I’m already on my feet, tugging my pants back on. “What?” I ask, panicking already. “What?”
“Something.” She gets to her feet too, walks up and down a bit. Then she turns to me. “No, I’m fine.” She laughs, shaking her head at herself. “I’m just—”
We both jump as her water breaks, hitting the wood floor.
“Holy shit,” I say. “Your—”
“Start the truck,” she interrupts, calm as anything. “Grab the bags on the way.”
I’m about to bounce around, rambling, freaking out, arguing with myself over the best things to do and the best order to do them in, but Hattie is calm, breathing deeply, and she’s already given the orders. All I have to do is what I’m told, and I’m incredibly thankful for her in this moment. She is the most amazing person I’ve ever known. The strongest and the sweetest at the same time.
I grab the bags, start the truck, then get out and let her in. She leans back and concentrates on breathing, and I keep the calmest smile I can fixed to my face. Inside, I’m freaking out. Are we really ready? Have I finished painting their room? Is everything—
“Dammit,” I say, slapping the side of the steering wheel. She looks over at me, silent, curious. “I didn’t stain the cribs. You beat me.”
The seriousness on her face cracks and falls away, and Hattie lets out a laugh that makes me love her, if possible, even more.
* * *
Hattie’s father has tears in his eyes as he holds one of his three brand-new grandsons, and I’ll be damned if I don’t feel like I might join him.
We named them Max, Matt, and Oliver. Three perfect babies, no health complications, and one for each of us to hold. I’m staring down at tiny Max’s ten fingers and ten toes, unable to comprehend how perfect he is. Unable to deal with the fact that my wife made three little people inside her body. I thought I understood life before this, but I know now that I didn’t quite get it. Now, I do.
I swap babies with Hattie after a minute, and she’s sniffling, waggling her fingers at Max while I smell Ollie’s head. This is perfection. This is my life now. And I couldn’t be happier.
Epilogue 2
Hattie
Ten years later…
Holt’s hand is warm in mine as we stroll along the very same trail where he met my father. I can’t believe it was ten years ago. Our relationship feels as fresh and new as it did right when it began.
Behind us, our three boys hop around, chatting among themselves and pointing out stuff along the side of the path. Holt has made it clear to them not to wander off, telling them over and over again the story of how Grandpa went tumbling down the side.
“...so unless you want a wife, stay on the path,” he sometimes finishes the story, and it always gets a chorus of ‘ewww’s that makes us both dissolve into laughter. I keep telling him he’ll need to update the moral of that story when they get a little older. They’re growing up so fast.
Beside them trots our puppy, little Jimmy Jr. He’s a sweet, young black lab rescue that reminded Holt so much of his old dog that he just piled him into his truck and brought him home. Not that any of us exactly minded a surprise puppy. The boys treat him almost like a fourth brother, grabbing sticks as we walk and tossing them for him to find and retrieve.
“You ever feel outnumbered?” Holt asks, nodding to the four of them yelling and screaming behind us, and laughs.
“By boys?”
He nods.
I shake my head. “No, not really.”
“Boys rule!” Matt cries, overhearing us, and Holt gives him a faux stern look.
“Girls rule too,” I point out, and turn around to face my sons. They all stop in unison, and it’s almost comedic. Especially when the dog stops dead too, tongue lolling, wondering if we’re playing some game.
“Now?” Holt murmurs, coming to my side and wrapping his arm around my waist.
“I wanted to ask you boys if you would ever want a sister,” I say, trying to sound nonchalant.
They all exchange a look. “A sister?” they mumble, and then look back at me. “Why?”
I bite my lip, unable to keep it in for another minute. “Because I’m pregnant. And we just found out it’s with twin girls.”
Three mouths fall open at the same time again, and Holt kisses the side of my head, proud as hell to hear me say it out loud to our kids.
“We were waiting for a good moment to tell you,” he says. “Are you excited?”
They’re nodding, all asking questions, crowding me, yelling over each other, and I tousle their hair, laughing at their enthusiasm. “One at a time. One at a time!”
* * *
When the kids are finally in bed, Holt rolls up his sleeves and shuts their bedroom door behind him. Immediately, I hear whispers and I roll my eyes, ready to go in and tell them to quit it, but Holt holds out his hand.
“Let them talk. They’re excited about their little sisters. Plus, I want them to stay distracted. I have plans for you.”
His serious eyebrow quirk makes me giggle and I let him lead me by the hand up the stairs, and then up one more flight. To the roof.
Our cabin has a little hideaway, just like his old place, which I only visited once, but still haven’t quite forgotten. It was where I fell in love with him, after all. The cool night breeze passes over my skin and instinctively, I snuggle closer to his side. He wraps me up in his arms, stroking my belly.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you’re like when you’re pregnant,” he murmurs in my ear, and I gasp and wheel around.
“What do you mean?” I tease. “Like this?” I let the spaghetti strap fall off my shoulder.
“Something like that.” He pushes my long, red hair away from my neck and kisses me, pulling me in close so I can smell his masculine scent. “Let’s get under the blanket.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. We wrap ourselves in a wool blanket and snuggle up close together, and I lean my head on his shoulder, feeling absolutely at peace and completely in love.
“Show me the constellations,” I say. He shakes his head. He always teases me about never being able to see them without his help, but I can, really. I just like hearing him whisper to me about the stars while his hands run up and down my body. I’m a simple girl at heart.
“You see those?”
I nod against his shoulder as he points out a couple of stars, drawing in the air to piece them together into a picture just for me. “That’s the… Hattie.”
I snort and bump him with my elbow. “That’s the Big Dipper.”
He turns to me. “You’re right! You got one. I believed in you.” I smile and trail my fingers up his inner thigh, and then brush my knuckles against his shaft. I reach inside his pants and squeeze the base of his thick cock, feeling my own body thrill at the sensation. It doesn’t matter how many times we’ve been together. It always feels just as exciting as the very first time.
“You have a pretty Big Dipper yourself,” I tell him.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Uh huh.”
He rolls on top of me and traces his tongue against my lower lip before slipping it into my mouth. At the same time, his practiced hands have undone my pants and I’m wriggling out of my panties, kicking them off to the side. Having three young kids means we’ve learned how to undress at the speed of light.
He pushes inside of me and I groan at the feeling of him, inch by perfect inch, filling me up. I start to move my hips underneath him, and we grind together until he’s completely inside me, my mouth falling open as he whispers my name.
Over his shoulder, a shooting star streaks across the clear night sky and then it’s gone, all in under a second. I close my eyes, enjoying the feeling of my husband’s cock buried deep in me, and I realize I don’t want to make a wish at all.
I have everything I’ve ever wished for already.
More Thickwood, CO Books!
In Thickwood the men work hard but love harder.
This series is
all about possessive, alpha, and over-the-top mountain men who will stop at nothing to claim their women.
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Branded by the Mountain Man by Jordan Marie: My Book
Taming the Mountain Man by Mila Crawford & Aria Cole: https://amzn.to/2J8zzFc
Promised to the Mountain Man by Frankie Love: My Book
The Mountain Man's Reward by Author L. Nicole: My Book
Loving the Mountain Man by Tory Baker: My Book
The Mountain Man's Kitten by Dani Wyatt: My Book
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.frankielove.net
Promised to the Mountain Man: Thickwood, CO Page 5