by Lucy Rinaldi
“Everything will be all right, little man. Daddy's taking you home now.”
He lifts his head from my shoulder and looks at me. The utterly sad, tear-soaked expression on his face kills me. “But what about my brother, Daddy?” Brother. He's never going to know Alex as anything but. And that's just the way I want it. “I want him to come home with us. He can't find his mommy. I don't want him to be all alone.”
“Alex isn't alone, Dean.” I stroke the hair back from his face. It's grown so much since the last time I saw him. It needs a cut, and soon. “Alex's mommy is talking to him right now. We're going home together, I promise.”
“So my brother is going to live with us and his mommy?”
“Baby boy, Daddy loves Alex's mommy very much, and we both love you and Alex. So yes, we're all going to live together.”
He sobs again, arms wrapped around my neck, and he mumbles, “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”
My perfect little man, who loves his new brother so much he would practically beg me to take him home with us so he wouldn't be here alone. Dean is never going to know pain like this ever again in his life. He's young enough to forget the hurt he's been through. I'll make sure he's always safe from this day forward. I make that promise to my son and God right now.
When we leave this house it will be with Dani and Alex. The four of us a family from this day forward and till forever.
We're complete now.
We will always be complete.
Bad shit has happened, but everything happens for a reason.
The reason Maya left me, the reason Joel picked her out, all led me to Dani, and I wouldn't change a damn thing about her. I wouldn't change what's happened because it led us to this moment. To us finding our son's. The little boys who bind us and make us whole.
“I love you, too, little man. Always and forever.”
Dani
“I feel sick, Dax.”
My brother takes my face in his big hands. “This is the moment you've been waiting for since that little boy was taken from you. He's waiting for you, Dani. He's missed his mother so much.”
“I've missed him, too.” I sniff.
“Then let's go.”
I nod and let him lead me through the door of a small room. There's a couch, a TV, a coffee table, potted plants. The rooms not very big, but it looks like it was once a study. I don't know whose house this is, I just know it's not my brother's.
Or maybe it is and he just uses this place as some kind of safe house. It wouldn't surprise me.
There's a woman who looks to be in her fifties sitting with Alex, reading to him. She's kind enough looking, and she's holding my son around the waist as he sits on her lap with such gentle finesse.
“Hey, buddy.” Alex looks up at Dax and smiles widely. “You been okay?”
“Yes, uncle Dax. Did you...” His little voice trails off as he looks right at me. “Mommy, is that you?”
“Oh.” I sob with my hand over my mouth, tears clouding my eyes. He really does remember me. I thought maybe Joel would have somehow forced him to forget me. But he hasn't, not at all.
“Mommy. Oh, Mommy!” He jumps off the older woman's lap and makes a beeline right for me.
I drop to my knees and catch him in my arms, and a whole year's worth of want and pain falls away from me. “My baby boy.” I kiss his head over and over again, mumbling how much I love him and how I will never let anybody take him away from me again.
“Are you taking me home with you?” He asks, big brown eyes locking with mine. God, I can't even believe this is really happening.
“Yes, baby, Mommy is taking you home right now, and I will never let you go again.”
“Is Joel going to find me again and take me away from you?”
I shake my head. “Never again. He's gone and he can't hurt you anymore.”
My baby's smile is so beautiful. I have missed his smile. “Can we take my brother with us?”
“Yes,” I tell him honestly. “We can take Dean with us because his Daddy is with him right now.”
“His daddy found him!” He squeals excitedly. “Mommy! I told Dean his Daddy would come for him. I knew he would. I knew you would come for me too.”
“You did?”
“Yes,” He nods. “Uncle Dax promised I would see you again. Oh, Mommy, I love you.”
“I love you, so much, Alex.” I stroke the back of his hair, kiss his head and just hold him close to me for a few moments. I'm not ready to let go of him just yet.
But it isn't long before Dax tells me that Greg is ready to leave. That he wants to get his family home where we're all safe. But I'm not sure where home is anymore. I can't go back to my house because the police haven't finished collecting evidence from the crime scene.
The truth is, I'm not sure I could go back in that house ever again. I don't want anything from there, just a few personal belongings that I'm not willing to give up. Photos and such. Everything else we can burn.
I meet Greg in the hallway by the front door, Dean in his arms, Alex holding my hand. I wish I could lift him, but my ribs still smart a little. If I lift my son, I'll end up doing more damage to myself.
“Greg, I'd like you to meet Alex. Alex,” I look at my boy smiling up at me. “This is Greg, Dean's daddy.”
“Nice to meet you, Alex.”
“Are you going to look after Mommy and me? You're not taking my brother away from me?” I stroke the back of my sons head. He really loves Dean, and he's terrified of being parted from him.
“Yes, I am going to look after you all, because I love you all very much. No, I'm not taking Dean away from you. Brothers need to stick together.” Greg winks at Alex, making him laugh.
“Alex! This is my Daddy.”
“This is my Mommy.” Alex smiles shyly at Dean, hand in mine, swinging our arms back and forth. “We're going to live together forever, Dean. My mommy and your daddy said so.”
“That's right,” Greg smiles while wrapping his free arm around my waist. “Let's go home.”
