Epilogue
RHETT
(Ten years later… )
I glare at Carter until he finally gives up and looks at me.
“I’m not happy about this either,” he snaps. “Go glare at Della. She’s the one who said yes.”
“You’re Danny’s father,” I say. “You should’ve put your foot down.”
“Oh yeah? The same way you put your foot down when Evie allowed Jade to have a sleepover and she ended up inviting a boy?”
Did he have to remind me?
“Fuck, that night I didn’t sleep at all. Trust my kid to have a boy for a best friend.” I smile at Carter. “We should have chastity belts made for our girls. Miss Sebastian can bedazzle them.”
“I can bedazzle what?” Miss Sebastian asks as she walks into the living room.
“Chastity belts,” I say, and when Miss Sebastian’s brow furrows, I add, “For our girls. You know, to protect them from all the little ding-dongs out there.”
Miss Sebastian shoves her fists into her sides and glares at each of us.
“Now listen here, my chunk of hunks. My little princess is excited, and I will not have you ruin her first prom. You’re all gonna behave, or I’ll have your ding-dongs in a bedazzled vise before this night is over.”
As if on cue, we all cross our legs to protect our manhoods from a bloodthirsty Miss Sebastian.
“Good. I’m glad we got that sorted.” She looks at us expectantly, then frowns. “I swear, the older my chunk of hunks get, the less common sense you have. Does it take more brain power to keep your ding-dongs working?”
“Did you have too much wine?” Marcus asks her.
Miss Sebastian gives him a glare that should have him shooting up daisies.
“Darling, don’t go pushing my buttons. I’ll switch to bitch mode before you can make a run for the door.”
Marcus glances at me and pretending to cough, we all try to hide our smiles behind our hands.
“Get your sexy asses up!” She shrieks. “She’s ready and waiting to come down the stairs.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say so in the first place?” Carter growls as he shoots out of the chair.
We all rush after him and form a half-circle at the foot of the stairs.
“Princess?” Carter calls when there’s no sign of Danny.
The next moment we only see a pair of bright blue eyes peeking at us from behind the wall.
“Are you all ready? I’m only doing this once,” Danny calls out.
Yeah, she takes after her father.
“They’re ready, Princess,” Miss Sebastian calls out.
When Jaxson’s phone starts to ring, and he reaches for it, Miss Sebastian slaps him upside the head.
“Don’t even think about answering that call,” she hisses.
Rubbing the back of his head, he whispers, “I wasn’t going to. I was turning the damn thing to silent.”
Miss Sebastian instantly relaxes. “Oh, okay.”
We all stare at the top of the stairs, and when Danny walks out from behind the wall, the responses are instant.
“You’re not leaving the house dressed like that!” Carter yells.
“Where’s the rest of it?” I ask, praying this is a joke.
“You let her get dressed like that? What were you thinking?” Marcus turns to Miss Sebastian.
“I was thinking she’s sixteen and going to her first prom,” Miss Sebastian quickly defends Danny’s choice of prom dress.
“Exactly,” Logan snaps. “She’s sixteen!”
“You’re fucking with us, right?” Jaxson asks.
“F-Bomb!” Jamie, Della’s little sister, yells. “That will be one hundred bucks, Jax.” She smiles at Danny. “Thanks, I owe you one. Now I have money for gas.” Then she holds her hand out to Jaxson who begrudgingly pays up. Jamie shrugs as she takes it with a smile. “End of month finances and all.”
When Jamie rushes out the door, I know it’s because she wants to avoid the shit storm that’s about to hit this house, as we all turn back to Danny.
Her beautiful face looks heartbroken as her chin starts to tremble.
“I knew you wouldn’t like it,” she mumbles.
“Princess,” Carter coos as he climbs the stairs, “You look beautiful. It’s just that there’s way too much skin showing. What happened to that gown you got?”
Danny rolls her eyes. “This is the gown, Daddy. Aunty Willow just made some minor adjustments.”
