Page 102 of I Need You Tonight
Epilogue: Mason
FIVE YEARS LATER
“Daddy. Up,” Chelsea said, standing in front of my chair and holding her arms up to me. The two-year-old’s black hair was pulled into two semi-tidy pigtails. That was the best Nicole had been able to manage, since Chelsea wasn’t a huge fan of sitting still for long.
Unless she was sitting on my lap.
On the seat next to mine, my gorgeous wife of three years was cradling our three-month-old son. Kevin was sleeping peacefully, having no interest in the outdoor wedding about to commence.
“Daddy. Up,” Chelsea repeated. This time she banged her palms against my thighs—much as she enjoyed doing to my drum set.
I hoisted her onto my lap and she peered over at her brother.
“Baby sleep,” she said rather loudly.
I placed my finger against my lips. “Shhh. That’s right, Kevin’s sleeping.” My voice was several decibels quieter than Chelsea’s had been. “Which means we need to use our indoor voices.”
By the way, telling a two-year-old to use her indoor voice was like expecting a mermaid not to swim. It just didn’t happen.
Craving to taste Nicole again, I leaned over and lightly kissed her. I wanted to do a lot more than that to her, but this was neither the time nor the place for what I had in mind. Fortunately, Chelsea wasn’t at the age where she found kissing gross. Yet. Which was just as well, since I hadn’t grown tired of stealing kisses from Nicole whenever I could.
“Ewww, Uncle Mason,” ten-year-old Logan said as Jared and Callie sat down next to me, Jared holding their two-year-old daughter. “Kissing is gross.”
Nolan laughed, his arm around his pregnant wife’s waist. Hailey had recently graduated from her physical therapy program and become pregnant shortly afterward—with twins. Nolan had laughed when he told us, claiming it was because they had to quickly catch up with Jared and me in the family department.
“Don’t worry,” I told Logan. “One day you won’t think kissing is gross.” He gave me a disbelieving look that said it would be a hot day in Antarctica before that happened.
“How are you doing?” Nicole asked Hailey after her friend took the seat next to her. Nolan sat next to his wife and placed his hand possessively on her protruding stomach. Even though I’d left Pushing Limits five years ago and Nicole and I still lived in Desert Springs, Nicole, Hailey, and Callie had become close friends. And thanks to the newest twist in my career, we visited them in L.A. every couple of months.
“Not bad so far,” Hailey said. “More tired than anything.”
Nicole smiled sweetly at her, although there was no missing the humor in her eyes. Hailey was just four months pregnant. The exhaustion would only get worse…especially after the babies were born.
But Hailey didn’t need to know that yet.
“Well, if your husband is as sweet and amazing as mine,” Nicole told her, “he’ll give you back and foot massages several times a day.”
“She’s right about that,” Callie chimed in.
“Good idea,” Nolan said, beaming at his wife.
“Izzy,” Callie said to her daughter, who was already squirming on Jared’s lap, ready to cause mischief, “can you give this to Chelsea?” She handed the precocious two-year-old a small gift bag, and Jared lowered her to the grass.
Izzy toddled over to Chelsea and then gazed up at her mother, confused about what she was supposed to do next.
Callie tapped the bag. “Give this to Chelsea.”
Izzy lifted the bag up and I helped Chelsea take it from her.
“It’s my latest book,” Callie explained. “It’s not out for two more weeks, but my publisher sent me a few copies ahead of time.”
At Jared’s encouragement, Callie had pursued a career in illustrating kids’ books. And then she started writing stories and landed a publishing contract. The third volume in her picture book series about a group of zoo animal friends had even hit theNew York Timesbestseller list.
Nicole let out an excited squeal, somehow managing not to wake up Kevin. “Let me see it.”
I helped Chelsea open the bag and remove the book. “Give this to Mommy,” I said, pointing to the book in Chelsea’s hands. “I don’t think Mommy can wait any longer before reading it.” They both loved the series, which came as no surprise. Callie’s colorful computer-generated illustrations were both cute and breathtaking.
“Hey, guys,” Kirk said as he and Aaron approached us, both in tuxes. Aaron was one of the groomsmen. “Glad you could make it.”
