Epilogue
Hatch
The past week has flown by and I’m not sure if it’s because we had so much to do or I had three overnight trips. True to their word, the brothers and the women came and helped us get fully unpacked and set up. DJ, Cara, Paisley and Trinity all found dresses and then found three matching dresses for the girls. When the girls saw the bed that Lily had, they wanted one. Seeing how heartbroken DJ was at that news, Jaxson, who was helping, told her that he could add things to the canopy beds to make them look like castles and then when the girls outgrew them, they’d have their beds again. This made all of them happy and now I have two mini-castles in my daughters’ rooms. Jasper liked Luca’s fort so Jaxson and Bandit built it around his existing frame. To keep Talon from feeling left out, Jaxson added bookcases around his bed and built him a desk. That boy loves to read. Too bad my woman doesn’t write kid books. She managed to get her book edited and published too, a small miracle if you ask me. In fact, I’m not sure when she’s slept because every time I was home, she was busy doing something either for the house, the kids, the office or her new book. But she’s still made time for us. I’m brought short in my musing when I hear, “Papa? I need help.”
Going to the door, I open it and see Jasper standing there, his new dress shirt lopsided. “Hey, little man, let me get you fixed, okay?” I bend down and unbutton the shirt and then say, “This is what I have to do, start at the bottom, to make sure I don’t do the same thing.” His giggles have me smiling and when I finish, I ruffle his hair. “Now, I need to get finished so we can head to the clubhouse, okay?” DJ and the girls are already there, entrenched in the ‘kids’ room as Nan turned it into the bridal suite, I know she’ll make sure she’s ready.
I head back into the bathroom and finish grooming my beard. My woman likes it so I want it to be perfect for her. The damn woman hasn’t let me touch her in days, saying that she wants tonight to be ‘special’. Fuck that, every time I have her it’s special to me, simply because it’s her. Sleeping in a bed next to her for those couple of nights has been torture, my balls have given a whole new meaning to the term ‘blue balls’.
“Papa? I think we’re ready,” Talon says, coming into the bathroom. I look them both over and smile. Talon has obviously helped Jasper comb his wayward hair and they both apparently used the aftershave that DJ bought Talon when she realized that he was old enough. Thank fuck they didn’t use too much, we don’t have time for another shower.
“Y’all look good,” I tell them. “I’m ready to go, too.”
We head out to the truck and I snap my fingers, remembering they need their bags. We’re taking a few days for a honeymoon and going to the mountains and the kids are all staying with Axe and Cara. God help him, I hope he survives. “Did you boys remember your bags and backpacks?” Their transition into the new school was flawless. Jasper is enjoying attending the same school as Luca and the girls. And Talon has already made a few new friends. He asked if he could go out for a sport. Seems he used to play baseball and this school has a junior varsity team. When we get back, we have to get him his physical and all his supplies, a fact he’s ecstatic about.
“Yes, sir. I already brought them out,” Talon replies.
“Good deal. Then let’s hit the road, y’all. I’ve got a woman to marry.”
DJ
“Oh, DJ, you look stunning,” Cara states when I come out with my dress on. I didn’t want the traditional wedding dress with a long train and veil, so we found a fitted, cream-colored dress that molds perfectly to my curves without looking tacky or trashy. Cara brought hot rollers and my hair is now pulled back with all the curls trailing midway down my back. And Paisley? Hell, who knew that woman was a make-up artist in a former life? She made me look beautiful. Not that I think I’m ugly, but she took what I had and emphasized all of it in such a flattering way, I wanna ask her if she’ll come over to my house every day and do my make-up for me.
“You look beautiful too,” I tell her. We got lucky because the store we went to had dresses marked down and several were maternity. Since I wasn’t going with a specific color scheme, each woman picked their favorite color. Cara’s in a wine-colored dress with a high waist that flows around her baby bump. Speaking of which, she’s a lot bigger than she should be at this stage of the game. Hmmm…something to ask her about, I guess. Paisley found a gorgeous forest green dress in a similar style and Trinity’s dress is navy blue. All of them look gorgeous and I know that when a certain policeman sees Trinity, he’s gonna be glued to her side. Another story to figure out...
