Falling Fast
Page 46
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EPILOGUE
Colton
Three years later
“COME ON. YOU CAN do it,” Gia says, and our eleven-month-old son Gino smiles a toothless smile at his mom and takes another step, wobbling when his feet find purchase. “There you go. You got this,” she urges excitedly, getting up on her knees, and he takes another step then falls forward into her chest, giggling.
Seeing that, I smile and make my way toward them, with Loki following behind me, and Reggie, our newest pup, following behind him. I reach the edge of the blanket Gia laid out on the ground in the grass under one of the trees in the yard, and sit down behind her. I drag her back between my spread legs, resting my hands on her round stomach where our daughter is growing.
“Hey.” She smiles, looking over her shoulder at me, and I kiss the side of her neck then listen to her laugh as Gino crawls over her to get to me.
Once he’s in my arms, his tiny hands come to my cheeks and he studies me like he always does. Looking into his eyes, which are the same color as his mom’s, I smile, and he returns it then pats my cheek, dropping his head down to my shoulder. “How are you feeling?” I ask studying my wife who seems to get more beautiful every day.
“Tired but okay.” She sighs. “How much longer until her room’s done?” she asks, rubbing her belly.
I rest my hand over hers there. “Not much longer. It will be done before she gets here.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” she says, and I grin.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen you sneaking in there at night.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Babe, I’ve seen you.”
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes then settles herself sideways against me so as not to disturb Gino. “You know, if we have another baby after this one, we’re going to have to build again.”
At her words, I look back at the house. We added onto it just about two years ago, when we were just talking about having a child and starting a family. At the time, we added on another room with a Jack and Jill bath downstairs, along with a master bedroom, leaving the loft and turning that into a family room. We also expanded the living room and the kitchen and added a dining room, but even with all of that extra square footage, she’s right. If we have another baby, we’re going to have to add another room.
“When the time comes, we’ll deal with that,” I mutter, not wanting to think about it right now. Construction the first time around had been a pain in the ass, and I can’t imagine it would be any different the second. Actually, it would probably be worse, seeing as we will have two kids.
“Are you two gonna stay out here a while?” I ask after a few minutes, and she nods. “All right, take him, baby. I’m going to go back in and finish up what I was doing.” I hand her over Gino, who had fallen asleep, then give her a quick kiss and stand, watching her lie down with our boy, his tiny body tucked close to hers. Seeing they are good, I head back inside and get back to work finishing up my daughter’s room.
Which is a good thing, since later that night, Gia goes into labor and our daughter Gracie is born.
~**~
With Gia next to me in her rocker, Gracie in one arm, and Gino in the other, I rock both my babies, watching the sun start to set.
“I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing you with our babies,” Gia whispers, and I look at her warm eyes and feel my chest get tight. “I love you, Colton.”
Fuck.
I got lucky the day she moved to town. Luckier still the day she agreed to be my wife. And even luckier the days she gave me my son and then our daughter. I keep waiting for my luck to run out, but with her, I doubt it ever will.
“Love you too, baby,” I say, and she leans over, kissing my jaw then mouth. Yes, I’m goddamn lucky.
Gia
One year later
Hearing Colton shut the door to our room, I watch him set the baby monitor on the bedside table then take off his shirt and jeans. He pulls back the covers and gets into bed. Tugging me against his chest, I rest my arm over his abs then tip my head back. “Are they asleep?”
“Yep,” he replies, turning off the lamp on his side of the bed.
“Good.” I rest my head back down against his chest and start to close my eyes.
“Are you happy, baby?”
Squeezing his middle, I lift my head to look at him through the dark. “How could I not be happy? You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted, even the things I didn’t know I wanted,” I tell him, and his muscles under my arm tense. “Are you happy?”
“Fuck yeah.” His answer is immediate and firm, and my forehead drops to his chest. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper against his skin before he drags me up his body using his hands under my arms. Once he has me where he wants me, he kisses me then shows me with his hands, mouth, and body just how much he loves me. And when he’s done, I know it’s a lot.
~**~
“No, no, no, no!” Gino shouts, and I look at my husband, who is grinning at our boy and watching him with his finger out shaking his hand at me.
“Who in the world taught him that word?” I ask, and Colton turns to look at me and grins even bigger.
“My guess is he learned it from you, since you tell him no all the time.”
“Uh, yeah, when he’s trying to do something he shouldn’t be doing, like jump off the arm of the couch, shove anything he can find into the electrical sockets, pulling the air vents out of the floor, or drop whatever he can get his hands on down said air vents. Or when he takes a mouthful of water and spits it out on the floor then tries to lick it up saying ‘puppy.’”
“See? You tell him no a lot,” he laughs, and I look at my son and sigh, and then look at my daughter and watch her studying her brother in utter fascination. Colton’s mom calls the kids Irish twins, since they are so close in age. We didn’t plan it like that. Gracie was a complete surprise to us. A good one, but still, we were not expecting to get pregnant right after Gino was born. Not that I would change a thing, but really, with the kids so close together, they are a handful, especially since Gracie wants to do everything her brother does. Which is exactly the thing she shouldn’t be doing.
Pulling my eyes from my daughter, I look at my husband then our son and close my eyes briefly, saying a silent thank you to whoever is up there watching over me. I really do have it all. I might have fallen fast, but I fell right into the perfect life.
