“It’s me,” I said, putting my hands up.
She lowered the gun, then dropped it entirely. She rushed toward me, tears running down her cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly, kissing her.
“What happened?”
“He— John, he—”
I looked down at the body of her uncle John. A gun lay beside him. I’d hardly known the man, but never in my wildest dreams would I have expected this from him. Grace, maybe? But John was always so quiet.
“Where’s Caleb?” I asked.
“He’s in the truck,” Piper said. She turned and hurried back to the truck. I followed. She opened the door and said, “It’s alright, Caleb. Grant’s here. We’re safe now.”
Caleb peeked out from the floor of the backseat. Seeing his tear stained face broke everything inside of me. Piper moved aside and Caleb climbed out of his hiding spot and into my arms.
Overhead, there was a helicopter, and, in the distance, I heard police sirens. Help was on the way.
We were going to be okay. But most of all, Piper and Caleb were safe.
Ooo000ooo
Grace was in tears, as was Nadia. From the sound of it, Nadia had no idea how bad things had gotten. She even tried talk to Piper, but Piper couldn’t bring herself to talk to anyone in her family. I couldn’t blame her. I wouldn’t trust them either.
Grace tried to pin everything on Piper, including John’s death. But Teddy questioned her, and it was a clear-cut case of self-defense. What we’d managed to piece together was that John had dropped Grace off at the hotel before heading to Russo’s. He saw my truck and went after Piper and Caleb, but Piper stood her ground.
He’d tried to take Caleb, but she wasn’t having any of it. She meant it when she said she’d do anything for that boy. If anyone had any doubts, well, that just about proved it.
Grace was taken away in handcuffs after questioning. Nadia was free to go, for now. As she was leaving the station, she stopped and said, “Piper, I’m sorry. It never should have come to this. I’ll leave you and Caleb alone.”
Piper scoffed and pulled Caleb closer to her. He buried his face into the crook of her neck, hiding from everyone. “It’s not me you should be apologizing to. It’s Caleb.”
Nadia nodded, then proceeded to leave the station. We were officially free to go, and as soon as we were able to leave, we did.
Tabby and Leah were waiting for us in the lobby. As soon as they saw us, they rushed forward. We were surrounded by a group hug. Leah stepped back and examined the bandage on my arm. “You need to get that checked out.”
I held up my hands. “Both Piper and I have been checked out at the hospital already. We’re fine. It’s just a surface wound. I’ve survived worse.”
She cocked her head to the side as if she didn’t believe me. But before heading to the station, all three of us had been checked over by EMTs. They’d taken Piper in for a CT Scan to make sure she didn’t have any serious head injuries. She’d busted her scalp open, but her brain was fine.
“I need to take care of these two.”
I reached for Piper’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze. Leah raised an eyebrow and smiled. She hugged me tightly, whispering in my ear, “See? I knew it! I was right.”
“You were,” I said softly.
She released me, and I could breathe again. “Still, both of you, go back to the doctor tomorrow. Just to be safe.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” Piper said with a smile.
“I just want to get this little guy home,” I said, taking Caleb from Piper. He fell into my arms like a lump, clearly exhausted, but too scared to sleep fully.
We left the station and piled into my truck. Piper relaxed into the seat and closed her eyes. I knew she had to be tired too. We all were.
“Where to?” I asked.
She glanced in the backseat at Caleb. “Do you want to go home or to my house?”
Caleb looked back at us with wide eyes. “Grant’s house.”
We laughed, and Piper started to say something, but I stopped her. “We can go to my place,” I said. “And hey, if you want to call it home, you’re free to do that too. Wherever you feel safest, little man.”
The silence was deafening as we drove, until Piper said, “I can’t believe they did all that just to get Andy’s land.”
“Right? Talk about greed.”
Teddy had found out - likely from Grace - that while everyone was in the playroom with Caleb on their visit, John and Thomas had set up some cameras around the property, and also looked in Caleb’s room. They unlocked the window while there. It had all been planned from the beginning, and they were working with Russo. The plan was to make Piper look incompetent, get custody of Caleb, and then Grace would sell the property to Russo, which she’d split with Thomas. Everyone was supposed to get rich off that deal. Everyone but Caleb, obviously.
Grace and the family had never intended to hurt Caleb, but Piper? They didn’t really seem to care what happened to her.
