by Ivy Wonders
I ran my hand over Skye’s chubby cheek. “And we’re not nearly at our ending.”
Our son laughed as his father laid him back in his bed. “I meant our happily ever after.”
Now that, we’ve definitely found!
The End
Secrets of the Flame Extended Epilogue
Reagan
The way Skye’s blue eyes drooped told me our news hadn’t exactly been taken the way Arrie and I’d hoped it would be. “So, you’re having another baby? Or babies, like you did with the twins?” our now ten-year-old asked with a frown. “And you want me to be excited about it?”
Arrie patted the empty spot next to him on the sofa. “Take a seat, slugger.” After Skye sat down, he roughed up our son’s dark waves that matched his so perfectly. “I know we’ve been promising you that little brother you wanted.”
“Yeah, but so far,” Skye shook his head as he looked disappointed, “Only baby sisters. And three of them!” He pointed at Naomi and Natasha—the twins—as they fought for one doll when there were two of the exact same dolls for them to play with. “Thing One and Thing Two over there were enough girls already.”
At five, the twins had reached what I’d hoped was their peak as far as brattiness went. “I’ve told you not to call them that. They can understand you, you know.” Then I pointed at Cicely who—at only three—played perfectly alone without bothering anyone. A little too independent if anyone asked me, but still not a bother at all. “And what about Cicely? She’s an angel.”
The way Skye looked at me told me his youngest sister was okay, but she wasn’t a baby brother. “Mom, she doesn’t even like any of us. So, what makes you think this baby will be anything but a girl? Or worse—a couple more—like them?” His pointer finger shot at the twins, who both turned to stick their tongues out at him.
Arrie sighed as he looked at me. “I told you we should’ve done this the right way and had the IVF with gender selection done.”
Arrie and I had different opinions on that. “And I told you, it’s not right to play God.” Looking past my husband to look at my son, I asked, “Is that what you’d want, Skye? For your dad and me to make sure you have a brother this time?”
Nodding, I could see Skye was every bit his father’s son. “I don’t see why not.” Then his eyes went bright. “Hey, I know what! If this one’s a girl, then next time do the gender thingy and have a boy!”
Now I had to tell him that this would be the last chance for a baby brother. “I’m not having more babies after this one.”
Arrie looked at me with a frown. “We weren’t going to put that out there for him just yet. Did you forget about that?”
“Not really.” I felt Skye should know everything and start to come to terms about his reality. He was the oldest brother to a bunch of girls. There could be worse things.
Skye dropped his head, staring at the floor as one of the twins hurled the doll she’d finally taken over right at his head. Arrie pulled him out of the line of fire quickly as he chastised Naomi, “What the heck, Naomi? You only wanted the doll so you could throw it at your brother?”
“Uh, huh.” She nodded as she held her hands out. “Throw it back.”
I reached over, picking up the doll, then got up to deal with her. “You’re not getting it back.” I leaned over to scoop up the other doll that lay on the floor. “Nor are you getting this one. If all you want to do is throw things, you won’t have any things at all. Now I want you both to put away all the toys you’ve gotten out.”
“Awww!” the girls whined in unison.
I caught Cicely grinning from the corner of my eye. Seemed she got a kick out of the twins getting in trouble. She’d never say a word about how happy it made her, but the happiness was written all over her face. A face which looked just like mine.
Cicely looked like me, green eyes and auburn hair. The twins had Arrie’s hair but my eyes. And I had no idea what this last one would look like. I hoped like Skye, and I hoped he’d get his baby brother at last.
By the time the baby came, Skye would be eleven. I knew that meant he and the baby would have a hard time bonding. Especially since he hadn’t bonded at all with the other three siblings we’d given him.
But our son did have tight bonds with his father and me, so he wasn’t exactly a lone wolf in our family. No, Cicely was more on that level.
Skye got up to help clean up even though I hadn’t asked him to. Picking up some Barbie dolls, he asked, “Can you at least get that sono-thingy and this time let them tell you what it is?”
