Darkness Series Epilogue (3 page)

Alex loads everything in my trunk and puts Carley in her seat, promising to see us at the party later. 
 

When we get home, Cole meets us outside and takes the bags down before getting Carley and taking her inside, and I’m relieved to see the house back to normal when I walk in. The dog is in the yard, the kitchen is picked up and clean, no mud tracks on the floor. It’s perfect. For the next couple of hours we work on the rest of the stuff as the party company sets up the bounce house and Carley watches a movie. The door bell rings while I’m placing the last cupcake topper and Cole is evening out the table cloth. We both straighten up, our eyes meeting as he walks around the table and stands in front of me. 
 

“You need to take it easy today, okay?” he says.
 

I nod my head slowly, my eyes not wavering from his as he looks at me intently. When he licks his lips slowly my eyes dart to his mouth for a second. 
 

“I love it when you look at my mouth like that,” he says in a low voice that makes me bite down on my own lip as he leans into me, his breath hitting my eyelids before landing over my ear. “And I love the way you smell,” he rasps while running his nose along the brim of my ear. “And the way you take care of our kids,” he continues, placing a kiss near my earlobe. “And the way you love me,” he adds with another kiss. “And the way you let me love you,” he says sucking on my neck,
making me moan. He continues to trail kisses over the swells of my breasts and down the center of my stomach until he reaches my belly button. “And the way you look when you’re carrying my kids in here,” he says kissing my pregnant belly before he gets up and looks at me again. “I love you, Blake Murphy.” 
 

I gulp down loudly, trying to control my tears and fast breathing. “I love you, Cole Murphy.”
 

He runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip slowly, his green eyes heavy as he looks at me. The doorbell rings two more times and Carley obviously informs us that someone is there. Cole dips his head and kisses me, leaving no trace of my mouth un-sated before slowly untangling his tongue from mine and backing away from me. 
 

“So much,” he says and pivots his body, breaking into a sprint to get to the door. 
 

“Hey! Happy Birthday, kiddo!” Cole says enthusiastically, picking up Logan and swinging him around a couple of times. 
 

“Thank you, Daddy,” Logan responds before turning to give his sister a hug. 
 

I place one hand over my heart and the other over my stomach, smiling, grateful for the amazing family I’ve been given. Logan runs to me and I crouch down a bit, opening my arms to hug him. 
 

“Happy Birthday, baby,” I greet, picking him up and kissing his ruffled brown hair. His gray eyes shining bright.
 

“Thank you, Momma,” he says with a smile. “I wanna go to bounce house!” 
 

I shake my head and laugh. “Do you like all of the Ninja Turtle stuff? Say thank you to daddy for putting up all the decorations,” I say with a raised eyebrow.
 

“Thank you, Daddy,” Logan says turning around to face Cole.
 

Aubry, Aimee, and Riley continue to walk in, greeting us as they look around.  Connor and Sandra arrive next with Elijah, who’s too smart for his own good at eight years old. Colleen shows up next followed by Mark, Brian and lastly, Alex. Greg and Becky call us through FaceTime so that Logan can see his cousin Robinson, whom he adores. 
 

“Dude! You should’ve seen it!” Aubry shouts as I make my way outside with drinks. “Logan has some serious vert!”
 

I groan, rolling my eyes as I hand him his beer. “Can you please stop talking about the way my kid jumps?”
 

“Cowboy! You gotta put him in basketball! No joke, Cole, he fucking jumps higher than I do!” Aubry exclaims.
 

“That’s because you can’t jump for shit,” Cole replies with a laugh.
 

“Yeah dude, you suck at basketball,” Connor says. “Remember the time you sprained your ankle...WALKING TO GET WATER?!” he adds as he goes into a full out belly laugh, the rest of us
joining him.
 

I laugh at the memory, wiping the tears from my eyes as I walk back inside to get more drinks. Aimee and Sandra join me in the kitchen to help me put out snacks and we sit down for a while and talk about the usual: husbands, kids, work, and lack of time to shop or do anything for ourselves. 
 