“Erm, Greg? Where exactly is that? I can't go back in that house. Not ever.”
“It's okay,” Kory says with a smile. “You can stay with me for a few days until we sort out a new place for you all. I can imagine going back to that house after everything that happened would be too hard for anyone.”
I smile in thanks.
Greg kisses my head tenderly. “Ready to go home, soon-to-be wife?”
I laugh and nod my head. “I'm ready.”
“Ready, Alex?”
“Yes!” He yells happily.
“Ready, Dean?”
“I'm ready, Daddy.”
So, we go home.
All four of us.
Together for the rest of our lives.
Back to Oak Springs. The little town that brought us all together.
Home.
Epilogue
Greg
Six years later.
“Aww, man! This sucks!”
“Alex. I won't tell you again, she's four years old.”
“She's a pain in my ass!”
I raise my eyebrow at my ten-year-old son. “Watch your mouth.”
“I'm sorry.” He mumbles.
I clasp his shoulder and relax my stance. “I know it's annoying when your sister goes in your room and plays with your guitar, but she's just a little girl who loves her big brother.”
He nods his head and folds his arms around himself.
We've been busy, Dani and I these past five years. I bought us a huge six bedroomed house on Craven's Hill, a mile outside of town. My whole family were beyond shocked to find out Dean is actually mine. They were just as shocked to learn of Dani's past and of Alex. But my whole family welcomed them with open arms.
It took a few short days for the DA to tell us that he wouldn't be prosecuting Dani. There was enough evidence to prove she acted in self-defense. We had a huge celebration. God, the whole town turned out to celebrate with us. My beautiful girl really
was free. Free to live her life the way she should always have lived it.
Any connections to Joel Scott we arrested and sentenced to a very long life in prison. A few girls, very few, were found alive. Dani and I read their stories as everyone else in the country did. Dani sobbed her heart out, even though there were no in-depth details of what those seven women suffered. But it broke her heart because the youngest was just sixteen years old.
I held Dani close to me for over an hour before she took herself to the boy's room and held them close to her. They didn't understand why their mother was upset, but they kissed her cheeks and told her how much they loved her.
The whole thing just made Dani more determined to open her center to help abuse victims of sex trafficking. We held a huge gala and raised millions to help with funding for Dani's center. My mother went above and beyond to make the night perfect for Dani.
My mother and father invited all their rich friends. Kory and I invited as many lawyers as we could, my dad and Freddy invited a ton of cops, and so the list went on. Everybody invited somebody. It was an amazing night, and Dani's center has been open for four years now, and she's helped many women in many ways, and I am so proud of her.
Dani and I were married a month after the boys came home. They only needed that long to settle in. Dean stood by my side, my best man, as Alex walked his mother down the aisle. I'd never seen anything so cute in my whole life. Both boys in little tuxedo's, big smiles on their faces. They felt like men that day. Well, we did give them pretty big jobs to do. And they did them so well.
I couldn't take my eyes off Dani. She'd never looked more beautiful than she did that day. She wore an ivory mermaid, sweetheart, sleeveless dress that was tailored to her perfect curves. Her dark hair was fashioned at the nape of her neck in intricate ringlets pulled tight to her head with diamond pins entwined. Her makeup made her look like a film star. Her gorgeous eyes were sparkling like the brightest stars.
Our eyes locked through the whole ceremony. I just couldn't tear my eyes away from her. My Latina beauty. My wife.
We didn't have a honeymoon. Neither of us wanted to leave the boys, even though my mother said she'd happily take care of them for us. Truth is, we didn't feel ready to leave them. They needed us and we were there for them one hundred percent. Until they badgered us to take them away for the weekend to Disney World. Which we did and they had a great time. So did we.
We were married two months before she came to me and told me she was pregnant. She was terrified, I was over the damn moon. She looked at me with such a shocked expression. Did she really think I wouldn't want our child, or that I'd hurt her?
No. I swung her around, then set her on her feet and kissed the shit out of her before I took her to bed and made love to her for hours on end.
Baby Lilly Harper was born seven months later, and she was as beautiful as her mother. But Lilly can't seem to stop herself from touching what doesn't belong to her. Anything that belongs to Alex or Dean and she'll pilfer it. Little madam.
I'm forever having to have words with her about staying out of her brother's rooms. Dean grumbles about it, but he's generally a quiet kid, not much bothers him. Alex, on the other hand, gets angry and starts yelling. He's going through a grunge faze, didn't even know that was still a faze, but he can't threaten to beat his little sister, that I won't have.
“Yeah, but one of these days, she's gonna break something. I worked hard for that guitar, Dad.”
He did. Very hard. Helping me with the garden, helping his mother around the house, all to save money for his guitar.
“I know you did. I'll make sure she stays out, I promise.”
He nods as I ruffle his hair.
“Everything okay?” I smile and take my eighteen-month-old daughter from her mother's arms. My beautiful little Elena. “Alex, are you okay?”
“Lilly's been in his room touching things again,” I tell my wife with a kiss to her lips.
