Love You Always

Epilogue 2

Amelia

Ten years later

I watch our oldest daughter play in the yard. She’s so good with all her brothers and sisters.

“She looks more and more like you every day.” Ethan comes up behind me, brushing my hair off my shoulder to place a kiss on it. After all these years, he still can’t keep his hands off of me.

One of our two sons runs, jumping into the pool. His twin follows suit. The two of them are never far apart. I know they aren't our biological children, but I swear they look a lot like Ethan. It’s in the facial expressions and their mannerisms.

Ethan is such a hands-on, loving dad that they’ve picked up on these things from him. I almost can’t believe that we have five children now.

If you had told me ten years ago that I’d have five kids and another one on the way, I would have said you’d lost your damn mind. I didn’t even know how to truly love myself back then, until Ethan came into my life and showed me what unconditional love is.

I had no idea that being a mom and wife was my true calling. It really goes to show you that you never know what life will bring you. It also helps that I have a very rich husband who can afford to hire help around the house. It makes having all of these babies a million times easier.

I’m not ashamed that we have a nanny, chef, driver and whoever else we need to help out. Whatever frees up more time for me to spend with my family, I’ll take.

We also don’t tend to hire just anyone. The people that come to work with us are considered part of the family, too. At this point I think it’s considered more of a village than a family. I love and respect all of them. Each one of them has had a positive impact on our lives.

I know better than anyone that it’s not blood that makes you family. It’s the people that come into your life and want to be there because they choose to.

They want what’s best for you and truly love you. Those are the people I’ve learned to surround myself with. It may have taken me awhile to learn that I was worthy of love, but now I never second-guess it.

“Can I steal my wife away for lunch?” Ethan turns me in his arms. The curtains fall closed. I came in from the pool to rinse off. I can't be out in the sun and pool as long as everyone else. I am four months along and I get tired out easily after a morning of running around the yard and swimming.

“That sounds wonderful.” I know Juliet will keep an eye on all of the kids. Not to mention my oldest, June, can be a little mini mom at times. I am so proud of her. She’s never complained or whined when we decided to adopt more children.

She is kind and loving. She’s taken to each child, showing them nothing but love. They treat each other as brothers and sisters because that's what they are. It may not be by blood but it is by their bond to one another.

That’s not to say that they don't fight. They do, like normal brothers and sisters do. After July we exclusively adopted children. Ethan knew how important it was to me and never even hesitated.

This last pregnancy was a little bit of a surprise to all of us. A good one. I think this might be our last all around. Six kids can be a lot to handle when you want to make sure everyone gets the attention and love they deserve.

Ethan takes my hand, leading me out of our bedroom and down the hallway. I smile at all the pictures that line the walls. Some are pictures of us as a family and some are framed art that the kids have made over the years.

“You still enjoying it out here?” Ethan asks as we enter his office. He closes the door behind him, locking it. I think he’s planning to eat me along with lunch.

“I love it here. The city is just too busy for me now,” I admit. I laugh when I think back to everyone having a ‘sit down’ with me last year. We’d all been living on the same street for so long—Mia and Max, Kim and Kent—that when the idea came up of moving out of the city, they wanted everyone to go.

They thought I was going to be the one to put up a protest. I wasn't. We needed more room and the hustle and bustle of the city can be a lot with so many kids. I don’t care how many hands you have. Even Ethan’s mom and brother moved out here with us.