Epilogue
Danny
I’d worked hard all of my life, competed in sports, had a 4.0 grade average, was about to graduate summa cum laude, had aced the LSAT, and been accepted to Harvard Law in the first wave. But I’d never been more nervous in my entire life.
It had been pure fucking hell spending Christmas apart from Delia, so I’d insisted on accompanying her home for spring break. Besides, I had a surprise planned.
Her dad hadn’t been against me joining her on this trip, nor had he seemed all that happy about it. He kept looking at me in a way that made me feel anxious and as though he could see inside my head—which was impressive since we’d only met over video chat.
Luckily, her stepmom was ecstatic to see us, and Delia said she handled her husband without him even knowing it.
Still, as we walked up to the front door of a house that oddly reminded me of McDuck Manor, my hands clenched and unclenched in an effort to calm my nerves.
The door suddenly swung open, and a beautiful woman came running out, her long, curly black hair flying out behind her. Delia squealed and ran over to throw her arms around Amelia.
“Delia! I missed you so much!” Her stepmom’s brown eyes shone with happiness even as they filled with tears. I mentally groaned. Making his wife cry was not the first impression I wanted her dad to have of me. Even if they were happy tears.
The front door opened wider, and a man stepped out onto the porch. He smiled fondly at his daughter and wife, then turned assessing eyes in my direction. I fought the urge to fidget and reminded myself that I was a grown-ass man.
Delia went running to him next, causing him to trade his intense stare for a bright smile. He opened his arms wide, and she launched herself at him, laughing when he held her tight and spun her around a couple of times.
This was why I was so nervous. Normally, I wouldn’t give a fuck what the man thought of me, but Delia loved him fiercely. She was the love of my life, and I would do anything for her, so I wanted to have an amicable relationship with her dad.
I slowly made my way toward them but was stopped by Delia’s stepmother. “Welcome, Danny! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you in person!” She gave me a big hug, and I immediately returned the embrace and smiled widely. Amelia had a bright and sunny presence, just like my girl.
She linked her arm through mine as we took the last few steps to the porch. Zack turned those serious eyes back to me, and when he spotted Amelia’s hold on my arm, he frowned. I was tempted to yank my arm away but didn’t want to upset Amelia any more than Zack. I was stuck between two shit options.
“Oh, quit it, Zack Parker. Even if you didn’t have my heart and soul, I would never poach from Delia.” That seemed to mollify him some, and he looked back at me with a little less of a scowl.
When he held out his hand, I stepped forward to shake it. “Nice to meet you in person, Danny.”
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, earning myself a glint of respect in his eyes.
“Come in! Come in!” Amelia chirped. “The kids will be home in a couple of hours, and I want to spend some time with you two before the whirlwind of chaos descends.”
Delia had a younger sister and a brother whom she adored, and Amelia was pregnant with another girl. There was an age gap between her and her siblings because Amelia was quite a bit younger than Zack, and they hadn’t met until Delia was a teenager. I loved how she lit up when she spoke about them. Since I felt the same way about my family, I knew we both wanted that for our future.
We were going to wait until I was done with law school to start our family, but then we intended to have a big one. Honestly, it had been hard to make the decision to wait, but I wanted to be able to give my family more of myself than I could as a law student. Just as I’d waited for Delia until I knew I could give her what she deserved, I would do the same for our children. And because my girl was fucking perfect, she’d been the one to talk me out of starting our family immediately.
Well...having kids, anyway. I wasn’t waiting much longer to make her permanently mine.
We visited with Delia’s parents until her siblings came home from a playdate, then it was like Amelia had said, “A whirlwind of chaos.” It reminded me of home and the craziness that inevitably ensued when my brothers and I were all there. Holiday get-togethers with both of our families would be interesting.