Epilogue
Natalia
Two-and-a-half years later
I snuck out while Hunter was still sleeping and ran over to Anna’s house to pick up the gift I’d bought him.
He was awake and in the kitchen when I attempted to sneak back into the house. Since the music was on, he didn’t hear me come inside, which gave me an opportunity to ogle him from behind. The four years since we’d first met at our friends’ wedding had done nothing to dull the desire I felt for this man. Little butterflies fluttered in the pit of my belly as I watched him shirtless, swaying to the music while he fixed his coffee.
Sex, not love. That’s how it all started. I smiled, thinking of how grumpy my man had been the last month when I’d declared Love, not sex for the thirty days leading up to our wedding.
Hunter yelled without turning around, causing me to jump since I didn’t think he’d known I was watching him. But he always knew, didn’t he? It was like he had a sixth sense. He walked to me with two mugs in his hands and passed me one as he planted a firm kiss on my lips.
“Where’d you take off to so early?”
I flashed a sneaky smile. “I had to pick something up.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tight. “Lingerie for later? Hope it wasn’t too expensive because I plan to rip it off of you the minute the minister says you officially belong to me.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “First of all, it’s not lingerie. I’ll be commando under my pretty white dress this afternoon. You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to waste time removing another layer of clothing. Secondly, we have to get through the dinner with our friends and family before you rip anything off. And lastly…” I brushed my lips to his. “I’ve belonged to you since the day you showed up at my mother’s house and won over all of the women in my family.”
Hunter’s face softened. “I just can’t wait until it’s official, Natalia Delucia.”
“Me too. But let me go get your gift. Izzy’s going to be here in about an hour, and then the hair-and-makeup guy and Anna will be here a little while after that.”
I’d left his present in the truck, so I extricated myself from my soon-to-be husband’s arms and headed back outside. I stopped with my hand on the front door knob and turned back. “Oh, and Izzy is bringing a friend. So, be nice.”
“A friend? Her name better be Mary, Martha, or Sally.”
I shook my head. “His name is Gaige. And she really seems to like him. So try not to scare him away like you did the last one.” We couldn’t even talk about what he’d said to the guy he’d caught making out with Izzy on Parents’ Day at UCLA without getting into a fight all over again. Turns out Hunter was even more protective than Izzy’s father. Thankfully, Garrett and I had struck an agreement on shared custody of Izzy while she finished her last two years of high school back in New York. Once she’d graduated and decided to go to UCLA, the timing was finally right to make my move out to California. I had everything I could ever dream of here—my best friend, my daughter, a beautiful home, a great new job, and the man of my dreams.
Hunter mumbled, “I’ll gauge how hard I’m going to kick this one’s ass.”
I ignored him and headed to the car for his gift. I’d thrown a blanket over the cage to keep him warm, but it also served as a wrapping of sorts. Inside, Hunter’s face was definitely confused as he watched me drag in a two-foot-by-three-foot rectangular box covered with a blanket.
“Happy wedding day!” I smiled and sat the covered cage down.
“You got me a dollhouse?”
I laughed because that was a pretty damn good guess. It did look like a dollhouse. But the noise that squalled from inside the cage confirmed it was anything but.
“Fottiti!”
Hunter jumped back. “What the?”
I cracked up at the big man’s reaction. Lifting the blanket off, I revealed his wedding day gift—a giant Scarlet Macaw. It was the most vibrantly colored bird I’d ever seen, with bright blue, yellow, and red feathers.
“This is Arnold.”
“You bought me a bird?” Hunter’s face lit up like a ten-year-old boy.
I nodded. “Figured it was about time you put all those bird houses to use. You said you always wanted one growing up, but your mom wouldn’t let you have one.”
“They can live, like, fifty years. She knew she didn’t have that long.”
I opened the cage and put my hand in for Arnold to perch on. He jumped on right away. “Well, you do have another fifty years, Mr. Delucia. We have another fifty years to take care of Arnold.”
Hunter gazed at me. “We really could have that long together, couldn’t we?”
“I hope so.”
Hunter leaned in to kiss me, and just before our lips touched, Arnold squawked again.
“Fottiti.”
“What is he saying? For titty? I think this bird was meant to be mine.”
I laughed. “Oh, no. He’s saying fottiti. There’re two things that made me buy Arnold. Fottiti is one of them. When I started looking at birds, I visited a bunch of shops. Last week I was in Tropical Paradise checking out the cages when I ran across Arnold. He kept yelling that word, but I had no idea what it meant…until my mother happened to call and hear it in the background. Apparently, fottiti is Italian for go fuck yourself. My mother was horrified, but I thought it was hysterical. Turns out Arnold here is eight years old. His previous owners—Guiseppe and Gianna Moretti—sold him back to the pet store because they were getting divorced. I thought poor Arnold here could use a happy home, and we could teach him some nice words to go with his singular vocabulary.”
“It’s fitting that we have a bird that curses in Italian.”
“Isn’t it?”
“What was the other thing?”
“Huh?”
“You said there were two things that made you buy him.”
“Oh!” I reached into my back pocket. “This is the freakiest thing. It sealed the deal that Arnold was meant to be our bird.”
I handed Hunter the paperwork the store had given me. The top page was the bill of sale. It listed all the relevant information, including the bird’s name, sex, breed, his sire and dam, and…the bird’s date of birth.
I waited for the reaction as Hunter’s eyes perused the document. When his eyes went wide, I knew he’d read the date of birth.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope.” Our new boy had been born the same day as Hunter’s brother.
“You know that’s Jayce’s birthday.”
“Yep. I’d say this foul-mouthed bird was meant to be with us, wouldn’t you?”
After Hunter thanked me for his gift—and tried to feel me up in the process—he told me to wait in the living room because he had a little something for me, too.
He handed me a black box with a silver bow. Arnold was perched on his shoulder. I got the feeling he would be spending a lot of time there.
“It’s not nearly as awesome as Arnold, but this is for you.”
I slipped off the bow and opened the box. My eyes flared. “Is this?”
Hunter flashed an impish grin. “It is.”
I lifted the blue familiar garter out of the box. It was the one he’d caught at Anna and Derek’s wedding and put on my leg after I’d caught the bouquet. “I asked twice if you knew what happened to this, and you said no.”
“I know. I lied. Something just told me I needed to keep it. I think deep down I knew I’d be taking it off your leg someday when I made you my wife. And even though I thought forever was impossible at the time, I held onto that thing like hope I refused to give up.”
“That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said.” I reached out and linked my fingers with his.
Of course, he used the connection to yank me against him. “Oh yeah? Does that buy me admission to your pants now?”
***
I married Hunter Delucia at dusk in a small ceremony in our backyard with our families and friends watching. I’d put tea light candles in all of the birdhouses that hung in the tree we stood beneath. It made it feel like his mother and brother were watching over us from above.
We’d found true love and health and were happy beyond what either of us could have ever imagined. When the minister said he could kiss the bride, my teary-eyed husband cupped my cheeks.
“I love you, Natalia Delucia. You’ve showed me what living means, and my heart will always be yours.”
His lips came down on mine before I could reciprocate the sentiment. But he knew. He knew.
I used to think Hunter Delucia had stolen a piece of my heart. But I was wrong. Because eventually, even the heart stops beating. This man stole a piece of my soul—because the soul lives forever, and so will my love for this beautiful man.
THE END