The End
Colton
Three years later
“COME ON. YOU CAN do it,” Gia says, and our eleven-month-old son Gino smiles a toothless smile at his mom and takes another step, wobbling when his feet find purchase. “There you go. You got this,” she urges excitedly, getting up on her knees, and he takes another step then falls forward into her chest, giggling.
Seeing that, I smile and make my way toward them, with Loki following behind me, and Reggie, our newest pup, following behind him. I reach the edge of the blanket Gia laid out on the ground in the grass under one of the trees in the yard, and sit down behind her. I drag her back between my spread legs, resting my hands on her round stomach where our daughter is growing.
“Hey.” She smiles, looking over her shoulder at me, and I kiss the side of her neck then listen to her laugh as Gino crawls over her to get to me.
Once he’s in my arms, his tiny hands come to my cheeks and he studies me like he always does. Looking into his eyes, which are the same color as his mom’s, I smile, and he returns it then pats my cheek, dropping his head down to my shoulder. “How are you feeling?” I ask studying my wife who seems to get more beautiful every day.
“Tired but okay.” She sighs. “How much longer until her room’s done?” she asks, rubbing her belly.
I rest my hand over hers there. “Not much longer. It will be done before she gets here.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” she says, and I grin.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen you sneaking in there at night.”
“I don’t do that.”
“Babe, I’ve seen you.”
“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes then settles herself sideways against me so as not to disturb Gino. “You know, if we have another baby after this one, we’re going to have to build again.”
At her words, I look back at the house. We added onto it just about two years ago, when we were just talking about having a child and starting a family. At the time, we added on another room with a Jack and Jill bath downstairs, along with a master bedroom, leaving the loft and turning that into a family room. We also expanded the living room and the kitchen and added a dining room, but even with all of that extra square footage, she’s right. If we have another baby, we’re going to have to add another room.
“When the time comes, we’ll deal with that,” I mutter, not wanting to think about it right now. Construction the first time around had been a pain in the ass, and I can’t imagine it would be any different the second. Actually, it would probably be worse, seeing as we will have two kids.
“Are you two gonna stay out here a while?” I ask after a few minutes, and she nods. “All right, take him, baby. I’m going to go back in and finish up what I was doing.” I hand her over Gino, who had fallen asleep, then give her a quick kiss and stand, watching her lie down with our boy, his tiny body tucked close to hers. Seeing they are good, I head back inside and get back to work finishing up my daughter’s room.
Which is a good thing, since later that night, Gia goes into labor and our daughter Gracie is born.
~**~
With Gia next to me in her rocker, Gracie in one arm, and Gino in the other, I rock both my babies, watching the sun start to set.
“I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing you with our babies,” Gia whispers, and I look at her warm eyes and feel my chest get tight. “I love you, Colton.”
Fuck.
I got lucky the day she moved to town. Luckier still the day she agreed to be my wife. And even luckier the days she gave me my son and then our daughter. I keep waiting for my luck to run out, but with her, I doubt it ever will.
“Love you too, baby,” I say, and she leans over, kissing my jaw then mouth. Yes, I’m goddamn lucky.
Gia
One year later
Hearing Colton shut the door to our room, I watch him set the baby monitor on the bedside table then take off his shirt and jeans. He pulls back the covers and gets into bed. Tugging me against his chest, I rest my arm over his abs then tip my head back. “Are they asleep?”
“Yep,” he replies, turning off the lamp on his side of the bed.
“Good.” I rest my head back down against his chest and start to close my eyes.
“Are you happy, baby?”
Squeezing his middle, I lift my head to look at him through the dark. “How could I not be happy? You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted, even the things I didn’t know I wanted,” I tell him, and his muscles under my arm tense. “Are you happy?”
“Fuck yeah.” His answer is immediate and firm, and my forehead drops to his chest. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper against his skin before he drags me up his body using his hands under my arms. Once he has me where he wants me, he kisses me then shows me with his hands, mouth, and body just how much he loves me. And when he’s done, I know it’s a lot.
~**~
“No, no, no, no!” Gino shouts, and I look at my husband, who is grinning at our boy and watching him with his finger out shaking his hand at me.
“Who in the world taught him that word?” I ask, and Colton turns to look at me and grins even bigger.
“My guess is he learned it from you, since you tell him no all the time.”
“Uh, yeah, when he’s trying to do something he shouldn’t be doing, like jump off the arm of the couch, shove anything he can find into the electrical sockets, pulling the air vents out of the floor, or drop whatever he can get his hands on down said air vents. Or when he takes a mouthful of water and spits it out on the floor then tries to lick it up saying ‘puppy.’”
“See? You tell him no a lot,” he laughs, and I look at my son and sigh, and then look at my daughter and watch her studying her brother in utter fascination. Colton’s mom calls the kids Irish twins, since they are so close in age. We didn’t plan it like that. Gracie was a complete surprise to us. A good one, but still, we were not expecting to get pregnant right after Gino was born. Not that I would change a thing, but really, with the kids so close together, they are a handful, especially since Gracie wants to do everything her brother does. Which is exactly the thing she shouldn’t be doing.
Pulling my eyes from my daughter, I look at my husband then our son and close my eyes briefly, saying a silent thank you to whoever is up there watching over me. I really do have it all. I might have fallen fast, but I fell right into the perfect life.
The End
