Lucien's War
Page 14
Epilogue
One Year Later
The house was insane with all the activity, and it was only going to get even more hectic as everyone continued to come over. Callie had come home for Thanksgiving, and she was currently holding her baby brother. Marcus was only a few months old, and he already had bright blue eyes like she shared with her father, and a thatch of black hair. He slept, the bottle Callie currently held in his mouth now empty. She pulled it away, wiped his little lips, and lifted him over her shoulder to gently pat his back.
The guys from the club were already at Kink and Cookie’s house. The noise was pretty loud, but Marcus was sleeping through it all. Cookie poked her head around the corner, her nose dotted with flour from the pie she was baking, and her smile wide.
“You holding up?”
“You kidding? I’m a champ at this. It almost makes me want to have one of my own,” Callie teased softly and smiled.
“Don’t get any ideas of having any of those until you’re done with college,” her dad said and smiled. He kissed Cookie on the lips, and she disappeared back into the kitchen. Kink walked into the living room and looked down at Marcus. “He sure is something, isn’t he?”
Marcus started fussing lightly, and she handed her baby brother to her father.
“He really is.” She stood and ran her fingers along the little tuft of dark hair on his head.
“I remember when you were this little. You cried so much when your mother held you.” He smiled at the memory. “Made me feel proud as hell when you’d stop fussing when you were in my arms.”
She laughed softly.
“But you’re not a baby anymore. All grown up, working toward your business degree, and living your life.” Kink stared at her. “You make me so damn proud, sweetheart.” The sound of a vehicle pulling up told her Lucien had finally arrived. Kink leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head. “Go on. I know it’s been a couple of weeks since you saw him, and he’s been bitching up a storm on missing you.”
She felt her cheeks heat at her dad’s words.
“I swear he is one cranky bastard when you’re not around,” her father said that with a hard tone in his voice, but then he smiled. He turned and left her alone, and she went to the window.
Lucien climbed out of his SUV, saw her right away, and gave her a wink. God, she heated instantly at that small gesture. She met him at the door, and as soon as he was right in front of her he had her in his arms. She was off her feet, and then he moved them inside to the foyer, closed the door behind him, and kissed her senseless. He tasted good, minty and sweet, and her body remembered everything about him in startling clarity.
“I missed you, baby.”
“I missed you, too,” she responded, and held on tighter to his thick biceps. For the last year she had focused on school, coming home during the weekends, and spending as much time with Lucien as possible. It was hard being away from him, but she had to do this for herself, had to make something out of her life so she could be with him and have had an accomplishment under her belt. Getting her business degree sounded like the right step to take, because Lucien and the club were her life, and she wanted to be near him when she was finished with school. She could help manage the books, keep the paperwork in line, and still be near her family and the man she loved. But for the last two weekends she had stayed on campus, studying for her semester finals. It felt like forever since she had seen him, but then times like these made it all worthwhile.
Lucien pulled back, gently lowered her to the ground, and looked at her in the eyes. “I don’t want to disrespect your dad in his own house, but we will definitely be finishing this later on.” He kissed her softly on the lips and set her on her feet. Kink may huff and gruff at times, but he had accepted their relationship. All of the members had. They were one giant family, loyal to the end, and having so much love for each other that there was never a shortage of it.
“I love you, Callie,” Lucien said against her mouth, and she felt him smile.
“And I love you.” And she did, so much so that at times it was almost painful, but it was a discomfort she wanted, yearned for, and hoped never ended. This was her life, and the road she had taken to get here had been bumpy, but she wouldn’t have changed it for anything.
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