When we got home, the first thing we did was lay Claire and Brett in their respective cribs. At least for the foreseeable future, they’d be sharing a bedroom. Maybe when we expanded, they’d get their own rooms, but not for now.
“They look so precious,” I said.
Burke had his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me in tight. There was something about him—a certain nervous energy, I guess you could say—that had me curious, but I was so captivated by the kids right now that I didn’t ask him about it.
“And we’ll have many more nights like this,” he said. “Just one of many.”
I nodded quietly. And then I didn’t do anything at all.
I just looked at them resting, their little bodies bundled and wrapped up. How peaceful they looked. How joyful they looked. They could do anything and become anything. They had their entire lives ahead of them.
“I’ll be right back,” Burke said.
He kissed me on the top of the head and left me in peace. My stomach growled, and I was desperate for some food, but I nevertheless lingered for a couple seconds.
“I will make sure you never go without food, without shelter, or without love,” I said to the two of them. “You two are my everything. I will die for you. I will live for you. I will do everything I can for you.”
I picked each one up and gave them a gentle kiss on the forehead. And with that, I finally left the room, shutting it and exhaling.
For the first time since coming home, I was apart from them. And it would be all right.
I walked to the kitchen when I saw Burke standing there, his hands behind his back, a serious look on his face.
“Burke?”
“Emily,” he said, drawing a deep breath. “I have to admit, when you first reached out to me, I thought this would be the definition of temporary. Even when you proposed the job, I thought that I would merely provide you the sperm and move on, never to see you again. But as the days and weeks and months have gone by, I realize that that is not only not true, the complete opposite is the truth. I don’t want this to be temporary. I don’t want to never see you again. I want to see you every day. I want this to be…forever.”
He moved his hands from his back to the front. I saw there he had a small box. It started to come together, everything moving in slow motion.
He dropped to one knee. He lifted the box and opened it. Inside was one of the most beautiful rings I’d ever seen in my life, held by the most handsome man I had ever known.
“Emily Lorne, will you marry me?”
I sniffled.
“Of course!”
With that, Burke stood up, swept me up in a kiss, and squeezed me tight. We’d done it. We’d done the improbable. Not only was Burke going to be the father to my kids, he was going to be my husband.
“I love you, Emily.”
I looked up into the eyes of that handsome man. That future husband.
“And I love you, Burke.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
“Do you, Burke Reynolds, take Emily Lorne to be your wife?”
I stood in front of a pretty small crowd. Scott and Liam, along with their wives and kids, held our two children by their side. And that was it.
We only needed two witnesses, and we had plenty of them. We didn’t need an extravagant wedding. Emily’s mother was watching on video conference.
But none of that mattered to me. I didn’t need a grand wedding, and while Emily might at one point have envisioned that that would be the ideal, she had come around. Better for this moment to be about us and our love for each other than an enormous crowd.
“I do,” I said.
I looked into Emily’s eyes. They were watering, but there was a beauty to them that I hadn’t seen anywhere else or ever before. It was hard to describe, especially for a guy like me, but the best that I could say was that it was fucking touching as hell, beautiful and sweet.
I wasn’t going to cry. I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried. But I for damn sure felt the emotions stirring inside of me that might have made other people cry.
“And do you, Emily Lorne, take Burke Reynolds to be your husband?”
“I do,” she said, interrupting the officiant of the wedding.
Although I wasn’t going to cry, I found myself uncontrollably grinning.
Life was unexpectedly good. Right now in this moment.
There was nothing to be concerned with right now. We had hired security for the event. Snake was dead. DOM hadn’t gotten a call in a full year. Frankly, we were as good as retired at this point. We hadn’t dissolved the group yet—I guess that was something far easier said than done—but functionally, we were done.
And that meant that I could, for once, lose myself in the moment. I could lose myself in Emily’s eyes. I could lose myself in connecting with her.
“By the power of the state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”
The officiant hadn’t even gotten his words out when I took Emily in my arms, pulled her in close, and swept her off her feet for the most passionate kiss that I’d ever given. Hey, if I was going to be a dom, that extended to how I kissed my wife.
When we finally pulled back, Emily had the largest grin I had ever seen her wear. She looked so happy, so
