Epilogue
Allie
“Hi, Daddy!” Emily squeals.
I barely have time to catch her around the waist before she flings herself off the kitchen chair and runs to greet Gunner at the door.
“Hi, pumpkin.” He kneels and gives her a kiss on the cheek, and our little girl wraps her arms around his neck with a toothy grin.
“We’re making cupcakes,” she says proudly.
“I can see that.” He taps her on the nose. “You have icing sugar all over your face.”
She giggles and shrugs before bouncing off his knee and running down the hall. “I made you a picture today. I’ll be right back.”
Gunner locks eyes with me as he stalks across the room, draping a hand around my waist to rest on my growing belly. “Hey there, beautiful.”
I smile and close my eyes as he breathes me in and kisses my neck, the same way he always does when he gets home.
“You smell like vanilla,” he groans. “And I’m pretty sure I just tasted frosting on your throat. I think we know where Emily gets it.”
I laugh and melt into his hard chest, rising up on my toes to kiss him. “You smell pretty good too, Mr. Mechanic.”
“What do you think the chances are that Emily is going to be distracted for a while?” he teases.
“Not very good.” I smile when we hear her bounding down the hallway.
“That’s okay.” He leans in and nips at my ear. “We can work on making another baby tonight after she goes to sleep.”
“Why don’t we just finish making this one first?” I smirk.
He sneaks another kiss before pulling back to examine me with heavy eyes. “You are so beautiful.”
“You say that every day.” I rest my face against his muscular chest, listening to his heart beat wildly.
“It never gets any less true.” He squeezes me and kisses me on the head.
The doorbell rings, and Emily yells from the other room. “I got it.”
Gunner frowns and releases me to follow her, his protective instincts kicking in the way they always do. Even though Brad’s still in prison and we moved to an entirely new house, he still worries about us constantly. But I never have to worry again because I know he’ll always take care of us.
I poke my head around the corner just in time to see Gunner’s expression when he opens the door and finds Kent standing there.
“What are you doing here?” He smirks. “I thought these visits were long over.”
“They are.” Kent saunters in with a smile. “But your lovely wife invited me over for dinner. Thought it would be insulting if I didn’t oblige.”
“Naturally.” Gunner turns to me with a wink.
Truthfully, Kent comes over every couple of weeks for dinner now that Gunner is free of his parole obligations. Once we got through the whole Brad situation, they came to an understanding. Kent really did have Gunner’s best interests at heart, and even though he won’t admit it, I know he’s proud of him.
Pretty soon, there’s another knock on the door, and Skip walks in, followed by Katie and her boyfriend. The house fills with laughter and love as we all gather around the table as one big misfit family. And when Gunner squeezes my hand under the table and whispers that he loves me, I know this is exactly where I’m meant to be.
The End.