded, eyes still lingering on her face. “And what did you ladies get up to?”

“The usual baby shower things. Well, I’m told they’re the usual things. I’ve never actually been to a baby shower before. We played some really weird games, and the food wasamazing. And I think we scored everything we wanted off the baby registry.”

Because they didn’t really need anything for their baby, she’d set up a registry to donate gifts or money to a local sanctuary for orphaned and abandoned babies.

“Oh my God and the venue was beautiful,” she said. “I’m going to have to be on my A-game when it’s my turn to host a baby shower for Beth. I don’t know if I’ll even come close to competing with this.”

She ran her hand in soothing circles over her distended belly. The baby bump had pretty much doubled over the last six weeks. And Fern could now only walk at a slow waddle. She was studying mostly online, and would take a leave of absence soon, intending to continue later in the year with more online courses, before continuing on campus in March at the beginning of the school year.

Cade was watching her hand.

“Is he kicking again?” he asked sympathetically, and she grimaced.

“Like a frikking rugby player.”

He palmed her belly and leaned toward it.

“Hey, buddy, we’ve discussed this before, aye? It’s not okay to kick girls. So how about you give your mummy a break, right?” he said sternly, and Fern giggled.

“I told you before,” she reminded him. “That voice isn’t as scary as you think it is. You’re suggesting, not telling. This kid is going to have your number from day one.”

“Is he still kicking?” he asked her with a pointed lift of his brow and she pouted a bit.

“No.” It was an endless source of annoyance to her that Cas responded to his voice more than hers. If he had anybody’s number, it was hers. Dr. Khan believed it was because of the low timber of Cade’s voice.

Cade’s theory though was that he and his boy already established an unspoken bro code that only they understood.

“How was the dadchelor party?” she asked, changing the subject and he winced.

“Firstly, I told you… we’re not calling it that. And secondly, do you know how fucking tough it is having a get together with an A-list movie star on the guest list?”

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