When the sun takes the day and the party is over, all of our guests leave with the exception of Colleen and Alex. They help us clean up, both of them echoing Cole’s pleads for me to sit down and put my feet up. I take an exhausted Logan and Carley to the living room and cradle them close to my side and watch an episode of Max and Ruby, which I am absolutely dying for them to stop liking so much, as we wait for them to finish. 
 

“Mommy, when is baby coming?” Logan asks, sleepily laying his head over my stomach. 
 

“Soon, baby. Next month you and Carley will have a little brother to share your toys with,” I reply kissing the top of his head as I run my fingers through Carley’s tangled hair. 
 

Logan raises his head and looks at my stomach. “He’s gonna play with my Ninja Turtle?” he asks scrunching his little nose.
 

I laugh lightly. “Yes he will.”
 

Logan nods once and looks back to the television. 
 

“I’m heading out,” Alex says, making the three of us turn our heads.
 

I make my way to get up but he puts his hand up to stop me. “You guys look too comfortable there. I just wanted to thank you again,” he says quietly, his eye bouncing between each of our faces, cherishing the moment. 
 

“You’re welcome to come back,” I offer with a smile. 
 

His chest rises and falls once. “Thank you,” he replies with a smile.
 

He walks over to us and places a kiss on each of our heads before turning around and leaving. 
 

“Our grandpa is awesome,” Logan says, causing my eyes to widen and my heart to skip a beat.
 

“Yeah?” I ask, unsure.
 

“Yeah! He bought me numchucks!” Logan replies excitedly.
 

“Nun-chucks,” I correct with a smile.
 

Logan smiles and nods quickly. 
 

“Yeah, he is pretty cool...” I say, my voice trailing off.
 

Colleen comes into the living room and says goodbye to us, turning to Cole and giving him a big
kiss on the cheek and slapping his face lightly. “You’re working tomorrow?” she asks.
 

Cole sighs, running his hand through his hair as his eyes land on mine. “I am.”
 

“Don’t worry, I’ll come over and take care of her for you since you think she’s going to break,” Colleen teases while I laugh.
 

Cole purses his lips. “I don’t think she’s going to break...I just prefer to know she’s okay and not overdoing things while she’s pregnant.”
 

“Sure,” she says laughing as she walks out.
 

Cole closes the door behind her and comes back to the living room, plopping down beside Logan and putting his arm around us as he leans his head against mine.
 

“We did good,” he whispers.
 

I look into his eyes. “We did good,” I confirm with a smile.
 

After bath time, I lay Carley down while Cole gives Logan his bath. I decide to jump in the shower while they do their usual routine and when I come out, I find the house is dark except for the light coming from Logan’s bedroom. I tiptoe to his door and lean against the doorframe to watch them quietly. Logan is tucked into his bed and Cole is sitting on the oversized football beanbag beside him with a book open. I cross my arms over myself and shiver at the air that hits my bare arms and watch as Cole reads to our son. 
 

When he looks up and finds me standing there, he stops reading and smiles at me. His eyes filled with a love that reaches deep within me and makes my own heart stir. I place my head on the wall and continue to look at him as he reads. Not for the first or last time, thanking the universe for giving me this man. This perfectly imperfect man that loves me so much it’s almost unimaginable. I’m thankful for the family we have together, the one we’ve made and the one we’ve gained over the years. My life feels as complete as it can possibly feel. I run my fingers through my hair and over the scar on my hairline, the part of my life that is gone but will never be forgotten. And I’m thankful that we made it out of that together, and that we’re no longer the broken people we once were. Cole clears his throat and I blink my eyes, realizing that I have tears streaming down my face. I wipe them away as he looks at me, his bright green eyes the only thing visible in the dim light.. the only thing visible to me in any light. 
 

He smiles then, that big smile with the dimple that I had no chance of ever not falling in love with, and he reads from memory. His eyes never swaying from my own...
 

"Big Nutbrown Here settled Little Nutbrown Here into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him good night. And he laid down close by and whispered with a smile: I love you, right up to the moon...and back..."