“I like the thrill of finding out when the baby is born, Skye.” Listening to the sound of my voice; I realized I’d whined that. “Sorry.”
Arrie got up and came to put his arm around me. “I know what we can do. I’ll get the results, and I’ll tell Skye. Only he and I will know. You can still be surprised.”
“It’s not much of a surprise if you know what our baby is, Arrie.” After five years of being married to me, how could he not know that if he knew something, then I felt like I had to know it too? “I’d bug you until you told me, then I’d be mad at you for spoiling the surprise.”
Arrie took me by the chin, directing my eyes at our son. “It’s not all about you, Reagan.”
Watching Skye diligently walking behind his sisters, picking up the things they’d passed by without bothering to pick up, I knew Arrie was right. “Okay, Skye. I’ll let your dad see the results, and he can tell you. But you’ve got to promise me that you’ll do your best to keep it a secret from me.” I nodded at the girls. “And them too. You know they can’t keep a secret to save their lives. Well, except Cicely.” At three, she didn’t talk much yet. And I had the idea she’d never be that much of a talker. Not like the twins and their non-stop chatter that sometimes we didn’t understand, as they’d developed their own twin language early on.
Skye turned and ran to me, hugging me as he expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, Momma. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to find out now!”
But I could. So I sure hoped he’d be able to mask his disappointment if we were having another girl, or his joy if he was finally getting a baby brother.
Arslan
Running my soapy hands over my wife’s round belly, I kissed her neck as we showered together. It had become our morning ritual. A shower, a little nookie, then we’d get the rest of our day going.
With the onslaught of children, we’d hired a nanny, so the kids didn’t have to go to daycare. Even though there had been no more threats to my family, I still kept a tight rein on everyone, including my wife. A thing she still protested about.
Kissing a line up her neck, I whispered, “There’s been a change of plans for today, baby.”
Running her hand around the back of my neck, she pulled me closer to her. “What kind of change?”
“The kind where you’re not going into work today.” I knew she hated when I butted into her work-life. But I had to do it. For our family’s good, she needed to stay home today. We never left our children with anyone other than the nanny, or one of us, or Reagan’s parents. But they were out of town on vacation.
Turing in my arms to face me, she hitched up one leg, then I caught it, pulling her up to wrap her long legs around my waist. She slid her body over my hard cock, looking into my eyes as she did so. “I have to go into work today. I’ve got an appointment this morning at nine. And I’ve got two patients in the hospital I’ve got to check on.”
Lifting her body up, then moving it down, I moved her at my own pace. “I’ll take care of that for you.” I groaned, as she felt too damn good not to. “Oh baby, why do you always feel so fucking amazing?”
“Sounds like you’re trying to butter me up, Arrie.” She leaned in, kissing my neck. “But I’m still going to work. You’re a genius neurosurgeon, but you’re not a cardiologist, and my patients need one of those today.”
“Yeah, I know.” It wasn’t always easy having conversations while tending to our sexual need
s, but when a couple had thriving medical careers, four children, and a schedule from hell, they tended to figure things out. “See, I got a text from Francis sometime in the middle of the night last night. Her sister went into labor, and she can’t come to stay with the kids today.” Not having a sitter was sort of Reagan’s fault. I’d told her we should have a live-in nanny, but she wouldn’t have that.
Grinding against me, Reagan had me going into her deeper, making us both moan with pleasure. “Sounds like you get to stay home with the kids, Arrie.”
She was right; I could stay home with them. But I had things to do too. “I would, but …”
“But, nothing.” Reagan leaned back, smiling at me. “I don’t recall you saying anything about having any appointments, and I know you don’t have anyone in the hospital.”
“But what if something happens and an emergency situation occurs?” I liked to be ready for those kinds of things.
“Then I’ll come home, and you can leave to get to that.” She thought she’d won, but I had an ace in the hole.
Moving a little faster, I offered her a deal. “Let’s say whoever can hold out the longest without climaxing gets to go to work. The other stays with the kids.”