“Momma, look at us!” Maysen exclaims. I turn and see all three girls in their matching princess dresses and crouch down so I can hug them.
“Oh y’all are so pretty!” I tell them. I’m about to say something else when there’s a knock on the door. Nan goes over to answer it and I see Talon coming in. “How handsome you look,” I murmur as he walks towards me.
“Thank you, Momma,” he says, a blush covering his face. So polite and shy. He’ll get over that pretty damn quick in our family I’m sure. “Papa wanted me to give these to you, Maysen and Ray. He said they’re from him.” I take the bag and look inside. Seeing boxes, I open the first one to see a gorgeous necklace that says ‘Princess’ with a tiara over the ‘P’ and pink gems in the tiara.
“Look what your Papa got you girls,” I say, showing the girls the necklaces once I get the second one out.
“Oh, Momma,” they both say in unison. “They’re special princess necklaces.”
I see Talon grin before he crouches down and says, “Let me help you put them on.” It takes everything I have not to let the tears fall and ruin the flawless make-up that Paisley worked so hard on.
While he’s occupied, I open the remaining box and gasp. My necklace says ‘Queen’ on it and instead of pink gemstones, I have diamonds. “Let me,” Cara says, coming up next to me. I turn and pull my hair away so she can get the necklace on me.
“It’s time,” Nan announces. I grab my bouquet and gather the girls. Talon leaves the room to go and stand with Hatch. I take a deep breath and get ready to walk down the aisle to my future. We decided, since I didn’t have a dad, that Maysen and Ray would walk down with me to Hatch. While he’s marrying me, he’s accepting my daughter as his and vice versa. The music begins and Trinity starts the procession down the ‘bike’ aisle. Those men had to have some input, so we compromised and allowed them this concession.
Hatch
My breath catches when I get a glimpse of my woman and daughters walking towards me. Once they get to me, Maysen and Ray give me a little wave before going to stand in front of Cara. Twisted looks at us and says, “Take one another’s hands, please.” We both turn and face each other, DJ hands her flowers to Cara and Twisted begins the ceremony.
DJ
“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Nan says as we finish with the photographer.
“Thanks largely to you, Nan,” I reply before pulling her into a hug. This woman accepted me and Ray from the very first meeting and everything she’s done since then has made me love her more and more. We were hers regardless of the fact that it is Cara that got with Braxton and not me. “Love you, Nan.”
“You’re one of mine, child. I love you, too.”
“Who catered?” Hatch asks, coming up and putting his arm around my shoulders.
“Oh...I uh...Gino from the Barnhouse catered it for me,” she says, a pink blush covering her cheeks. Hmmm...looks like someone has a little crush. Maybe it’s time for that matchmaking hat to switch ‘heads’ and Cara and I give her a little help out in the love department.
“The food looks good,” he says. “Let’s go, gorgeous. They’re waiting on us to fix our plates before the locusts descend.” I start to giggle because these men can throw down on some food and with it coming from the Barnhouse? I don’t foresee anything left.
Once we make it through the line, we sit at one of the picnic benches and Cara and Braxton sit and join us. Nan and Paisley are taking care of all the kids and their needs giving us a break and chance to relax and enjoy this day. Cara and Braxton can’t stop glancing at each other and passing each other loving looks. Cara looks over at me and notices me watching them, and quickly turns away.
“Okay, girlie, spill.”
“Spill what?” she asks. Her innocent tone of voice doesn’t fool me. I know when she’s got a secret.
“You know what, now spill. Don’t forget I know you better than anyone else, you can’t hide anything from me.”
She looks over at Braxton and I see him give her a little nod. Turning toward me, she says, “We went to the doctor’s yesterday.”
“And?” Damn woman, she’s going to make me have a heart attack on my wedding day!
“Well...we found out that we’re having twins.”
The End
What happens with Starla ‘Star’ McAllister and the Jensen’s?
Wanna meet Cara and Braxton’s twins?
What becomes of the adoption with the boys and girls?
All these questions and more will be answered in Book 3 of RGMC.