EPILOGUE
Dom
Two Years Later
THE SUN WAS SHINING DOWN on us through a few fluffy white clouds, and the girls were both overflowing with excitement as they practically dragged me down the street toward the Savanna Everest Memorial building. I was overflowing with it myself.
I couldn’t wait to see her, to tell her our news.
The building was part of the charity foundation that Amber had talked Triss into starting not long after she had told the other woman she didn’t want her father’s money. It was just too much money, and too many worthy charities for Amber to feel good about donating it herself. Therefore, she had convinced Triss to start a foundation, and over the last two years, she had turned it into her new mission in life.
Triss and a handful of other wealthy and generous souls had come together to start the Savanna Everest Memorial Foundation. I was so proud of my girl and what she was doing. I fell in love with her a little more every day.
The foundation wasn’t the only thing she had been busy with the last two years. After talking to the girls about adoption, and their resounding squeals of delight, Triss had adopted both Daisy and Lily. And with the mention of adoption, we had decided to come clean with Lily about just who we really were to her.
The year before, we had both broken it to her that she was our daughter, and then held our breaths as we waited for her to turn hate-filled eyes on us.
Thankfully, that hadn’t happened.
She had been a little confused for a short time, but after we had fully explained everything to her—that while we had been apart, Triss had been unable to take care of her like a mommy should, and that Savanna and Derrick had been so happy to have her as their own little girl—Lily had accepted the explanation, and even me as her father.
I had thought life was pretty fucking perfect after that, but of course, I had been wrong. There were still a few things missing. Like a ring on my girl’s finger, and maybe a few more babies to fill up that behemoth house Robert had left her. The former, I had made happen last Christmas, after making sure that both Lily and Daisy were still okay with me asking Triss to marry me.
Our wedding had been small, with only our closest friends in attendance only weeks after Triss had told me yes.
“Come on, Daddy.” Lily tugged harder on my hand, her and Daisy practically dragging me along behind them.
My heart leapt at the sound of that one little word that packed such a powerful punch. I was never going to get tired of hearing my baby girl call me “Daddy.” Never.
“She’s going to be so surprised,” Daisy squealed as we entered the four-story building that was her mother’s legacy.
It was small by New York City standards, but it was all Triss needed for the work she did.
“Girls, calm down. She will still be there if we slow down a little.” Not that I really wanted to slow down, but hey, I had to at least try to get the girls from getting too carried away.
A security guard at the entrance to the SEMF building opened the door for us with a welcoming grin for the girls. “Hello, little ladies. Here to see your mom?”
Lily returned his grin. “We have a surprise for her.”
“Lil,” Daisy shushed her. “We promised Daddy Dom we wouldn’t say anything.”
If I loved when Lily called me “Daddy,” I was ecstatic whenever Daisy called me “Daddy Dom.” I had never imagined or dared to hope that the younger girl would accept me so easily and thoroughly that she would want to call me Daddy, yet she had, and the month before my own adoption of the girls had been finalized.
Pink filled Lily’s cheeks as she looked up at me with regret in those eyes that were so like her mother’s. “Sorry, Daddy.”
“It’s okay, precious. Soon, it won’t be a secret any more, right?”
She nodded, her excitement returning. “Right.” She waved at the guard, and then we headed for the stairs since Triss’s office was only on the third floor, with the top reserved for the conference rooms.
As soon as we reached the third floor, Triss’s secretary lifted her head. Sam gave us a quick grin and waved us on in.
The girls released my hand and ran to open her office door, with me right behind them. Her head popped up from her computer as soon as we entered.
“There are my loves,” she murmured, love and adoration shining out of those blue-gray depths. She pushed to her feet and walked around her desk to hug the girls. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until dinner. You have totally made my day.”
She slowly straightened then walked into my already open arms. I pulled her in close, taking my time as I kissed her long and deeply. When I could finally bring myself to relinquish her lips, I pressed my forehead to hers and told her our happy news.
“You’re pregnant.”
Her body jerked with my quietly spoken words, and she pulled back to look at me, tears filling her eyes. “Really?” she breathed, almost as if she was afraid to say the word too loudly.
“Really,” I assured her, my own happy tears blinding me for a moment.
We had talked for a long time about kids. Both of us wanted more, but we had been reluctant to try for a baby of our own. What if Lily resented us if we had another biological child? What if Daisy did?
It was actually the girls who had brought up the whole subject of more kids. Daisy had told us months ago that she wanted a baby brother for her birthday, and after finally asking them how they felt about us having a baby and them almost begging for another sibling, Triss and I had started trying.
The trying was the fun part. The waiting, not so much. Regardless, it hadn’t taken us long. She had missed her period two days ago, and I had done some blood work on her myself the day before. As soon as I had gotten the results back, I had picked the girls up from school and we had come to tell her our news. Maybe I should have waited to tell the girls, but I didn’t want to keep this from them.
“We get to be big sisters,” Daisy told her, pulling our attention back to her and Lily. “Can we name the baby Rhino if it’s a boy?”
Triss gave me a look of pure horror. “Um, no, Daisy. Rhino is not an option.”
“But I want to name the baby,” she said with a pout.
I bent and lifted her into my arms. “We have plenty of time before we have to decide on the baby’s name. I’m sure we will find a name we can all live with by then.”
“If it’s a girl, can she have a flower name, like me and Daisy?” Lily asked. “Maybe Rose or Marigold? We could call her Mari for short.”
“Or Poppy!” Daisy suggested.
Triss leaned against me, an amused twinkle in her eye. “I really hope we have a boy.”
I gave her a quick, hard kiss before teasing her. “I don’t know, babe. I would love another girl. Maybe we could call her Azalea, or Petunia, or Iris.”
I was teasing, but her sharp inhale told me I had hit on something. “I like Iris,” she murmured thoughtfully.
“Me, too,” Lily seconded.
“Me, three.” Daisy kissed my cheek. “Good job, Daddy Dom.”
***
Seven months later, a screaming Iris Savanna Balor was placed in her mother’s arms, and I knew that our world was finally complete.