“Deal.” She felt so much confidence that she could withstand the pressure that she easily agreed.
“You might’ve just screwed yourself, baby.” Grabbing a handful of her wet auburn hair, I yanked it back, making her yelp as I bent her body backward, ramming into her with a fierceness I didn’t often use. Or, more honestly, didn’t often have the wherewithal to use so early in the morning.
“Arrie!” Her eyes closed as I not only screwed her royally but used one fingertip to rub her clit until it was so swollen, it looked as if it might burst. And that’s when she gave in, her body clenching around my cock. Her nails dug into my arms as she came. “God!”
All that commotion around my cock had me going off too. I wasn’t trying to hold back anyway. I’d beaten her; that’s all I had to do. “Yes!”
Panting like a couple of rabid animals, we looked into each other’s eyes as Reagan whispered, “I love you, even though you used that hair-pulling trick I told you makes me nuts.”
“When at war, one must always use the tool he needs to win.” I pulled her up then kissed her. “So, I’ll be at work if you need me, baby.” I smacked her ass for good measure. “I like leaving my wife home barefoot and pregnant every once in a while. It makes me feel like a real man.”
Laughing, Reagan got out of the shower, reaching for a towel. “And now you sound like a caveman.”
“Every once in a while, it doesn’t hurt to let my inner caveman out to play.” I grabbed a towel, then dried off. I found her leaning over to dry her feet, her bare ass begging for it. Snapping it with my wet towel, she yipped, then turned to face me. I knew I’d gone a little too far. “Sorry. I’ll bring home ice cream after work.”
“Banana,” she said as she rubbed the red spot on her otherwise creamy bottom. “And I want cherries too. You know what? Make it a banana split.”
“From New Release?” I asked, knowing that was the only place she’d eat ice cream from.
Nodding, she went on, “And cheeseburgers, onion rings, and fries for the girls. I’m giving the chef the night off. You can bring home the bacon tonight, Big Daddy.”
“No problem, Little Momma.” Pulling her into my arms, I kissed her one more time before I had to get dressed and leave her for the day.
Reagan
My obstetrician, Dr. Pam Stevens, came into the examination room with a frown on her usually-smiling face. “I don’t like this weight gain, Reagan. I’m not going to lie.” She put my chart down on the cabinet then came to me as I sat up on the exam table. “This might be your first visit with me with this pregnancy, but I do have your weight down for your last exam, and it’s ten pounds lighter than you are now. Gaining ten pounds in your first three months of pregnancy isn’t a thing I like my mothers to do.”
“And I’m not thrilled with that either.” I ran my hand over my already round tummy. I supposed my muscles were all stretched out from having the other kids. “But I have exercised to get back into shape.”
Nodding, she agreed, “And you were in excellent shape. So what’s happened?”
I had no idea. “I really don’t know. I’m not eating any more or less than I usually do. Maybe this is going to be a big baby.” I’d had average-sized babies before, but one could always bust out a ten pounder.
Pam cocked her head to one side as she looked at my tummy. “You did turn thirty-two this last birthday. It’s not as easy on a woman’s body to be pregnant in her thirties.”
I didn’t feel too old to have kids. But my body certainly wasn’t acting the way it had when I’d had any of the other kids. “My back aches. It never ached until the last trimester with the other babies I had. I suppose my body isn’t reacting as well as it did to the other pregnancies. And that’s exactly why Arrie and I made the decision for me to get a tubal ligation after we have this baby.”
“Oh.” Pam nodded. “I was going to bring that up. Seems my doctor-patients are thinking ahead of me.” She pushed my shoulders. “Lie back and let’s take a listen to this one’s heartbeat.”
As I laid back, I admitted, “I’d been waiting for you before I took a listen to the heartbeat. It wasn’t easy, but I did wait.”
“Unlike when you listened in with your own equipment and found out about the twins.” Pam grinned at me. “And you just about gave yourself a heart attack when you found that bit of news out all alone.”
