Page 110 of Despite It All
That’s all I need to hear. I cup Wyla’s face and kiss her with everything in me. We’ve waited long enough. I want to kiss my wife.
Epilogue - One Year Later
“Man, I fucking hate you,” Owen says, lying flat on the gym floor.
“Yeah, yeah.” I set his son down to terrorize him into getting back up. “You hired me to be your personal trainer, you’re supposed to hate me.”
When little Griffin makes it to his dad, he jumps on his stomach. “Fuck, little man.”
“Phuk!” Griffin copies Owen, and that gets him to shoot up.
“No, no, no. Don’t say that, buddy.”
“Phuk!” Griffin repeats, and Owen hangs his head.
I chuckle. Griff has been talking more and more, and much to Waverley’s dismay, their son copies his dad constantly. “Dude, you got to stop. Wav’s going to kill you.”
Owen stands up with little Griff. “Well, we’re not going to say it in front of Mommy are we, little man?”
“Phuk!” Griffin repeats then giggles.
Owen sighs. “Any way she’d believe me if I said you taught him that?”
I laugh and toss him a towel. “Not a fucking chance.”
“Daddy!” Stevie bursts through the door into the weight room, and Waverley follows behind her.
“Hey, Little Bee. How was your first day?” It hurts my heart a lot to think about her being six and starting kindergarten.
“It was great! My teacher was really nice, and I got to play on the playground with Georgie.” Stevie’s smile nearly does me in. She lost her first tooth the other day and I don’t know why but it almost makes her smile even more adorable.
Griffin races his way over to Wav and she scoops him up. “Hey, baby. Did you help Uncle J kick your daddy’s butt?”
“Yesth,” he says, and follows it with, “Phuk!”
Waverley’s head whips to her husband. “Owen!”
I take Stevie’s hand. “Ope, time to go, kiddo. Uncle O is about to get in trouble.”
“Traitors!” he yells as we make our way back to my office to grab my stuff.
I sling my bag over my shoulder, and as we load in the car, Stevie asks the question she’s asked multiple times a day for the past nine months. “Daddy, when’s mommygoing to have my little sister? Georgie has two sisters now and I don’t.”
“Soon. We have to be patient, Stevie.”
A few months after Wyla and I eloped in Nashville, those double pink lines showed up again and this time I got to be there for them.
“It’s not fair,” she grumbles. “I’m tired of waiting.”
“We all are, kiddo. Mom especially.”
My beautiful, strong, amazing wife has carried our second daughter so well, but she is absolutely miserable. She tries to hide it, but hiding her emotions isn’t her strong suit. She’s officially thirty-nine weeks today, and I had to force her to start her maternity leave a couple days ago.
We walk in, and Poppy greets us at the door.
“Poppy!” Stevie’s arms go wide, trying to hug her but she turns back to the kitchen. Stevie pouts. “Why didn’t she let me hug her?”
That was kind of weird, Poppy always attacks Stevie with licks when she walks in the door. “Wy?”
