Epilogue

Atilla

Four Months Later

 

I could hear the laughter in the living room and couldn’t wait to rejoin my family. I’d already popped one bag of kettle corn, and I was waiting for a second one to finish. Once I’d poured both into a bowl, I grabbed the little plastic basket of drinks. On the nights Casey and Becca joined us, I’d found it easier to cart everything around at one time instead of making multiple trips to the kitchen.

Lena’s ankles were swollen already, and she’d had a scare two weeks ago with some spotting. The doctor said she needed to take it easy, so I’d taken over most of the cooking and cleaning. Casey pitched in when she could, and even Meredith stopped by now and then with a casserole for dinner.

“Bottled water for everyone except me,” I said, setting the basket down.

“Aww.” Santiago pouted. “I wanted a soda.”

“Not tonight. It’s too close to bedtime,” I said. “You can have one with lunch tomorrow.”

“Yeah! No school tomorrow.” Nora grinned. While she’d made a lot of progress, and even had friends at school, she still preferred being home with us. I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

“Dad, can you give Becca her bottle?” Casey asked, shoving her hand into the bowl of popcorn.

I held my hands out for my little granddaughter. At five months, she could roll over, get up on her hands and knees, and babbled at anyone who would listen. She rocked back and forth, and I held my breath, wondering if this would be the time she decided to crawl. Instead, she fell back to her belly.

I scooped Becca off the floor and took the bottle from Casey. Judging by the thickness, I knew this one had cereal mixed in. Little Becca had developed bad reflux, and this was the only way she could keep her food down. Once she’d reached a month old, Casey had switched her to formula at the doctor’s recommendation. Since then, Becca had grown rapidly.

I held her in the crook of my arm and fed her while everyone laughed at the cartoon playing on the TV. Lena leaned against me and I smiled down at her. With her stomach starting to round, I found her more and more beautiful with every passing day. I couldn’t wait for our family to expand.

“Mom, when can we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl?” Santiago asked.

I smirked, looking at my woman. We hadn’t told anyone yet, but it seemed like tonight would be the perfect time.

“Actually, you’re not getting a brother or sister,” Lena said.

Casey snorted. “What is it? A puppy?”

“No, smartass,” I muttered.

“It’s one of each.” Lena smiled. “We’re having twins!”

“Are you kidding?” Casey’s eyes went wide. “Where are you going to put them?”

“Nora and I can share a room,” Santiago said.

“No. You’re both going to be too old for that. You’ll want your own space when you’re teenagers.” I burped Becca and handed her back to Casey, along with the empty bottle. “We’re going to move.”

“What?” Santiago looked stricken, and Nora reached over to grab his hand.

I’d known he wouldn’t handle the news well. Both of them didn’t need a lot of changes right now. This was the first home they’d had that was a truly safe space for them. I could understand why they wouldn’t want to give it up. And I knew Casey liked being across the street.

“We’re just going to have a new house built down the street. You know the empty spot in the curve of the road?” I asked, nodding my head in the general direction I meant. “We’ll put a house there for all of us.”

“What about Casey?” Nora asked.

“Well… I thought she might like to move into this house.” My oldest daughter’s eyes misted with tears and she gave me a smile. A quick nod was all I needed from her. It was the best way I could think of to not only take care of her and Becca, but also ensure Santiago and Nora wouldn’t feel like they’d lost this house. At least, not right now. If Casey settled down with someone later on, then things might change.

“I’ll even keep a room for you,” Casey said. “That way you can come spend the night whenever you want.”

“You get to decorate your new rooms however you want,” Lena said. “And you can help us decide on the layout of the new home. Your dad has a few sets of plans we can look at tomorrow.”

“All right.” Nora released Santiago’s hand and went back to eating popcorn. It seemed that was good enough for her. Our son, on the other hand…

“You okay, Santi?” I asked.

“Yeah. But what happens if you have more babies?” he asked.

“The doctor said there’s only two,” Lena assured him.

“Not now. I meant later,” he said.

“I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” And I would, right after our babies were born safely. I didn’t want to get snipped before then, just in case anything went wrong. Especially after the spotting scare. If there was even a chance she could lose the babies, I’d hold off. Even though we hadn’t planned for the twins, I didn’t want to rob Lena of the opportunity to have more children if that’s what she wanted. “The five of you are more than enough for us.”

The kids went back to watching the movie. I felt Lena lean into me a little more and realized she’d fallen asleep. She did that frequently these days, just nodded off out of the blue. As for me, I watched Casey and little Becca. I couldn’t have been prouder of my family. I had an amazing woman who wrangled the kids like a pro, a daughter who was doing an incredible job raising her baby, and two little kids who surprised me every day with the things they learned.

It was my hope that one day every brother in my club would know this sort of happiness. Even the ones who didn’t seem eager to go find a woman would eventually fall for someone. I’d already scaled back on a lot of the shit the club had been involved in over the last few years. We’d also started several legit businesses around town, and I planned to open even more.

The Savage Raptors had been my family for a long time. I loved my brothers and wanted the best for each of them. Just like the family sitting in the living room with me… I only wanted good things for them.

We’d all had a rocky start, but every day was better than the last.

“Love you,” I said to all the kids.

Casey smiled. “We love you too, Dad.”

Santiago nodded, and little Nora came running. She climbed onto my lap, and I hugged her tight.

If every night was like this one, then I’d die a happy man… because I’d found exactly what I’d been looking for.