“I’ll never do that to myself again.” I could still recall the panic and anxiety I’d felt when I’d heard those two heartbeats. “For a solid hour, I talked to myself, telling myself it would all be all right. But not believing anything I said the whole time.”
“And how are the girls doing, Reagan?” She pushed the paper gown away from my stomach, her eyes scanning my baby bump.
“The twins are trying everyone’s patience, as usual.” I thought about how Arrie had gotten onto them that morning as he’d loaded them into the limo for school. The twins had made the decision that everyone needed to change seats. They’d taken their booster seats, along with their little sister’s, and moved them to the sides of the car. When Arrie had told them they couldn’t do that, they’d smarted off at him, and he’d had to rein them in.
“It’s been years since I’ve seen them.” Pam put the stethoscope on my tummy. “You need to bring them in and bring in Cicely too. I see Skye all the time, since he’s in my son’s class at school. He’s such a little heartbreaker.”
“He is.” I put my hands underneath my head and looked up at the ceiling. “He’s his father’s son in every way.”
Moving the instrument all over my belly, Pam looked puzzled. “I’ll be right back.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” I sat up as she walked away from me. “Are you going to get the doppler?”
Nodding, she left me to sit and wonder why she needed to get that. And then the questions hit me. “What if there’s not a heartbeat and I’ve got something wrong with me? What if it’s a tumor and not a baby at all?”
I shook my head to clear it. It couldn’t be that. I’d taken a pregnancy test. It had come out positive, so there had to be a baby inside of me. And it had to be growing.
“Or what if it’s ectopic?” I twisted my hands as I waited for Pam to come back.
It took a half hour for her to return. So long, I almost got dressed and went to see what had happened to her. And when she came in, Arrie was right behind her. “Hey, babe.”
He came to me, taking my hand. “Hey, baby.” He kissed my cheek. “Pam thought I might like to be here for this.”
“I could’ve let you listen to the baby’s heartbeat at home, you know.” I thought it a bit odd she’d call my husband in. “Pam, is something wrong? I can’t tell you what all has gone through my mind.”
Shaking her head, she aske
d, “Can you lie back for me, Reagan?”
Lying back, I held Arrie’s hand as Pam put some gel on my tummy then ran the doppler over it. The sounds of hearts beating as fast as tiny birds filled the room as Arrie said quietly, “One.” He smiled at me. “Two.” My heart sped up. “Three.” Kissing my forehead, he went on, “Yep, she was right. You’ve got three buns in your oven this time, Reagan Dawson. Way to go!”
No!
Arslan
Being thirty-two, pregnant with triplets, and having a spike in her blood-pressure, Reagan’s doctor thought it best to put her on bedrest—a thing which made my wife miserable. “And don’t forget that Skye has band practice after school today, Phoebe.” She’d finally broken down and hired a live-in nanny.
With three more kids coming, Reagan knew when the odds were stacked against her. I kissed my wife’s cheek before leaving for work. “I’ll be back around two to pick you up and take you to get the sonogram done. Skye is on pins and needles about getting the results.”
“Ugh,” was all Reagan could say about that. “You two better not spoil this for me, Arrie. I mean it. You better make sure you have him somewhere else when you tell him. And give him time for the excitement or disappointment to alleviate before you bring him around me.”
Phoebe, being young with no children, hadn’t experienced what Reagan was going through. “I’d want to know what I was having. I’d want to get all prepared, right down to the color of clothing my baby would wear. And you’re having three, Mrs. Dawson. How can you not want to know until they’re already here?”
“What can I say?” Reagan shrugged as she pulled the blanket up some more to cover her bulging belly as she lay on the sofa. “I like surprises.”
The children began filtering into the main living area to say goodbye to their mother before I had to get them off to school. Even little Cicely went to school now. Only half a day, but she still went. “You kids ready to get going?”
The twins nodded in unison then went to kiss their mother. Cicely waited patiently for them to say goodbye, then she went to hug her mom. “Wuv you, Momma.”