Epilogue
Mallory
I scrubbed the last of the dishes while I listened to Hayden move around upstairs as he attempted to get Booker into bed. I couldn’t help but smile, knowing just how amped up Booker was. It would probably take Hayden a bit to get him to even lie down. But the boy could be forgiven—it was Christmas Eve, after all, and he was just excited. I couldn’t blame him.
Honestly, I was pretty excited about my own surprise for Hayden that night. But I knew if I kept thinking about that, I would get too nervous and not do things the way that I wanted to. So for now, I focused on the dishes, drying them off and putting them away in the cabinets. For a moment, I rested my hand on my abdomen, thinking again about the surprise. I grinned to myself and headed into the living room just as Hayden was coming down the stairs.
“Done,” he said, brushing imaginary dust off his hands.
I laughed. “You can’t tell me that he’s asleep already,” I said.
“Well, no. That’s doubtful,” Hayden said. “But he’s in bed, at least, with his cartoon book to read for a little while. I told him lights out in half an hour.”
“Should we wait before we start to, you know?” I asked.
Hayden shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “I told him that if he so much as peeps one eye down the stairs, Santa would be taking everything back to the North Pole with him.”
I laughed. “All right,” I said, heading for the closet and starting to bring out the gifts that Hayden and I had carefully wrapped and labeled while Booker was in school. Hayden, meanwhile, got to work on assembling the bike that ‘Santa’ had brought for Booker. I smiled, remembering Mom’s face when she had seen it. She had been the one to pick it out, wanting to get something nice for Booker in addition to the huge pile of smaller gifts that she got him.
She spoiled that kid rotten. But then again, every kid needed a few great gifts from Santa to keep the magic of Christmas alive.
I finished up with the presents just about the time Hayden had the bike ready to go, standing next to the tree. “There’s one more gift for you,” I said, grabbing it out of the back of the closet where I had stashed it, not wanting Hayden to come across it early and ruin the surprise.
Hayden raised an eyebrow at me. “Should I open it now or save it for tomorrow?” he joked.
“Open it now,” I told him. “We’ll want to use it tonight.”
Hayden snorted. “Lingerie?” he asked. “This better not be a man-thong or something like that.”
I smirked at him. “Just open it,” I said.
Hayden slowly pulled open the box to reveal a little stocking for our new baby. He stared down at it for a moment, reading the handwritten note in the box. Congrats, Daddy!
“Is this what I think it is?” he asked.
I nodded, unable to keep the grin from my face as my hand again came down to caress my abdomen. Somewhere in there, a little peanut was growing. A younger sibling for Booker. And our first child together.
Hayden sucked in a breath and then wrapped his arms around me in a huge hug. He kissed the side of my hair, but he didn’t seem capable of forming words just yet. “I love you,” he finally managed.
“I love you, too,” I hummed, pleased with his reaction. Of course, we had talked about having kids before, so I knew that he wanted them. But it was a relief seeing just how excited he really was. “Booker will be the best big brother,” I added.
Hayden laughed. “I almost want to run upstairs and tell him the good news right now,” he said.
“What’s stopping you?” I challenged. “You know there’s no way he’s asleep yet.”
“Well, I have a present that I wanted to give you tonight as well,” Hayden said, and for a moment, he looked almost nervous. I wondered what he could possibly be nervous about at this stage in our relationship. I had moved in with him and Booker months and months ago now, and things had been amazing ever since.
Well really, things had been amazing ever since that first date that Ace had set us up on. I just hadn’t known it yet.
For now, Hayden reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Then, he got down on one knee. “I’m sorry this took so long, but I wanted to find the perfect ring. And I’ve been waiting for the perfect place to do this. But then, I realized that the perfect place is right here. In our home. With you next to me and our son upstairs in his bed,” he said. “Mallory, will you marry me?”
He popped open the box to reveal a dazzling ring that was every bit as perfect as he’d said it would be. But to be honest, he could have proposed with a ring made out of gum wrappers for all I cared right then.
The love of my life had just asked me to marry him.
Of course, I said yes.
The End
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About the Author
Hey there. I'm Weston.
I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.
You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.
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The Parker’s Wicked Playground
Love Me Last
Copyright © 2019 by Weston Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Lori Hawkins
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art
Love Me Last Page 24