Epilogue
Kate
Three years later…
“Youreadyforthis?” Jaxon pauses in front of the solid wood door and pulls me into his arms. My chest heaves up and down. Anxiety and excitement flood my veins. He cups my cheeks and brushes the few tears I let slip away.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I sigh and lean into his touch.
He leans in, hovering his mouth over mine. “I love you,” he whispers before pressing his lips to mine.
“I love you, too,” I reply once we break apart.
He kisses the tip of my nose, and I can’t hold back my smile. “Now, go help bring our daughter into the world.” I can’t believe it. The day is finally here that we get to meet our daughter.
I nod and press up on my toes and kiss him once more before opening the hospital room door. I find Finn standing next to the hospital bed, where my sister lies. Lauren’s eyes are closed as Finn dabs her forehead with a washcloth and whispers words of encouragement.
“Hey, sis.” I smile because how could I not be at this moment?
Lauren turns to me, and I cringe. Woah, the look on her face is fucking terrifying. “Next time I come up with a brilliant idea, tell me to keep my mouth shut. I thought they said labor the second time round was much easier. Labor with Nathan was nothing like this.”
“Well, maybe don’t listen to Haylee since she claims she can cook, too, and we all know that’s far from the truth.”
A contraction hits before she can continue. Lauren sits up quickly, reminding me of the childhood game Don’t Wake Daddy and grabs Finn’s hand.
“You’re doing great, Lo. Just breathe, baby,” her husband sweetly coos to her.
She ignores the gesture, gritting her teeth and tightening her grip on his hand. He winces in pain, and all color drains from his face, heading to his hand, which has now turned from a bright shade of red to a deep blue. Damn, who knew my sister was so strong?
“Stop staring and come over and help,” my sister shouts. “I’m doing this for you, Katherine Renee McAdams.”
Oh shit, she means business with the use of my full name. But I must admit, as much shit as I gave both Dani and Lauren over the years for smiling every time they heard their married name, I know that as I rush to my sister’s side, there is no match for the smile on my lips.
It’s still weird to not officially be a Lawson anymore. Obviously, I will always be one, but now I am officially a McAdams. Last Christmas morning, Jaxon, along with the help of Andy, proposed.
We had just finished opening Christmas presents, surrounded by mountains of wrapping paper. A fresh layer of snow fell the night before, and Andy was so excited to go outside and play. Jaxon had told him he had to wait until after we opened presents.
“Daddy, is it time? Is it time?” Andy jumped up and down, tugging on his dad’s hand while we sat on the couch.
“Yeah, buddy, it’s time.” He winked and kissed my temple.
“Yes,” Andy hissed and pumped his arms excitedly in the air.
“Come on, Ms. Kate.” Andy grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. He pulled me up with such a force I had to steady myself on my feet.
“All right, little dude, how about we get you changed?” I suggested once I caught my balance.
“Already done,” he exclaimed as he untied his robe and discarded it on the floor. He was no longer wearing the Christmas pajama top he wore last night. When on Earth did he change?
I expected him to take off running up the stairs, but he turned around to face me.
I gasped, bringing both of my hands to cover my mouth when I looked down and read the writing on his T-shirt. In bold red letters read, “Will you be my mom?”
“Oh my God,” I breathed and followed Andy’s gaze behind me. As I slowly turned, I found Jaxon no longer on the couch but down on one knee.
“What do you say, babe? Want to be stuck with us forever?”
I choked on my tears at his choice of words. “How romantic. Well, when you put it that way, how can a girl resist?”
He opened a small black velvet box to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring. Beside the ring was a smaller stone—Andy’s birthstone.
I nodded. “Yes.”
While our engagement may not have been as short as Lauren and Finn’s, we didn’t wait all that long. By Valentine’s Day, we were married in a small courthouse ceremony. Jaxon, Andy, and I officially became a family in front of just our families. Not long after, Lauren had been inseminated with the eggs that had been mixed with Jaxon’s sperm, and we must have had some higher power on our side because on the first try, a miracle had happened—we were expecting.
“Come on, Lauren, one last push. You’re almost there.” I will every ounce of strength into my sister as I encourage her to keep going. If I could trade places with her, I would, but watching her go through this makes me love her that much more.
She screeches like a banshee during her push, but my sister’s sounds of horror are quickly replaced by the first wails of my child. The breath is literally ripped from my body as I watch the doctor hold her up.
“Congrats, it’s a girl,” the doctor says.
The tears are flowing as I lay my eyes on my daughter for the first time, and there is no stopping it.