“Willow!” Marcus yells.
Willow comes rushing in, but stops when she sees all of our faces.
“Did you leave your glasses at home?” Marcus asks.
Willow's eyes widen and then she lets him have it.
“Marcus Reed, I will slap you so hard you’ll see stars for days. Don’t you talk to me like that!”
The next second, Miss Sebastian slaps Marcus upside the head.
“All taken care of, my angel-girl,” she calls out sweetly.
“Guys!” I snap. “Can we focus on the fact that Danny is only wearing half a dress?”
“Uncle Ledge,” Danny says and hearing the tearful way she’s saying my name instantly makes me feel like shit.
“Princess, it hardly covers your shoulders,” I try to explain. “Where are the sleeves?”
“That’s it!” Della snaps as she comes up behind Danny. “All of you in the living room now!”
“Oh, shit,” I mumble as we all sheepishly trudge back to the living room with Della right behind us.
“Sit,” she snaps, and like one man we all plop down, with the same dreaded look on our faces.
“Enough is enough! Danny has been looking forward to this night for weeks. There’s nothing wrong with the dress she’s wearing.”
She glances over her shoulder to where Danny is standing, and her face softens a little as she says, “Baby, let Miss Sebastian touch up your makeup. Mommy doesn’t want you to hear the next part.”
“Fuck,” Marcus groans as Della turns back to us.
“Just because you were the Screw Crew once, doesn’t mean every single boy out there will be assholes like you. Reed is a nice boy.”
“Reed is a fucking man with a working dick!” Carter growls. “He’s a senior. My baby is a junior. I know what happens at proms.”
“Carter Hayes, I will throat punch you. Danny and Reed have been dating for a year. That boy has always treated our daughter like the princess she is. He’s too damn terrified of the bunch of you to treat her as anything less.”
“That’s true,” I whisper. “I might have gone a little heavy on the threats.”
“Danny looks beautiful, and unless you want me going psycho on you all, you will smile and tell her so. She’s sixteen! She’s a young woman. Treat her like one.”
We all mumble our unhappiness with the situation, but none of us want to see Della in psycho mode.
“Now get your asses to the bottom of the stairs and give Danny the attention she deserves.”
We all walk back to the bottom of the stairs and form a half circle.
“Smile,” Della snaps. “Danny you can come out,” she calls up the stairs.
All you see are a bunch of men and a row of teeth as Danny once again steps out onto the landing.
“You look beautiful, Princess,” Carter praises her.
I can feel Della's scowl burning into the side of my head.
“You’re a vision, Princess,” I say.
“I am?” Danny asks. “You’re not just saying that because Mom is standing right behind you, and giving you the same look I get when she catches me sneaking out of the house?”
“That look is pretty intense, right?”
“Yeah,” Danny laughs.
I climb the stairs and raise my hand to her cheek, gently brushing a knuckle over the curve of her cheek.
“Daniele,” I say. She knows I only call her by her given name if I’m dead serious. “I’ll always see you as my little princess, who made me watch Frozen and sing Let It Go a million times. Whether it’s tonight, or in ten years, I’m your fairy-godfather.”
“Uncle Ledge,” she breathes as she fights to hold back the tears.
“You are an absolute vision, Princess. Reed is lucky to have you as his prom date.”
Just then the doorbell rings.
“I’ll get it while you finish with your uncles,” I say as I rush to get to the door first.
I yank it open, and when Reed sees that it’s me, he straightens his spine and swallows.
“Hi, Mr. Daniels.”
“Reed,” I say, and I don’t move out of the way so he can come inside. “Before I let you near my princess, let’s go over what will happen to you if you don’t bring her back in one piece.”
“Yes, Sir,” Reed says. He sucks in a deep breath. “You will find me, and you will attach weights to my ding-dong before tossing me into the ocean.”
“Good. What are the rules?” I ask.
