“Dude, you getting all sappy over here?” Grady asks, slapping my shoulder and handing me a beer.
“Pretty much,” I say as some of our other buddies join us and we walk to the front porch.
Josh is here — his wife Jessa is unveiling the birthday cake as we speak. And Kaden, who took the day off from running his car wash empire to be here to celebrate. Vance is here too, in his police uniform because he has a shift starting soon.
Trent is here — a local professor, and a great friend who has been helping Brittany get enrolled at the university to finish her bachelor’s degree. Billy couldn’t make it — he had finals at the college he and Bailey are attending, but Logan, Billy’s dad, is here with his wife Lucia, who has a pregnant glow these days. Major made it today as well, and he’s just carried in a tray of his wife Myra’s famous fried chicken.
The whole crew made it.
“Look at us, all hitched within a year of each other,” Grady says with a laugh. “Who would have thought?”
“Not me,” Trent says. “Last thing I imagined when I moved here.”
“You know, we can’t start slacking at the gym. I heard there’s such thing as the Marriage 15.”
“That like the Freshman 15?” Josh asks.
“Exactly, which is why we need to double down on the workouts,” Major says. “Because soon enough I’m guessing we will all be putting on some sympathy weight.”
“What’s that?” Grady asks.
Logan chuckles. “It’s the weight you gain when your wife is pregnant.”
I laugh, knowing it’s the truth with half the wives here already showing.
Later, I pick Annie up and set her in her highchair so she can eat her birthday cake. She makes a massive mess with the frosting, and we take a million photos, loving every minute of it.
When the guests leave, we get Annie to bed in her nursery. After Brittany and I got married we took some time getting the room all ready for our girl. Now it’s a pink paradise.
I pull Brittany into my arms. Thanking her for everything she did to make the party such a success.
“What were you and the guys laughing about outside on the porch?” she asks.
“Joking about putting on weight when our girls do during pregnancy.”
“You worried about that?” she asks.
“Why would I be? You’re not pregnant.”
Her eyebrows raise and she bites her bottom lip. “Actually… I am.”
“What? How long have you known?”
She laughs. “I took a test this morning while you were out getting the balloons. I didn’t want to upstage Annie on her big day.”
“Oh, love.” I wrap her in a tight embrace.
“It will be a lot to juggle. I’m just about to start the online classes for my degree and Annie is still so little…”
“We can get a full-time nanny,” I assure her, wanting to make sure she is feeling okay about this unexpected news.
She smiles. “I know it’s going to be a lot of change, but I’m still so excited, so grateful.”
“Me too,” I say, kissing her softly. “Annie will have a sibling.”
“And we will be a family of four,” she says. “Crazy, right?”
“I think it’s perfect. Just like you.” I kneel before her, kissing her belly. “Our little cookie crumb.”
Epilogue 2
Brittany
Six years later…
“Congratulations, Mommy!” Tallie says, jumping up and down as I walk toward my family.
“Your dress is so pretty,” Annie says, running her hand over the graduation gown.
Beckett pulls me in for a kiss, our little girls twirling around us. “We’re so proud of you,” he says.
“Took me long enough,” I say with a sigh. “But I did it.”
“And the timing is perfect. The girls are in school now, and you’ll be at the same building as them.”
I smile, kissing my husband again. God, I love this man. He supported me so much over the last five years as I worked hard to finish my teaching degree. Some years, I only managed a class a quarter, but I eventually did it. Now I am going to have a kindergarten class of my very own. My daughters will be in their classes a few doors down.
“We made you cookies at home,” Tallie says. “Daddy helped.”
I lift my eyebrows, taking Beckett’s hand as we leave the stadium where the ceremony was held. “He makes the best cookies, doesn’t he?”
“But first we are going to dinner at Angelina’s, it’s Mom’s favorite.”
We go to the restaurant my best friend Mirabella and her husband Matt own — it’s where we always head for our celebrations. It feels extra special since it is where we celebrated our wedding.
After we’ve filled up on pasta and breadsticks, we head home. As much fun as we’ve had as a family today, I am really looking forward to celebrating alone with my husband.
The girls giggle in the car as we drive back to our Craftsman home. The house I came to all those years ago for my first day of work… which turned into the best day of my life. I met Beckett, and found my forever.
Now home, we head to the kitchen for the infamous cookies they made me. “Oh, they are so delicious,” I say with a groan as I bite into a perfectly baked cookie. “But I need some milk, anyone else?”
The girls giggle even louder as I reach for the gallon in the fridge. Tied to the jug is a black velvet box.
“Open it, Mommy!” Annie squeals.
“What is this?”
“Just a little graduation gift for the love of my life,” Beckett says.
I open it up and see a necklace, with an enamel pendant in the shape of a cookie, encrusted with black diamonds. “Oh my gosh, it’s adorable,” I say.
“I know how much you love the pizza necklace Matt got Mirabella, so I thought it was fitting.”
“All the girls are gonna want one of these now,” I say with a smile as I turn for Beckett to clasp it on my neck.
All our dearest friends fell in love over food, one way or another. Guacamole and muffins, butter and bacon, pho and pizza, sweet tea and melons, waffles and chocolate chips.
We get the girls to bed — they share the bedroom with the window seat — and we kiss them and tuck them into bed.
“Sweet dreams,” I say, turning on their nightlight.
Then I slip into the master bedroom where my husband waits for me. It’s no longer a bachelor pad with baskets of laundry — it is a home now. Our home.
I slip out of my clothes, watching as my husband does the same. His body as ripped and ruggedly sexy as it was the day we met.
“Come here, baby,” he tells me, reaching for me. “I’ve been dying to taste my favorite cookie all damn day.”
I laugh, but soon I am moaning as he guides me to the bed, easing my thighs apart and dipping his mouth to my sweet center. He is my whole world, he has my whole heart. I close my eyes, savoring the moment, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. Beckett licks me, teases me, makes my body shudder with pleasure as he works me up and down.
“God, you’re delicious,” he groans as I come hard against his mouth, his tongue making me melt just like a chocolate chip.
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About the Author
Frankie Love writes filthy-sweet stories about bad boys and mountain men.
As a thirty-something mom who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters.
She also believes in the power of a quickie.
Find Frankie here:
www.fr
ankielove.net
The Way To A Man’s Heart: Books 1-10 Page 31