The Inevitable

“But sometimes, our choices are deadly.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “But in our case, they weren’t our choices. My dad chose to put us in the car and drive drunk, and Miguel chose to pull that trigger. They don’t deserve to be let off the hook. They made those choices, not us.”

I lean forward and nuzzle my face in Sierra’s neck, so fucking thankful for her. “You’re perfect,” I murmur. “Don’t ever leave me, please. I need you. Forever.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she says, lifting my face and kissing me hard. “It’s like you said. You and me… we’re inevitable.”

Epilogue

Sierra

Five Years Later

“Holy shit.” I stare down at the test, then look up at my sister. “Tell me I’m reading this wrong.”

Blakely laughs. “Sure, you’re reading it wrong…and so am I.”

My head pops up. “You’re…”

She nods. “Yep.”

“Babe!” Kolton yells from outside my back office. “Get out here. We need to celebrate! I ordered some apps and drinks.”

“I’ll be right out,” I yell back even though the last place I want to be is out there, in my new restaurant, smelling all that food and not being able to have a single drink.

Blakely giggles. “I can’t believe this is happening…again.”

“That’s what we get for marrying brothers.”

We both walk outside to find our families sitting at the table. Kolton and Keegan are each nursing a beer while Zane plays a game on his phone.

“Mom! Can I borrow your phone?” Colby, Kolton’s and my four-year-old son, asks. “Mine is dead.”

“Mine is too!” Finn, Blakely and Keegan’s son, who is also four years old, says.

That’s right. A couple of months after I moved in with Kolton, and Blakely moved in with Keegan, we both found out we were pregnant and due the same week. Neither of our guys knew, but they found out at the same time when they both proposed together.

Six months later, we were married on Cocoa Beach alongside each other, and three months after that, we both gave birth to our little boys only three days apart.

“There she is,” Kolton says, wrapping his arms around me. “That article in Foodie is amazing! And the critique was right on all accounts.”

I smile, replaying the article in my head. When I found out a food critic had stopped by anonymously, I freaked out. What he wrote and published could make or break me. But Kolton told me it would be okay. What I’ve built here is solid, and I had nothing to worry about. The article came out today, and he was right. The critic loved the restaurant and gave it three Michelin stars, the highest compliment a restaurant can receive.

I’m so proud of what I’ve created, but I’m also scared. It took four years of saving to come up with enough down payment for a loan to open my own restaurant. I decided to buy one that was failing and resurrect it. I couldn’t do it with The Orange Sunrise since it closed less than a year after I predicted it would. I had just given birth and wasn’t in a position to save it.

I’d busted my ass for almost a year getting the restaurant ready, and for the past six months since it opened, I’ve been working even harder to make it a success… only to find out tonight that I’m expecting again. I knew it was a possibility, but I kind of thought it would take a little longer than a month for it to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited, but I have no clue how I’m going to juggle running a new restaurant, raising a four-year-old, and being a wife while baking another little one in my oven.

“We have shots,” Keegan says, handing one to Blakely and me.

“To Sierra,” Kolton says. “For following her dreams.” He leans over and kisses my cheek. “I knew you could do it, baby. I’m so damn proud of you.”

The guys both throw back their shots and then look at Blakely and me in confusion when neither of us does the same.

“What’s wrong?” Keegan asks Blakely.

“I’m pregnant,” she blurts out.

“What?” His entire face lights up. “Are you serious?” He stands and pulls her into his arms. “Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about.” He releases her and glances at his brother. “Looks like you owe me a hundred bucks.”

“For what?” Blakely asks.

“I knocked you up first.” Keegan shrugs.

“You bet on which one of us would get pregnant first?” Blakely laughs, smacking her husband in the chest.

“The other night while we were watching the game, Kolton mentioned they were trying again, and I told him we were too, so we made a friendly wager… Whoever’s sperm was stronger wins.”

Blakely snorts out a laugh, glancing at me knowingly.

“I’m pregnant too,” I announce.

Kolton’s eyes go wide before a shit-eating grin spreads across his face. “You’re pregnant?” He looks from me to Blakely and back to me again. “You’re both pregnant.”