Epilogue
Ten years later
“I don’t want to stand still anymore, Mommy. It itches. I want to go swim,” Carla said.
Freya pouted as she looked at her family, and then she decided she couldn’t keep them from their fun day.
“Hold on one second.” She grabbed her camera, and began to take shots of her three children, and her very handsome husband. She must have taken about a hundred pictures, but the moment she was done, the doors of her art studio were flung open, and she watched her three kids tear their clothes off, getting down to the swimming stuff, before jumping into the pool.
She sighed.
“I didn’t mind standing while you got to work,” Jared said, moving up behind her. He took her hand as they made their way outside to keep an eye on their babies as they played in the pool.
Ten years, three children, and what he didn’t know was the fact another was on the way. She rested her hand on her stomach, and gave a little smile. When she’d gotten pregnant the first time, she had been terrified. Her friend Sophia had gone through it already by then, but Freya had freaked out.
To help calm her nerves down, Jared had brought home a DVD of the birthing process. That had been a big mistake.
The pain those women had been through, not to mention the blood—she’d had nightmares for weeks, and panic attacks. She’d told Jared that she wasn’t giving birth. That she wouldn’t let it happen again.
During the labor, she’d screamed, shouted, and blamed Jared for global warming, or at least the nurses told her she’d been pretty harsh. Throughout it, Jared hadn’t left her side, and after several hours of labor, she’d given birth to a baby girl.
It was like a magic switch in her body. The moment they’d put her baby into her arms, the pain had ceased. She couldn’t feel a thing. Staring into her daughter’s face, that had been one of the best moments of her life, and she’d tried her hardest to draw that moment in her memory.
The wonder, the purity, the pleasure of it all.
Jared had it put into a frame, and it was on his office wall. For every single one of their children, she’d done the same.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
She noticed he asked that a lot. “Of course. Could you ever doubt it?”
“I like to know you’re happy.”
“I’m more than happy.” She leaned over, and kissed his lips. “What about you, Jared? Are you happy?”
“More than anything. Words cannot describe how happy I am. I’ve got you, my beautiful children, and my life is perfect.” He took her hand, pulling her to him. He’d done what she asked, and never stopped looking at her as if she was his entire world.
Her love for him had gotten stronger. They were each other’s half.
Listening to her children giggle brought a smile to her lips. Their happiness filled her with joy.
Taking Jared’s hands, she placed them over her stomach. At first he didn’t understand until she caressed his hands, looking at him. “Do you think we’ve got space for another?”
He released her stomach, cupping her cheek. “You’re pregnant? We’re pregnant again?”
“Yes. I was going to cook you dinner, and try to be all romantic, but I know you see my cooking as a punishment.” She burned toast, but she kept on trying no matter what. One day she was determined to be as good a cook as Sophia.
Her children would often watch her in the kitchen, and she saw the winces on their face. She’d mistake salt for sugar, the wrong kinds of flour. She’d used too bitter chocolate in brownies, and no one could eat them.
“Thank God.” He kissed her cheek, kneeling down in front of her stomach.
She smiled as his hands held her possessively. She loved his touch so much. She craved it even more than chocolate.
“Little devil, we don’t want Mommy cooking for us. She’s great at nearly everything else but not cooking.” He pressed a kiss to her stomach, making her giggle.
“Why’s Daddy kissing Mommy’s belly?” Ryan asked, their youngest son.
Carla screamed. “Because we’re going to have a baby brother or sister, and Mommy’s belly is going to be huge again. Like a whale.”
Jared stood up, pulling her to him. “You’ll be my whale, baby.”
Freya burst out laughing. “Last time I checked, you had no problem having a whale inside your bed.”
“When it comes to you, Freya, I’ve got no problem at all.”
The End
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