“No drinking. No leaving her side at any time. No touching her below the neck. If there’s a situation, I tell Danny to run and let them kill me because if anything happens to Danny, you’ll kill me.”
“Now that we have that out of the way,” I say smiling, “come inside.” Over my shoulder, I yell, “Danny, Reed’s here.”
Reed steps into the house as Danny comes walking into the foyer with Carter and the guys right behind her. I know the boy only has eyes for her when he doesn’t even see the guys, but instead, just focuses on Danny.
“Wow,” he breathes, “you look amazing.”
“Thanks,” Danny whispers with a blush on her cheeks. She steps forward and takes hold of Reed’s hand, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Let’s take photos so we can go, or we’ll be late.”
Watching my little girl smiling up at Reed while Della and Miss Sebastian take a dozen photos each, I realize my princess is changing into a beautiful woman.
I turn around as emotions swamp me, and walk out the front door before anyone can notice. At least, that’s what I think until Danny calls after me.
I stop and watch as she walks toward me. When she’s standing in front of me, she asks, “You’re leaving without saying goodbye?”
I shake my head. “No, princess. I’m just getting some fresh air.”
She’s always had an uncanny ability to know what I’m thinking and feeling.
Taking hold of my hand in both of hers, she takes a step forward.
“Uncle Ledge, no one will ever be able to replace you in my life. Every time I’ve felt like a princess, it was because of you. You’ve taught me that I should never settle for a man who treats me as anything less.”
I smile as I swallow back the tears, and pressing a kiss to her temple, I whisper, “I love you, Princess. Have fun at the ball.”
“Love you now and always, Uncle Ledge,” she whispers as she lets go of my hand and wrap her arms around my waist.
I hold her close, and as I close my eyes, I whisper, “Now and always, Princess.”
∞∞∞
(Five years later…)
“Little Bean,” I yell so my voice will carry to the house.
“You called, Daddy?” Jade says. She comes over to where I’m standing in front of the flower bed.
“Yeah,” I say, glancing at my daughter. “Come stand here by me.” I hold my hand out to her.
She links our fingers together and stares up at my face, waiting to hear why I called her.
Jade got Evie’s red curls, but my dark eyes. She’s just turned fourteen. My heart constricts every time I notice how she looks less like my little bean, and more like a young woman.
“Keep your eye on the flowers,” I say, as I turn my gaze back to the garden.
We wait a while in silence when Jade whispers, “What are we waiting for?”
“You’ll see in a second,” I whisper back.
Finally, the little bird makes its appearance, it’s wings flapping so fast all we see is a blur.
“Aww…” Jade whispers.
We keep still as we watch the hummingbird gather spiderwebs before flying back to a nearby tree.
“Why did she take the spiderweb?” Jade asks.
“She’s building a nest. Soon we’ll have teeny, tiny hummingbirds. I looked up the meaning when I first saw the hummingbird. Did you know their wings create the infinity symbol when in flight?”
“No, but it’s awesome,” Jade replies.
“Yeah, your Aunt Leigh will like that fact. Tell her next time you see her.”
Getting to the reason I called my daughter out here, I get down on one knee in front of her and open my right hand. The promise ring I got Jade looks tiny where it’s lying on my palm.
“Daddy,” she gasps, covering her mouth with both her hands.
“Little Bean, you represent everything good I’ve done. I’m giving you this ring so it will remind you that no matter where you are, or what you’re doing, all you need to do is call and I’ll come running.”
I take Jade’s right hand and push the silver band onto her finger. It’s an exact replica of the ring Evie wears.
“I promise to always be right behind you, Jade. So I can catch you when you fall, and hold you up when life gets hard. So I can cheer for you when you’re happy, and help fix your mistakes when you make them. I’ll always be right behind you because you come first in my life.”
I wipe the tear from her cheek as she gives me a wobbly smile.
“I love you, Daddy,” she whispers as she throws her arms around my neck.
“I love you more, Little Bean.”
More than anything because my daughter is my everything.
The End