The snow finally stopped falling, but the earth was blanketed in white as we drove home. I’d meant it when I told them they could call my place home. It was meant for a family. Sure, it wasn’t as big as Andy’s place, but if Caleb didn’t feel safe there - and I couldn’t blame him if he didn’t - he had somewhere else to stay.
They were always welcome at my house.
They were part of my life now, and nothing in the world would change that.
Absolutely nothing would take them away from me again.
Epilogue
Piper - One Year Later
My eyes fluttered open against the bright morning light. A groan passed through my lips as I realized what had woken me. Staring down the length of my body, I saw Grant’s face buried between my thighs. He lifted his head and smiled. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning to you, sexy,” I said, running my hands through his hair. “But please, don’t let me stop you.”
He winked at me, then went back to what he was doing. I relaxed into the bed, letting the pleasure wash over me. His tongue always knew exactly the right spots to hit. He drove me absolutely crazy with that mouth of his.
Within minutes of waking, I was whimpering and grabbing the sheets, bucking upward as I came. I tried to be quiet, not wanting to wake Caleb, but damn, it was so hard when Grant made me feel as good as he did.
“Come here.” I motioned with a finger.
Grant moved up my body, lifting my nightshirt as he went and kissing the bare flesh of my slightly rounded belly. I was only a few months along, hardly noticeable to the naked eye yet, but Grant made sure to pay special attention to it every day. He stroked my tummy gently, giving my belly button a kiss.
If you’d have asked me a year before if I could see myself having Grant Barnes’ baby, I’d have said no way. He was my best friend’s brother, my childhood crush. And now he was my husband. We’d gotten married fairly quickly once I found out I was pregnant with his child, but we’d been talking about it for a while anyway. I didn’t need a big, fancy wedding, but Grant made sure to give me the best day of my life - until every day after. Being with him just felt right.
We were always like family, but now we made it official - and we had a family of our own. Caleb was excited to have a little brother or sister on the way. Yes, that’s what he called it. We were his mom and dad. His real dad would never be forgotten, of course, but as far as he was concerned, we were his family now. Therapy had helped him a lot and continued to help him deal with the trauma. For the most part, we were happy as could be.
Grant moved up even more, hovering above me. His bare skin pressed against mine as he kissed me. God, I loved this man.
“We don’t have much time. Come on,” I teased.
“Oh? Maybe we should just stop here and go in to work—”
I wrapped my legs around him, holding him against me, but he was sure to prop his weight on his straightened arms so he put no weight on my belly. “
You better not go anywhere until you make love to me.”
“Got it, Mrs. Barnes,” he said, kissing me deeply. His tongue swirled in my mouth, as our bodies became entwined. He thrust into me, and thankfully his mouth drowned out the groans of pleasure. Every inch of him filled me as he rocked slowly back and forth, moving in and out of me.
His lips left mine but soon found my neck. Every thrust into me, he groaned into my ear. He nibbled gently on the lobe, sending shivers throughout my body.
He took my hands in his, lacing his fingers through mine and pressing them against the bed on either side of us. Our bodies rocked back and forth in perfect harmony. Just as I felt that first wave of pleasure wash over me, promising me of more great things to come, he stopped.
“No, don’t stop,” I begged.
He grinned down at me, staring deep into my eyes. “Oh, we’re not done yet.”
He rolled over, taking me with him, until I was on top. I sat up, letting my nightshirt fall over my body. Grant was having none of that, however. He lifted the shirt, removing it and tossing it to the floor while I rode his cock. He pulled me down, taking a nipple into his mouth. He sucked it, sending pleasure straight from there down to my clit, causing me to cry out. My head fell forward as I rode him harder and faster.
“Oh God, yes,” I whimpered. “You feel so good inside me.”
I rocked back and forth, my clit rubbing against his pelvis and bringing me closer to the edge. His head fell back against the bed, and I fell along with him. My lips smashed into his, once again silencing the screams of pleasure that might accidently escape. With his hands on my hips, he guided me up and down on his cock, our breathing growing more and more ragged with each movement.
“I’m going to—” Before I could finish the sentence, I was cumming hard. My body writhed with pleasure above him, my pussy clenching around his cock, milking him for everything he had.
His cock responded, throbbing inside me as he pumped his seed inside of me. My pussy milked his seed, and once every last drop was inside me, I collapsed on top of him.
