Page 81 of Text Me, Take Me

This is our life now. Not chaos. Not fear. Not escape routes and hiding places and adrenaline at midnight… though we still have our fair share of steamy nighttime adventures.

Messy, bright, ever-evolving love. Jewelry made of junk and stories whispered over donuts.

“I never imagined that this would be what forever looked like,” I whisper, resting my head on Dom’s chest.

He chuckles. “I did.”

Angelica skips up to us, her hands full of bolts and magic. “We’re making a family necklace next. One piece for each of us. And maybe one for Meatball too!”

We all laugh.

EPILOGUE

DOM

Ten Years Later

Ihold Jax in my arms, rocking him softly as our baby sleeps. I’m standing at the back window of our home, looking across the garden as Evie and Angelica stand side by side, Angelica already almost as tall as her mother. She tells her grandad a joke, making him laugh.

Closer to us, Rafe, Tash, and my godson Liam stand in a small circle, enjoying their hot dogs. All around the backyard party, people are laughing, joking, having the time of their lives.

My heart swells with joy as I turn and carry Jax back into the house.

“I never could’ve imagined this once upon a time, little man,” I whisper, carrying him to his crib.

I kiss him on his head and gently lay him down, then sit in my usual chair while he settles.

My phone buzzes. It’s my Keepsake. The name has only developed more significance as the bright, loving, starry years have gone on, as she’s tattooed a place in my soul, become an irreplaceable piece of me. I’ve loved watching her grow into a confident business owner, a powerful mama bear, a beautiful thirty-two-year-old bombshell who makes my body ache every time I look at her.

Keepsake: Where have you disappeared to?

Dom: The little man was demanding my time.

Meatball meows, walking into the room and leaping into his place near the sill, looking down at Jax with love in his kitty eyes.

Dom: But Meatball has come to keep watch over him. He’s such a good big brother.

Keepsake: I know he’s the best. Angelica is the life and soul of the party. She’s got your dad laughing so hard, I think he might break a bone.

I grin with love flowing through me. Dad has more than made up for lost time, throwing himself into grandad duties, starting with Angelica’s birth and never letting up. He’s been there for birthdays, Christmases, Easter, everything. Angelica only knows him as her kind, doting grandfather, nothing else.

Dom: That girl’s going to be a comedian when she grows up.

Keepsake: I’m just happy she’s going to get a chance to grow up without ever knowing what it’s like to be afraid.

Dom: You’re the best mom, Evie. The BEST.

“And you’re the best dad,” she murmurs from the door.

I look up, my chest growing light, love blazing through me. She’s wearing a summer dress that shows the shape of her gorgeously curvy, recently pregnant body, her cheeks still flushed and glowing with that pregnant perfection.

She brushes a hand through her hair. “Are you seriously looking at me like a meal – so soon after you-know-who popped outta me?” She gestures at Jax.

I laugh quietly. Jax has a habit of waking if we use his name near him. I stand, sweeping my wife, the love of my life, my soulmate into my arms. “You were beautiful before you were pregnant, beautiful when you were pregnant, and you’re beautiful now you’re not pregnant anymore.”

She moans as I lean down for a kiss, grabbing my arms and pulling herself firmly against me.

“Wait,” she whispers. “We can’t – it’s almost time for Angelica’s cake. But… later?” She slides her hand down my body. “Maybe we could meet in the panic room, hmm? Like old times?”

---