The doctors are tending to my sister as another set of nurses cleans up my daughter. One walks over to me, carrying a wrapped-up bundle of joy—my bundle of joy.
“What do you say, Mom? Would you like to hold your daughter?” As if the answer is anything but fuck yes.
“Yes,” I say, barely above a whisper. The hospital was aware of our situation, obviously not the first to go through this, and had brought in a second hospital bed so that I could lie with the baby to bond.
I slip out of my T-shirt, leaving me in a camisole, and settle into the bed next to my sister.
“Here she is, Mom. Meet your baby girl.”
Oh my God. She is beautiful and all mine. Movement continues to happen around us, but all I can focus on is my daughter. Her beautiful brown eyes match mine and are wide as she takes in the new world around her.
Moments pass when there is a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Lauren announces. The doctors have finished cleaning her up and are allowing her to rest before getting moved to the recovery room.
My gaze leaves my daughter’s for just a moment to meet the gorgeous eyes of my husband. He’s going to be jealous that she has my brown eyes versus his blue.
“Jaxon,” I whimper through my tears. “You want to come meet your daughter?” I’m impressed that I somehow choked that question out and he could understand me.
His hand covers his mouth, trying to hide his emotions. I know he has been extremely anxious about this moment, especially after what happened with Courtney, but I had hope and faith that she was looking down on us as we brought our baby girl into this world.
Jaxon joins me on the bed. “Baby, meet our daughter, Hope Elizabeth McAdams.” I adjust myself carefully and place her in her daddy’s arms. Giving my daughter my sister’s middle name doesn’t even begin the express the gratitude we have for her. It’s because of Lauren and her selflessness that we can have this moment right now. We had discussed if this hadn’t worked, we could always try adoption, but Lauren was stubborn as hell and wanted to at least give this a shot.
He presses his lips against mine before pressing a tender kiss to Hope’s forehead.
“Hi, baby girl. I’m your daddy.”
I didn’t think I could fall any more in love with this man, but at that very moment, witnessing him with our daughter, I fall head over heels in love with him all over again.
At some point, Finn slips out of the room, and we relish in the moment as a family together, completely forgetting that Lauren is resting on the bed beside us.
My sister is seriously a rock star for doing what she did today. I have no clue how Dani did that twice at once.
There is another knock at the door before it opens. Finn enters the room, carrying their son, Nathan—a spitting image of Finn—in his arms, one hand around Andy as he escorts him into the room. He gives Andy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking over and kissing Lauren on the forehead. “You did so good, Lo.”
My nephew reaches for his mama, and she eagerly accepts him into her arms. “Mama!”
“Carefully, baby. Mommy is a little sore.” Lauren winces as she hugs Nathan tightly.
Lauren looks up and smiles at me as I mouth, “Thank you.”
When I turn back to my family, Andy is still standing at the edge of the bed, looking hesitant and nervous. Jaxon carefully stands, still holding Hope in his arms. I’m pretty sure I might need to pry her out of his arms to ever hold her again.
He walks over to our son—yes, our son. The paperwork officially went through not long after our marriage for me to adopt Andy.
“Andy, this is your little sister, Hope.” Jaxon leans down so that Andy can see her cute little face shown under the pink hat with a bow.
His face lights up, and I’m pretty sure I hear, “Aww,” from where my sister and her family are.
“Can I hold her?” Andy asks, looking up at Jaxon.
“Sure, buddy.” He nods over to the bed. “Come sit in bed next to Mom.”
I’m not sure I’ll ever get over the fact that I’m a mom—a dream that a little girl once had ripped away, now a reality with a stepson and now a daughter. I was never going to push for Andy to call me Mom because, well, he already has one. We’ve never shied away from talking about Courtney when he asked. There were more questions about his mom as he got older—more so he wanted to hear Jaxon tell him stories about her and if they had the same mannerisms. But the first time he called me Mom, I nearly fell over. I hadn’t realized how much I had actually craved motherhood until that moment. It felt like my heart was finally complete then—that is, until this very moment.
Andy climbs in the bed beside me, gives me a brief hug, and smiles. Jaxon comes up beside us and gently places Hope in Andy’s arms. “Hold her head, okay? Just like you do with your cousins.” Andy is a natural with Nathan and was amazing when the twins and Harper were babies.
Andy stares at her for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Hi, Hope. I’m Andy, your big brother. I’m going to always be there for you, I promise.” My heart is overflowing with love as he presses a kiss to her little cheek. “And my other mom will look out for you when I can’t.”
THE END