She kisses me back, smiling against my mouth. She pulls away from me and I kiss our daughter's head. She's a quiet little girl, talks only when she wants food or she's sleepy. She takes after Dean. Nothing like Lilly, she's loud and proud. A lot like Alex.
“I'll go talk to her. I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby.”
“Dad! She's in my room again!” Dean yells.
Lilly!
“See what spawn you created?” Dani's mouth drops with a smile in shock at what Alex just said. “I pity you.” Alex walks past us and out of the kitchen.
“I'll go.”
“Wait.” I grab her arm, stopping her from leaving the room. I pull her to me, kissing her lips softly. “She'll grow out of this, right?”
Dani's head falls back as she laughs so loudly and sarcastically that I'm just staring at her in shock. I'm taking it that Lilly is always going to be a little tormentor. She gets that from Kory, you know? He was the same when he was a kid.
“You're not going to be a monster are you, Elena?” My baby girl shakes her little head as she chews on her cookie. God, I love her so much. She's like a mini version of me. Poor kid.
“Maybe the next one will be. It seems to go in order of age. Alex. Monster. Dean. Sweetheart. Lilly. Monster. Elena. Sweetheart. This one?” She places her on her stomach, and I think I'm in shock.
“Are you pregnant?” She holds two fingers up, smile on her beautiful face, my eyes are so wide I think they might pop out of my head! “Twins?”
She nods her head. “But, I'm telling you right now, these are the last babies you'll be getting, Greg Harper.”
I grab her waist and yank her to me, kissing with more passion than I should with my baby girl in my arms, and it's her laughter that has me pulling away from my wife. “God, I love you so much, Danika.”
“I love you, too, husband of mine.”
“Mom! Dad! If you don't come deal with your spawn, I'll throw her out of the window!”
“I'll go.” I laugh and hand my daughter to her mother. “I'm coming boys. Try not to kill your sister until I'm there.”
“Daddy, don't you let them throw me out the window!”
“Too late!” Dean yells with laughter in his voice.
This is my family right here. My beautiful wife, two son's, two daughter's, and two more on the way. Did I ever expect to be the father of six? Hell no, I did not. But I wouldn't change my life now for anything in this world.
The End.
Thank you so much for embracing the people of Oak Springs. It's been a pleasure to write each and every character in this series, I love them all. But Greg and Dani were by far my favorite couple to write about. If you loved them as much as I did, please leave an honest review.
I look forward to bringing to life more character's you'll love in future stories. Although Greg and Dani's story was the last in the Oak Springs series, this isn't the end of the road. Daxton Kavanagh will be getting his very own story in the not too distant future. Join our mailing list [email protected]
or find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LucyRinaldi86/
To find out about future releases, and early sneak peeks.
Thank you again for all your support. Much love, Lucy xx
Sneak Peek
Ana
“Ten minutes, Ana.” Yes, I'm well aware of how long I have left before my shift starts. He doesn't have to keep telling me the damn countdown every five minutes! “Are you even listening?”
“Yes, El, I'm listening. Ten minutes.” He makes some grunt like noise before leaving the back room, where I'm trying to get ready for work.
Elroy Redmond is my thirty-six-year-old boss. He's handsome, tall, well-built, and very gay. He once made a joke about how black men shouldn't be gay, it ruins their image, but how he fully believed the shock on his mothers face when he told her was well worth the stick he'd get from people.
I personally couldn't give a shit. I only took this job because I needed a way to block out the shit of my past.
&nbs
p; Red silk push-up bra and silver hot pants adorned. Long dark hair cascading down my naked back. Ridiculously high six-inch black heels on my already aching feet. Makeup so trashy it should belong on a streetwalker with no class, I'm ready. This is the way Elroy likes his girls to dress. Pathetic and so clichéd.
If you hadn't guessed already, I do, in fact, work in a strip club. I don't strip my clothes, but then I hardly wear any anyway. But then again, I'm only a hostess serving drinks to randy men.
Why do I work here?
Your guess is as good as mine. I guess because I can't live off nothing. I'm twenty-five years old and by now I should have a job in an office somewhere. Just as my father wanted. After all, isn't that what I got my MBA for? Not that I've put that to good use since I left home. I'm a waste of space. Air even. I'm a failure and an embarrassment to my parents.
I'm such a terrible person that I'm no longer allowed contact with my little brother. My father doesn't want my behavior to rub off on a fifteen-year-old Harry. Of all the things I've done, all the things I've been through, that was the worst thing anyone could ever have done to me. Take him away from me.
But I understand why they did. Harry is a good kid with a bright future. Having me around would just corrupt him. Even I don't want that.
Plus, after what almost happened to him because of me... I can't even think about that right now because I'll crack. And cracking while working in this place isn't a good idea. I am stronger than I give myself credit for. I just need to keep reminding myself of that fact and I'll be fine.
I've done bad things in my life, things I'm not proud of. I'm obsessive by nurture not nature. And I fully believe the life I led before I was sent to live with my father when I was eleven contributed to my obsessive tendencies.
My obsessive behavior has been the cause of almost all of my mishaps in life. I found a way to control them once upon a time with the help of a very special person. One I believed was sent from heaven to help me. But, like everything in my life, that came to an end before I was either ready or prepared for it to do so.