271. Bonus chapter - Rhicard

271. Bonus chapter - Rhicard
Harllow’s eyes go wide as she sees the pink bike Emily just brought her. Pure joy reflects in her eyes, but then, she looks at Allissa. 
“Can I, Mommy?” she asks. “I’ve been really good.” 
The corners of Allissa’s mouth twitch before she replies. “You have,” she agrees, “so I suppose you can keep your gift.” 
Harlow jumps into Allissa’s arms. “You are the best mom in the entire world!” she proclaims loudly before running to ride her new bike. 
It’s been a couple of days since we moved into our new house, and we are still organizing our things. Emily has offered to keep an eye on Harllow as we get everything in order. 
“You shouldn’t have,” Allissa tells Emily. 
My daughter laughs. “Harllow is my sister, and as her bigger sister, it is my job to spoil her rotten.” 
I look at these two women who mean everything to me. I exist so I can love them and do everything in my power to make them happy. 
Eleanore used my depression against me to make me think it was best if we kept our distance from Emily and let her figure her life out. 
Rin told me everything Emily hadn’t not long ago. I failed her. I am her father, the one who should have protected her, and I wasn’t there when she needed me the most. 
I hate myself for it, but I’m determined to do better, so I’ll never fail her again. Nor anyone else. 
My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket. 
Ander. 
“I need to take this call,” I say as I step inside the house. 
Once I’m in a quiet place, I answer. “Hi, Ander.” 
He doesn’t bother with pleasantries. “I’m at your new house, but no one is home. I only wanted to drop a couple of my things for when… I’ll spend the night over.” 
Allissa hasn’t been the only one to have doubts about starting to date Ander. He felt the same. Just like Eleanore, his late wife was a narcissist. And a drug addict on top of that. He lost a son because of her, and barely speaks to his other son. 
“We are over at my daughter’s house. We will be there in about twenty minutes. Can you wait?” 
Ander takes a couple of seconds to think then says, “I have nothing better to do.” 
I return to the back porch, where Allissa and Emily are. 
“It was Ander,” I tell Allissa. Her caramel eyes shine brightly at the mention of his name. “He stopped by the house, but he doesn’t have a key. He’s waiting for us.”
Allissa looks at Harllow, who is clearly enjoying her new bike. Her turns her attention to Emily. “Can you watch her for a couple of hours?” Allissa asks my daughter. 
Emily pats Allissa’s hand. “I would love to. Roman and Harper are napping and when they wake up, I will give them some snacks and maybe watch some cartoons.” 
Allissa gives Emily a hug. “Thank you so much. You are the best.” 
When we arrive home, we find Ander in his car, reading. When he’s not hunting down Dukes, he always has his nose buried in a book. 
I knock on his window. When he rolls it down, I say, “We are here.” 
“I can see that,” he muses before rolling the window back up and getting out of the car. He’s not a man of many words, but he’s a good man. I trust him with Allissa and Harllow. “I wouldn’t have come today, but you two insisted that I start spending at least two nights over so I thought it would make sense if I brought over some change of clothes and other items,” he explains as he grabs a duffle bag from his trunk. 
Allissa presses her lips to his cheek and I swear his eyes flashes red. “You don’t have to explain yourself. I am happy you want to spend a couple of days each week with us. When all of us are more comfortable, maybe we will consider the option of you moving in permanently with us.” 
“It might take me a while to even start entertaining the idea of moving in with anyone. A long while, to be honest. Roxanne really fucked me up.” 
“There’s no need to rush anything. We will take things at our own pace,” Allissa promises. 
We enter the house and Ander spends the night with us. Since Emily organized a pajama party for Harllow and Harper, Ander and don’t hold back with Allissa and we fuck her until she’s too sore to move. 
In the morning, when I wake up, Allissa is not in bed. 
Ander wakes up when I get up to look for Allissa. I find her in the living room, on the sofa, her leg tucked under her, crying. She quickly wipes her tears away from her face when she sees me. 
“What’s wrong?” I ask her after I sit next to her. 
“Nothing is wrong,” she lies. 
“Allissa,” I sigh.
She places her hand on top of mine and says, “I will talk when I am ready.” 
I press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Allissa. Whatever it is, you have me to protect you.” 
She places her palm against my cheek, but before she can say anything else, Ander marches inside the living room holding something in his hand. 
“You’re pregnant,” he says. It’s not a question. 
Allissa pales. “How do you…?” She blinks several times. “Why were you looking through the trash can?” 
My ears start to ring, and my heart starts to pound fast. Allissa is pregnant. 
“Old habit,” Ander replies. “When were you going to tell us?”
“I don’t know how it happened. I always made sure to take my pill on time. But I’ve been feeling off for a couple of weeks now.” Allissa presses her lips together before she says, “I took the test this morning. I… I was scared,” she admits. 
Ander’s eyebrows shoot up. “Scared? Scared of what?” 
“Of your reaction,” she says. “I know you are not ready for a real commitment and… and being pregnant complicates everything. It’s too early… this is unplanned. Maybe it will be for the best to get an abortion.” 
Ander sits next to Allissa and pulls her into his lap. “You will most certainly not get an abortion.” 
“And what are we supposed to do?” Allissa inquires. “This is too soon, too fast…” 
“We will get married,” Ander says as a matter of fact. “
“This is madness,” Allissa mumbles, but she never once says that she doesn’t want to marry us. 
I jump to my feet. “I will be back in a moment.” 
I rush to my study and grab the engagement ring I bought Allissa not long after I realized she is my hellstar, and rush back to the living room. 
When Ander sees the small, black velvet box in my hand, he puts Allissa on the sofa and gets on one knee at the same time I do. 
“Allissa, meeting you has brought me so much joy. You are the love of my life, the best thing that has ever happened to me. And now that you are pregnant… I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you and our child,” I say. 
“We haven’t been together for a long time,” Ander says next, “but I’ve never been more alive than when I am with you. Marry us. The rest,” he shrugs, “we have the rest of our lives to figure it out.” 
Tears fill Allissa’s eyes as she says, “Yes, I will marry you. I love you both.” 

I don't know if anyone would be interested in his life, but I thought it would be nice to write his HEA as well.