He cradles me in his arms tight against his chest as he sinks us deep into an overstuffed black leather chair, and then he whispers sweet nothings. Petting me all over like he had in the hot tub that day. I don’t hear what he’s actually saying at first. I’m flying high in subspace. The entire club could get sucked up into a tornado, and I’d blissfully get swept along with it, floating amongst its swirling destruction. Zero. Fucks. Given.
I pick up bits and pieces of his words, letting the tone of his voice fill me with all the love and peace it always does.
“…you’ll only ever think of me there now…”
“…never felt more connected to another human being in my life…”
“…my soul mate… my everything…”
“…forever… you are my life…”
“…put on this earth to be with you…”
“…all of it… every single moment… led me to you.”
And then… my soul comes back into my body like a defibrillator to my heart, when he says, “I love you more than I ever knew one could love another person. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, goddess. I never want there to be a day when I don’t get to wake up next to you, to fall asleep beside you. I want you to be my wife. I want you to bear my children. I want to grow old with you, even if I’ll get there a little faster than you, beautiful Astrid.” He chuckles lightly, but I don’t laugh. I don’t even breathe as this man, the man of my dreams, my savior, my warrior, my soul mate, pours his heart out to me.
My arms come up to lock around his neck, and my weak arms tug just enough to let him know I want to be pulled closer to him as his arms lift me so my face can bury in the crook of his neck. I breathe him in as my nose prickles, and then my tears sweep in like a tidal wave of emotion.
“I love you too, Neil. More than anything. I want all of that too. I thought I was scared of what my future might hold, but what you just said, what you just confessed without an ounce of reluctance, without a moment of resistance, it’s exactly how I feel too, my Viking. Every single bit of it,” I say against him, my mouth muffled against his delicious-smelling flesh, but I know he hears me. I know he understands everything I said, because his long fingers bury themselves in my hair and he uses it to tug my head back enough to slam his mouth on mine.
I taste my tears as his tongue sweeps into my mouth to stroke against mine, and something inside me tells me that they’ll only be happy tears from here on out.EpilogueScoutI lie in the grass on my back, looking up at the bright sky as the puffy clouds float from one side of the fence across the yard to the other. I hear the laughter of my humans, Mom and Dad curled together in the hot tub. I hear giggles and brace myself, knowing what’s coming.
“‘Cout-dooog!” Jossy squeals before belly-flopping onto mine, and I let out an “oof.” My sweet girl is getting bigger, heavier each time she lands across my ribcage, and then her little hands swipe through the fur on my sides.
My hind leg kicks involuntarily when she scratches just the right spot, and she giggles, scratching it harder to make my leg bicycle rapidly in the air.
I live for her laughter. I live for my other humans’ happiness, because my dad lived without it for so long. Yet when my mom showed up, her sadness was even greater, but then Dad’s started to lessen, so I knew it was my job to love and protect the woman who suddenly made Dad feel better. Because something told me that if Dad and I teamed up to make Mom’s happiness grow, then we’d all be living the good life.
I don’t know how much longer I’ve got on earth, but at least I know when my time comes to cross over that rainbow bridge, I’ll be leaving all the humans I love in a much better place than when my dad first brought me home. And I’m just glad I lived to see the day when Dad found his happily ever after.
Even if that ever after includes a little girl who paints me with our momma’s makeup.The End