Epilogue
Elena
Nine Months Later
“It’s time for bed, little lady,” I said to Lilly who sat on the floor in the living room watching the movie Moana.
“Just another ten minutes, Daddy,” Lilly said.
I shook my head. “Unfortunately not, honey pot. Come on, let’s get your teeth brushed.”
Lilly groaned, switching off the movie and getting up. She tried to fight me on going to bed every night, now. It was amazing how much she could grow in a year. I was starting to see glimpses into what it would be like when she was a teenager.
“Where’s Elena?” Lilly asked on the way to the bathroom.
“She’s feeding Bryant,” I said. “She’s going to tuck him in the same time I tuck you in.”
Lilly grumbled something before sticking a toothbrush in her mouth, and I went to check on Elena in the nursery. We had changed the guest bedroom close to our bedroom into the baby’s room. Elena sat in the rocking chair, feeding Bryant. She was humming something soft and low, and the dimmer switch in the room was already on.
“There’s my little prince,” I said, kissing him on the forehead before kissing Elena. “Are you okay, here?”
“I’m putting him down the moment he’s done feeding, and then I’ll come kiss Lillian good night.”
I watched Elena for a moment longer with our son. Bryant was two months old, now. He had been born late at night when the first snow had started falling, and it had been one of the happiest days of my life. Since then, things had only been getting better. Lilly was a terrific big sister, taking care of Bryant, protective over him. We had been worried that she might be jealous now that she wasn’t getting all the attention, but she slipped into a family of four seamlessly.
Diane still worked for us, but she was on baby duty more often, now. We had employed full-time instead of only doing afternoons with Lilly, and she loved Bryant as much as we did.
When Bryant had been born, the press had gone mad. We had managed to keep the pregnancy completely quiet. Everyone at Saturn Intelligence had helped us keep it under wraps so that we could enjoy the pregnancy and the birth in private. Of course, keeping the baby a secret hadn’t been that easy, and in no time at all, we had been painted as the perfect business family. The story of my romance with Elena had circulated again. Saturn Intelligence was back in the limelight, and that had boosted our sales for a while.
We had been worried that the publicity would affect our family life, or that something negative might arise. But it had been two months, and everything was fine. Everyone seemed to be on our side. The company was doing well. And we were the happiest family. I wouldn’t have chosen for my personal life to be strewn all over the news, and the scandal of me kissing Elena had put a strain on us at first, but if I had to go back and do it all again, I would have done it exactly the same. I was happier than I could have imagined any man to be, and my story with Elena was only beginning.
“Good night, princess,” I said to Lilly after I kissed her on the head. “I think we should go to the movies tomorrow. Just see you Elena and me.”
“What about Bryant?” Lilly asked.
“We’ll get Diane to watch him. I think we need to spend some big kid time.”
Elena and I tried to make time for Lilly away from Bryant. The baby needed a lot of attention, and we didn’t want to make Lilly feel like she had been replaced somehow. So far, it was working.
“Do I hear talk of a movie day?” Elena asked, coming into the room. She kissed Lilly good night as well.
“That’s exactly what you heard,” I said.
“That sounds great to me,” Elena said.
We closed Lilly’s door and walked to the main bedroom together.
“I’m so tired,” Elena said.
Having a new baby in the house took a lot of time and energy, and we were both exhausted. We hadn’t had the energy to have sex since Bryant had been born. But tonight, when we were under the covers, Elena rolled toward me so that we were pressed against each other. Her hand slid around to my back, and her lips were only a sigh away from mine.
“Are you up for it?” I asked.
“I am. I miss you”
So, in the dark of the night, quietly so neither of the kids woke up, we undressed each other. I relearned my wife’s body by feel, running my fingertips over every inch of her, following my hands with my mouth. Her lips found mine, moving down and finally finding my cock.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, when she was driving me crazy, I flipped her onto her back. Her legs fell open for me, and I positioned myself between them. It had been so long since I’d been able to do this. When Elena had been pregnant, we’d been restricted in our positions, sticking to doggy style or her on top. Now, I lay on top of her, my face above hers and I pushed into her.
