Peyton ran his hands over my stomach, which stuck out further than my larger than ever breasts. The baby kicked, and he jumped, his eyes filling with pride as he looked up at me in anticipation. I smiled down at him and lovingly stroked my fingers through his hair. We were sitting in our living room, waiting on our guests for the night to arrive. It had been four months since everything with Collins had finally ended, and there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t thank God for everything that he had done.

The baby kicked again. “Does he always do that?” asked Peyton in awe.

I laughed. “You don’t know if it’s a boy or not, and yes. She especially likes to kick whenever I’m trying to sleep.”

“Wow,” he muttered. “I don’t want to wait another five months to meet him . . . or her.”

“Well,” I said as I sat up. I’d seen headlights pulling into the driveway. “You’ve got a while before she comes out, so get used to midnight craving runs and my huge ass hogging the bed.”

“I will buy a bigger bed if that’s what you want to be comfy, and I like the midnight runs. The town is quiet. It’s nice,” he said as he helped me to stand.

The doorbell rang, and Peyton went to answer it as I popped open a bottle of red wine. Shannon came in first, glowing with happiness as she saw me. Our relationship had changed and grown so much since we’d found each other again. I was so happy to have her safe and back in my life. She and Mary got along flawlessly, and it was the perfect blending of the old and new.

“Hey!” she called out cheerfully as Kane followed her in. “How is that baby doing today?”

“Kicking the shit out of me,” I replied jokingly.

“Aww, did you find out what you’re having today?”

I shook my head. “We decided we wanted to keep it a surprise, but I do have some good news. I finally talked Mary into working for me full-time as the bakery manager! No more long nights and early mornings for this woman.”

“That’s amazing!” she said. “I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt. Would you have thought this was how we were going to end up all those years ago?”

“Ha! I didn’t even know you had a brother back then.”

“I don’t think I mentioned him, but you know, he was in jail at the time and I didn’t really want to brag about something like that. I always knew that he was a good guy, but after he had his run-ins with the law, my faith in him had started to falter.”

“So, it looks like things are going good with you and Kane,” I said with a wink.

Shannon blushed. “They really are. He was so attentive when I was going through all of that, and afterward, I don’t know . . . things just kind of clicked between us. I can’t imagine being with anyone else. I know that he felt terrible for his part in everything that happened. It was so hard to see him going through that. Even now, he gets upset when he thinks about how I suffered.”

“Poor guy,” I whispered.

I could understand what he was going through though. I was dealing with the same thing on occasion. Shannon was so happy and at peace with her new life, but every once in a while, something would jolt her back into that basement and we would all frantically try and make it right again. The episodes never lasted longer than a few minutes, but it was still so hard to see. It didn’t matter how many times she forgave me or tried to shift the blame away from me. We would all hold onto a piece of that dark history together.

“Hey,” she said as she took my arm. “The past is in the past, okay? We have the rest of our lives ahead of us and a little one to be celebrating now. I don’t want to think about that time there, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Thanks,” I whispered to her, tears in my eyes. “I just hate knowing that you will never get the same pleasure that I had when I saw him locked away. He was such a bastard. I’m glad he’s dead, but I still feel like you deserve some sort of closure.”

“I have all the closure I need standing right over there and right here. Seeing you and Peyton so happy makes me feel full. And I love Kane so much. Everything that happened was just a stepping stone to get us to this point in our lives. Don’t you see the good that has come out of this?”

I nodded. “You are such a positive person. I envy you sometimes.”

She shrugged. “I have a good reason to be positive today,” she said slyly. “My artwork got picked up by a gallery! The showing is next week in the city!”

I let out a squeal of happiness as I wrapped her in another embrace. “That is so wonderful! Don’t tell me you are going to stick around here now? The big city is calling your name! This is what you’ve always wanted!”

“I don’t know,” she offered. “It was what I wanted years ago, and I’m thrilled that my name is going to get out there, but I think I’m going to stay a reclusive artist who lives her life away from the bright lights and night life.”

I watched her gaze pass to Kane, who was busy talking to Peyton. “Now, I think I have everything right here.”

“Well, good, because we have some more news to share with you two as well,” I said cheerfully. “We are going to expand to another business! I don’t know what yet, but I’m excited that we are really putting down roots. I bought the house on my own, but it’s our home now. The only thing missing is wedding bells.”

Shannon’s cheeks blushed and her eyes flickered down to her hands. For the first time, I saw the modest but stunning ring sitting on her finger, and my eyes at once filled with tears as I sucked in a sharp breath. I couldn’t believe how much joy there was in our lives now. We had worked so hard and fought through so much together that this all still seemed like a wonderful dream. Pulling her close to me once again, I started to cry as I congratulated my friend. From behind the tears, I saw Peyton and Kane shake hands, and I knew everything was as it should be.

“I’m so happy for you,” I whispered to her. “You deserve everything that your heart desires, including this.”

“Oh, Rosa, this is a dream come true. I hope that you will be my maid of honor. We don’t want anything big, just the four of us. Peyton and I don’t really have any family beside the mafia, and they are not people I want around anymore. Maybe a couple of the guys, but that’s it.”

“I would be honored.”

“There is one more thing,” she said with a grin. “We are going to wait until after the baby is born so that we can celebrate with everyone we love, my little niece or nephew included.”

My heart was bursting with joy for her and me both as we walked over to the table where everything was set. As Peyton pushed in my chair and kissed me gently on the cheek, I closed my eyes. The night was perfect. The smell of warm food in the air and the sound of my family around me was so comforting that I never wanted the night to end. Still, I knew that whatever tomorrow brought, it would be even better than today.

* * *

Later that night, as I lay in bed next to Peyton, I thought about something Shannon had said. I rolled over and looked at the man I loved. “I have an idea for what we should buy next.”

He grinned. “Oh, yeah? Because I saw an erotic toy store coming into town the other day that would be perfect for us. Sure, we would spend just as much money there as we would make, but it sure would be one hell of a way to go.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You can use any toys that you want on me, but we are not buying an entire shop. No, I think this will be perfect, and it will give Kane and Shannon a place to call their own too.”

“Okay, I’m intrigued. Are you going to tell me what you have in mind?”

I shook my head. “Not yet. I want to see if it will work first.”

“Well, then,” he said as he closed the book he was reading. “If there is nothing else to discuss, I’d like to move on to the evening’s entertainment.”

I giggled and slapped his chest playfully. “I love you.”

“And I you,” Peyton whispered.

And just like that, our perfect evening turned into a perfectly wild night.