One year later

IF SOMEONE HAD TOLD me a couple years ago that I would end up with a beautiful, smart, talented woman, I’d have scoffed and said I wasn’t looking for a relationship. If someone had told me I’d have my own photography business, I’d have laughed, thinking it was way over my head and out of my reach, but as Logan said so long ago, sometimes the best things happen when you aren’t looking for them.

My love for Quinn burns brighter every day. She believes in me, and that makes me believe in myself. She’s my best friend, my partner in crime, and my biggest fantasy, all rolled into one.

I moved in with Quinn the night we got back together; my house had already sold and we wanted to be together anyway. Quinn encouraged me to collaborate more with Art Redefined, and I still do, but I needed more than that. My brother Dom helped me with the legal side of things and together we formed Nelson Designs. A lot of my clients from Picture This followed me, and my customer base has only grown since then.

A wet, sticky hand slaps my face, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Gaaaah!” Oliver complains.

“Sorry little man,” I coo at the six-month-old. “I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

He smiles up at me with a toothless grin and a big glob of drool splats onto my wrist.

“Dude, that is so gross. I can’t wait until you learn how to control the drool.”

He just laughs and yanks my nose, and I’m impressed with his strength. I think his little nails just drew blood.

“Ouch!” I tell him. “Easy there, Oli, I need my nose.” I blow a raspberry into his hand to distract him and bounce him on my knees the way he likes. He squeals and yells as if to say, This is so much fun, Uncle Charlie, do it again!

Sure enough, once I stop bouncing, his smile disappears, quickly replaced by a frown as he pats my legs, urging me to do it again.

Max plops down in the chair next to mine, smiling down at his son. “You need me to take him?”

“Heck no, Oli and I are hanging out. I’m teaching him about the birds and the bees.”

Max laughs. “I think he’s a bit young for that talk.”

“Look over there, Oli!” I point to a blue jay as it streaks through the sky and lands on the peak of the house. “That bird is called a blue jay.”

He turns his head, chubby cheeks and all, and his bright blue eyes actually follow my finger and find the bird I’m pointing at. He squeals in delight as it flies away.

Max laughs again. “The birds and the bees, huh?”

“Hey, every little boy needs to know the basics of nature. It’s never too early to start with these talks, didn’t you know that?”

Soon Oliver fixates on his dad and whines, reaching his chubby little arms out, telling his dad he wants him to pick him up.

I hand him over, watching my best friend hold his son. Oliver is Max’s spitting image with his dark hair and blue eyes. Max stands Oliver up on his lap, holding his waist to steady him.

“Hey buddy, did you have fun with Uncle Charlie?”

Oli touches Max’s nose and yells some indeterminate sound.

We both laugh at the cuteness of his little baby boy.

If you had told me a year ago that I could hold a baby and feel nothing but happiness, I wouldn’t have believed it, but I can. I still have the occasional dream about my baby, but I’ve made peace with my past, and I’m looking forward to the future.

“WOULD YOU LOOK AT that?” I nod my head toward the back yard.

Monica walks over and looks out the window where Charlie and Max are shirtless, wearing only their swim trunks, playing with Oliver.

“I think my ovaries just exploded,” Monica says.

“Fuck, mine, too.”

Monica shoots me a sideways glance.

“What, Dr. Spencer? I do have ovaries, you know,” I joke.

We both bust up and watch our men some more. I love seeing Charlie with Oliver, the way he talks to him as if he’s an adult, and Oliver loves it, too. Monica’s pregnancy forced me to deal with my feelings of inadequacy. It was the best thing that could have happened, because I found a therapist and got some professional help—boxing up my feelings was not working. Therapy wasn’t magic, but I’ve come to accept my reality, and I can see other pregnant women and babies without feelings of jealousy and anger.

Charlie and I decided to buy a home together instead of staying in my condo, and bought this house about six months ago. A definite selling point was the outdoor kitchen and pool in the back yard, making our place the summer hangout spot.

“Do you think you want to have another one?” I ask Monica.

“Not right now, but eventually. I hated being an only child.”

“Well, you look fantastic, almost better than you did before you got pregnant.”

“Oh stop it, my hips are so much wider,” she complains.

“Your hips are not wider! But your tits are huge.”

She laughs and throws a kitchen towel in my face. “What? I can’t help but notice they’re gigantic. I bet Max is enjoying that particular side effect of nursing.”

She blushes. I love pushing her buttons. “He hasn’t complained.”

I laugh. “You ready to eat? Let’s get the boys to fire up the grill.”

We collect the food and bring it outside, setting up the table for our cookout.

Logan and Tate show up just in time to join us. Logan and Charlie still argue over whose best man speech was better, but Max and Monica refuse to weigh in on it. As I sit next to Charlie with our friends in our home, I want to pinch myself. This is bliss.

“You ready babe?” Charlie yells for me as he so often does.

“Just about,” I holler back.

Tonight is date night and butterflies tickle at my insides. We are meeting up with Tobias and the thought makes me tingle in all the right places. This is only the third time we’ve asked Tobias to join us, and my mind races with the possibilities of what might happen tonight.

When Charlie and I got back together, he told me we could stop the threesomes if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to. It’s dirty and fun and exciting. Why should we stop if we both want it?

Life has taken so many choices away from us, and I like that we get to define our happily ever after.

Maybe my happily ever after doesn’t include marriage or kids.

My happily ever after is Charlie Nelson. He never stops showing me how much he loves me, and I’ll never stop showing him how much I believe in him.

It may be unconventional, but life gave me a second chance at happiness, and I'm not letting it go.

The End