And, as she fell asleep in my arms, just before I woke her up to do it all over again, I knew without a doubt I was going to spend the rest of my life loving this woman.
Epilogue 1
Addy
Two months later…
Over the last week, as we’d all gathered to celebrate my birthday, I’d gotten to know not just Marcus’s brothers and parents but all of his cousins, too.
He wasn’t kidding when he’d said there were a lot of them and that they were keeping the world populated. I wasn’t against spending time with people, but even I felt overwhelmed periodically by them all.
Today was his grandad’s birthday, so we’d all gathered in one of the fields to watch him blow out the candles on one of the most enormous cakes I’d ever seen. I guess when you had this many people eating it, you needed to get the oversized version of a birthday cake.
Glancing around the crowd of people now eating their slices, a thought occurred to me. A lot of people meant there were a lot of birthdays. Not only was I going to have to buy a calendar to mark them all on so I didn’t forget, but I was also going to have to buy cards for special occasions in bulk to make sure I didn’t leave anyone out.
“It’s okay,” one of the wives, Luna, whispered next to me. “You’ll get used to having so many of us around. I mean, I grew up with them all, and even after all of these years, I find moments like this overwhelming. I figure that’ll go away at some point.”
Just then, one of the kids ran past us, cake smashed in his hair, and I’m fairly sure it was wedged in his ear.
“That sounds promising,” I told her, crossing my fingers and holding them up. “Let’s hope I survive it until that happens.”
Bursting out laughing, she turned to say something else and then winced when she saw something over my shoulder. That something was Hurst waving everyone closer to him.
Joining the others where they were gathering in front of him, I smiled at the rest of the little Townsend kids milling around on the grass, Nonna joining them in the games they were playing like the big kid she was. She’d canceled a date to be here today, but I don’t think she wasn’t too upset about it judging by the size of the smile on her face.
The good news was that she’d dropped her English issues for good now that I was living with Marcus, but I’d mentioned she might want to keep them handy for if Adia or Dan ever moved into the property next to hers.
Beside me, Remy stayed quiet as he lightly bounced a sleeping Toby around in the baby carrier strapped to his chest.
I felt for the guy. He’d been so out of his depth, and if it hadn’t been for his and Marcus’s families as well as Santana, God knows what he’d have done when Toby came along.
Slowly but surely, he was finding his way into parenthood, one sleepless stumble after another. Things seemed to have begun to settle between him and my new best friend, too, and although she was keeping him at a distance, Santana no longer looked like she was about to explode when they were around each other.
Stroking my hand over Toby’s silky soft dark hair, I smiled when he pursed his lips. “I think he’s having milk dreams.”
“I wish he’d have them at night instead of during the day when the rest of us are awake.”
Yeah, Toby was shit at sleeping at night, this we all knew well, and the poor guy looked exhausted. Santana had been helping him out with the nighttime issues until a couple of weeks ago when she’d begun going back to her cabin. I knew she was doing it to protect herself from him.
If you asked me, they both hated to love each other and hated to hate each other. It was a no-win situation unless Remy pulled his head out of his ass and saw what he had in front of him. Then again, I was sure he already knew what he had in front of him, he was just too afraid to reach for it.
“Want me to take him tonight so you can get a full night’s sleep?”
He looked like he was about to reply, but then he glanced over at where the Townsend kids were and shook his head. “Nah. Maybe one night, but not tonight. I can handle it.”
I was about to suggest him asking Santana when someone clapped behind me, getting my attention.
“We called you all here today for something special,” Jackson shouted to the group. A look around showed Marcus standing at the edge of us all, his eyes on the kids. “My brother—the ugly twin—has organized something special.”