She gasped quietly as I did, writhing beneath me, and I loved the feel of her body beneath mine, lean again, the body I knew as Elena’s. I ran my hands down her sides, and she shivered. Her breasts pressed against my chest, her nipples hard. I kissed her, slipping my tongue into her mouth before I started moving inside her.
I pulled out slowly before sliding back in again, working in and out of her body with slow, torturous strokes. I knew I was working her up, pushing her closer and closer to the edge without letting her tip over. She complained to me, whispering about it, her words trapped between us like a secret. We had to be quiet with the children around but doing it as quietly as we did added to the thrill.
I started thrusting harder and faster, fucking her until she whimpered through her first orgasm, the best she could do to keep quiet. I lifted my head and listened for a sound from the two rooms.
“They’re still fine,” I told Elena. When she orgasmed, I was her ears and the other way around. If we orgasmed at the same time, we hoped Lilly wouldn’t walk in on us.
“Do me on my stomach,” Elena said. I nodded. She wanted the positions we hadn’t been able to do for months now, too. I pulled out of her, and she rolled over onto her stomach. I lay my body on hers again, and she gasped as I put most of my weight on her. Her legs were slightly wide, and I found her entrance, pushing into her. I starting bucking my hips, sliding in and out of her, and she muffled her moans with the pillows.
She orgasmed again when I rode her like this, and before long, I was on the edge, too. I started fucking her harder and harder until I came. I emptied myself inside her. For a moment, I thought about getting her pregnant again, but we would wait, I told myself. At least until Bryant was a year old.
When I pulled out, I rolled off her and lay next to Elena, holding her against me.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” I answered. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
I looked at her in the semi-darkness, her profile delicate and perfect, her green eyes pools of darkness without the light. “Will you marry me?”
Elena lifted her head. “Really?” she asked.
I chuckled and nodded. “Really.”
She didn’t hesitate, not even for a second.
“Yes!” she cried out.
I chuckled and kissed her. “I’m so glad you said yes,” I said. I reached for the lamp on the nightstand before opening the drawer and retrieving a black velvet box. “Because this wouldn’t have fit anyone else.”
“Oh, my God,” Elena said and took the box from me. She opened it. Inside, a rose gold ring with diamonds winked at us. I’d had it in my drawer for the past three months. I had meant to propose as soon as Bryant was born, waiting for the right time. I hadn’t been right until tonight when I’d suddenly known that I could never live without her, that I didn’t want to.
“When I met you,” I said, “you were the hottest woman I had ever seen, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t hire you for your looks. But that wasn’t the only reason I hired you. I was intrigued by your mind, and you had that MBA that tickled my business side. As the time ticked by I got to know you, and I realized that I couldn’t do without you – not just in a business sense, but as a person. You bring the best out in Lilly and me, and you gave me a beautiful son. There is no one I would rather grow old with than you, Elena Hayes.”
She was smiling at me, her eyes welled with tears. The ring was on her finger, but her eyes were on my face.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much I love you and the family we have together,” she said. “I’m so glad you hired me. And I’m glad that you came after me that day after I stood you up, that you came to fight with me, fight for me.”
She kissed me, and we cuddled back under the covers. I reached for the lamp, and the room plunged back into darkness.
“We should tell Lilly tomorrow,” I said.
“We should,” Elena agreed. “And I’d like to officially adopt her if I can.”
I wasn’t sure what that would entail, legally, and if we would be able to find Cheryl if we needed her consent. But I was happy to look into it. I already saw Elena as the mother of both my children and even though Lilly was difficult sometimes, I knew she looked up to Elena as a role model. That Elena wanted to adopt her as her own was the perfect ending to a story that had been destined to be happy from the start.
THE END
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