I giggled. “How about, we’re perfect for each other? How’s that sound?”
He nuzzled my eyes back up to meet his gaze. “I’ll take it.”
He brought me back in for another kiss, and I let it sweep me off my feet. I allowed myself to get lost in the taste of him. The feel of him. The strength of him, as I sat there in his lap. The faint singing of Asia upstairs as she put on a little show for herself backdropped his hand splaying against my stomach. He massaged my skin slowly, and I placed my hand on top of his so we could both cradle the newest addition to our patchwork family.
Then, Gavin kissed down my neck before he turned his attention to my little baby belly.
“Hello there. It’s me. Daddy. I know we’ve only just met, but I can’t wait to kiss your little cheeks. You’re going to be so loved, and your big sister, Asia, is going to want to teach you about everything. I hope you’re ready for lots of glitter, though. Because she’s a big fan of it.”
Tears rushed my eyes as he continued whispering his little conversation to my stomach. I inched myself back over into my chair, and he got down onto his knees, coming eye-level with my bellybutton. He rolled up my shirt and kissed my skin, sending shivers spiraling throughout my body.
And the more he spoke to our little unborn baby, the more I fell in love with him.
Watching him press kisses against my belly helped me to realize things would be okay. Hearing him talk about our little family, ready to welcome this child into the world, aided in cementing all of the things he had told me yesterday. No longer were they fantasy. No longer was the life I wanted to live out of reach for me. At last, I had finally found what I had been looking for all this time—a man to love, a family to protect, and a future to look forward to.
Everything is going to be okay.
And even though I didn’t know how we’d tell Asia, or how we’d break it to family, or even how we’d tell the public, I knew one thing was for certain—no matter what came our way, Gavin would walk us through it.
Epilogue
Gavin
One Year Later
“Andcut! Good job today, everybody! Go home and be with your families!”
I stood and clapped my hands before I slid out of my director’s chair. Everyone whooped and hollered as we finished up the last day of filming on my studio’s first-ever project. The main cast came by and high-fived me and patted me on the back. The stagehands gave me thumbs-ups and smiles as I passed them, thanking them for the hard work they had put into this movie set.
And as everyone wished one another a beautiful holiday season, I heard my daughter yelling for me in the distance.
“Daddy! Are you coming home now?”
I whipped around and saw Asia rushing for me with a massive smile on her face. And in tow were the two other leading ladies in my life. Eva, who had grown into her post-baby curves in ways that made me salivate at night, and Asana, our bouncing, beautiful infant baby girl.
“Oh, come here, you big girl,” I groaned as I hoisted Asia against me.
She hugged my neck tightly and peppered kisses along my cheek as Eva smiled at me. She lit up a room every time she walked into it, but seeing her cradling our precious little Asana made my heart fill with delight.
“Hey there, handsome. Heard you were wrapping up something big today. Thought we’d come to surprise you,” Eva said.
I kissed her delicate lips before Asia wiggled her way down. “And who is this beautiful little thing? Hi there, baby girl. How are you? Did you sleep for Mommy this morning?”
Eva passed me our three-month-old daughter, and I felt myself falling in love all over again. She had a mound of blond hair on top of her head like my own, but she got her crisp green eyes from her mother. She came out with them, and I knew she’d be stuck with them, and the way my daughter smiled up at me while in my arms made my heart melt all over again.
“I love you so much,” I whispered.
I kissed her chubby little cheek before I handed her back to Eva, then I scooped Asia into my arms once more. She was much too big to be carrying around, but so long as my daughter wanted to be held, I’d be pumping iron in the gym and gaining muscles in order to make it happen. She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed, and the heat of her breath reminded me of all the glorious things that had happened over the past year.
Eva had given birth to a healthy baby girl.
Asia had settled into school, as well as her big sister role.
And me, opening up my own filming studio in Miami.
Everything seemed perfect in our lives, except for one thing.
“So,” Eva said as she cleared her throat, “for the fourth time today, Jorge has called me to figure out what in the world our Thanksgiving plans are. And I hope you have an answer for him because I’m about to block his number. She said it with the coolest smile against her cheeks, and I almost barked with laughter.