“Well, that was a nice way to wake up,” I said, chuckling.
“Yeah? Should I do it more often?”
“Hell yes,” I said. “I’ll never say no that.”
“Good,” he replied, kissing the tip of my nose. “But now, I’m afraid, we need to get moving. Someone has a big day today.”
“All thanks to you,” I announced.
“Me? What did I do? Nah, this was all your hard work and dedication.”
“And I couldn’t have done it without you.” I gave him a quick kiss before pushing myself off him. I shot him a flirty grin as I headed toward the master bath. “Wanna join me, stud?”
“If I ever say no to showering with you, just put me down, got it?”
We were both laughing as we walked into the shower. He was a little bit behind me, as he’d removed his leg. He’d put it on before making love to me, and it took him awhile before he would go without it completely, but he seemed to feel safe with me at last.
He climbed into the shower behind me, and I enveloped him in my arms, burying myself against his chest.
“I love you,” I whispered, almost too softly. I feared he might not have heard me.
“I love you too.”
I turned my face upward to look at him. “I meant what I said. Today wouldn’t have been possible without your help.”
Grant was a humble man. He wasn’t going to take credit for any of it. But he stopped arguing with me; he knew he couldn’t win this time. He kissed my lips to silence me instead, and honestly, I wasn’t about to complain about that.
Ooo000ooo
“It looks so nice,” Tabby said as she explored the new and improved daycare. “I mean, it was nice before, but wow.”
Before, we had the very basic of daycares, but with the help from Grant and his newfound wealth with his properties being worth millions, we were able to do so much more. He’d done most of the work himself too.
“We can finally start accepting all kids,” I said, beaming with joy.
Not only did we have a wheelchair ramp to get inside, our entire building was now accessible to folks with other disabilities as well. We had a room that was set up for children with autism when they needed to get away from loud sounds or people. The bathrooms now had enough room for a wheelchair to be able to comfortably turn around. We even had enough to bring in a few more teachers. Not just staff, but teachers - including one who specialized in special education. Tabby was graduating soon and would probably take on a full-time role there too. We finally had enough to pay everyone, and people were coming from all over - not just Liberty - and choosing Little Cubs over other options due to the stellar reputation we’d built up.
Our daycare was now state-of-the-art and listed as one of the best for children with disabilities. I knew my father would be proud. After all his struggles, and ours too, finally we were doing our part to make the world easier for people like him.
“Where’s Caleb?” Tabby asked me.
As usual, whenever someone asked that question, my heart would skip a beat. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to not being scared when he was out of my sight. I searched the room until my eyes landed on him in the corner. Grant was nearby, but Caleb was busy playing with some of the other kids. He no longer had trouble walking or running with them, and he took off across the room with another little boy chasing him.
“No running inside,” I called.
Caleb slowed down. “Sorry.”
I couldn’t be too mad. It was just nice seeing him able to keep up with the others. After his struggles the past year, it made me so happy. His shoes were doing wonders, all thanks to Grant.
Leah came up behind me, her arms full of balloons that she’d picked up for the kids.
“Congratulations, Piper. I always knew you would do great things,” she said, giving me a hug.
“Thanks for all your love and support over the years. I couldn’t have done it without you and your brother.”
“Don’t even mention it,” she said. She placed a hand on my growing belly. “Just promise to pay me back by letting me watch my niece or nephew, and we’re even.”
“You know I’ll be calling you a lot, right?”
“You better. You and Grant need date nights and stuff, and don’t ever think you have to go it alone. Just because you’re a caregiver doesn’t mean you should feel ashamed for letting Auntie Leah watch that little angel from time to time.”
Caleb ran over to me, yes, he still ran after I told him not to. It was hard for him not to. Since he couldn’t run for so long, it was like he had to do it every chance he got. I let it go this time. He stood by my side and stared up at the balloons in Leah’s hands.
“Would you like one?” she asked.
Caleb nodded. “Yes, please.”
I patted his head. He was so polite, and I was so proud of every little thing he did. I truly did love him like my own.
Grant also joined us, taking my other hand in his. I leaned against him, resting my head on his chest. I stared at the people around me, at my new, renovated daycare. It was bigger and better than anything I could have imagined. I had a family of people around me that cared. I’d be a mother soon. I had a husband and a child that were my whole world.
Life couldn’t get much better.
Also By K.C. Crowne
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