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EXTENDED EPILOGUE - CAMILLE
Two Months Later
Haley rocked Everly while I tried to get Thea to take her bottle. In the last two months, the twins had been nothing but trouble. I loved them
to death and I would do anything for them, but they were trouble.
It wasn’t a normal day if one of them wasn’t refusing to take a bottle. I had called Haley more than once in tears, begging for her help. Haley had always answered every late night call, giving me every tip and trick that she could.
“I don’t know why you won’t just take your bottle,” I said softly. Thea gurgled at me and swatted at the bottle. “Of course not. Your loss.”
Haley laughed and shook her head. “Trinity went through those periods too. I had a hell of a time getting her to take her bottle when she was three months old. I felt like I was going insane because I was spending my day arguing with a baby.”
“I don’t know what I would do without your help.”
“You would have figured it out,” Leigh said as she walked over and dropped into the other empty chair. “You’re a capable woman who kicks ass on the regular.”
I rolled my eyes and looked around Leigh and Clarke’s backyard. Clarke was working the grill while Drew and Tyson played football with Trinity. Trinity was tucked under Drew’s arm like she was the football. She had the actual football clutched in her hands, cackling like it was the best game in the world.
Mom was sitting by herself beneath a tree, reading her book and looking up every now and then. I knew that she was struggling with staying sober. She had been going to meetings more frequently but she was determined not to let herself relapse.
Drew and I supported her in any way that we could. I wanted her to stay clean, but I knew that addictions were never that simple.
She was trying though. It meant more to me than she would ever know. “So,” Leigh said as she reached into the pocket of her dress. “I might have
some news.”
She pulled out two small envelopes and handed them to us. I opened the envelope and squealed, looking down at the sonogram. Haley’s squeal quickly followed my own as Leigh grinned.
“I’m going to be having a little boy,” she said, her smile growing wider. “We found out that we were pregnant a few weeks ago. Found out the gender two days ago.”
“Congratulations!” I said, holding Thea with one arm as I got up to give Leigh a hug. “I can’t believe you’re about to have the first little boy in the family.”
“I know.” She ran her hand over her stomach, a loving look on her face. “I didn’t think that it was going to happen. We’ve been trying since Drew started with the company.”
I glanced over at Drew, laughing when he stuck his tongue out at me. He
tossed Trinity in the air and caught her before sprinting away with her and the ball again. Tyson rolled his eyes as Trinity and Drew got another point.
“So,” Leigh said as the men gathered around where we were sitting. Mom followed behind them, keeping her distance even though she looked like she was having a good time. “We’re here to celebrate a year of Drew at Crestwood Capital as well as adding a new addition to our growing family.”
As she spoke, I heard car doors slamming. Leigh and Clarke’s parents came around the corner of their house first. Tyson’s family trailed behind them and Haley’s family came after with Jessie sprinting behind them. They were all smiling as they joined us.
Jessie scooped up Thea and her bottle, easily getting the cranky baby to start drinking. I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. Over the last couple months, Jessie and I had formed a fast friendship. She was a great aunt to the girls and always willing to babysit.
“Like I said”—Leigh gave a pointed look to the late family members but her tone was teasing—“before you guys decided to finally show up, we are celebrating Drew’s anniversary with Crestwood Capital.”
“Congratulations,” everyone shouted as Drew lifted his beer in a salute. “With that being said,” Leigh said, her voice rising above the noise of the
crowd, “Clarke and I want to do Christmas at our house this year. The entire family is invited to stay for the week. We have more than enough room for everybody between the main house and the couple of guest houses built further back on the property.”
Everybody started talking at once. It was wild and chaotic, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.
Watching our families all blend together into one giant family was all that I had ever wanted.
“How are you doing?” Drew asked, his voice barely more than a whisper in my ear as he stood behind my chair.
I leaned back slightly and tilted my head to look at him. “I love this. Did you ever think that our family would look like this?”
“I never thought that I would have any family other than Jessie.” He kissed my temple, a serene smile spreading over his face. “I’m glad I was wrong.”
I was glad that he was wrong too. Even though there were a lot of people all trying to talk over each other, I loved every second of it. This was everything that I had been missing in my life.
This was the start of our collective forever. Drew and I had come from broken homes and built a family around us. I was proud of all that we had accomplished together.
As I looked over my shoulder at him, taking in his smile before looking at our daughters and the love they had in their lives, I knew that sneaking around the office with my boss was the best choice I had ever made.