Epilogue
Maggie
The clicking of his camera alerted me to Harrison’s presence before anything else did. It was a sound I’d quickly grown familiar with since he always seemed to have it in hand whenever we went on a trip. Cracking my eyes open, I placed a hand on my forehead to block out the sun so I could see his face when I looked up. “You’re back!”
“I sure am,” he confirmed, flashing me a devastating grin as his gaze swept up and down my swimsuit-clad body. “And you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
His eyes darted to the pool, scanning it quickly, before his smile turned into a frown. “Where are the girls?”
“Off learning about traditional dances with Amara.” I pointed up at the balcony overlooking the pool. Two little blonde heads were barely visible, but Amara’s eyes were latched onto them as they all moved to the music that drifted down towards the pool. She was one of the babysitters
on staff at the lodge, and she’d been a life saver for me over the past month. “They wore me out and leapt at the chance to dance their little hearts out for a little bit while Mommy took a quick nap.”
Harrison crouched low, resting a hand on my still-flat lower belly. “It’s a good thing we’re heading home soon. I’ll feel better about the pregnancy once we can get you in to see your doctor.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I reassured him. “I’m not that far along. There isn’t anything for the doctor to even do yet, except to tell me I’m pregnant, and we’ve already confirmed it with that test you got me. Although, I’m still not sure how you managed to get your hands on one while we’re in the middle of the Serengeti.”
We were hours away from anything, surrounded by vast Acacia-studded grassland savannahs, riverine forests, swamps, hills and valleys. The lodge where we’d been staying was gorgeous, but the main attraction for most visitors were the countless species of wild animals and birds in the area. When Harrison had been invited to serve as the photojournalism expert for a well-respected African photo safari company, I’d begged him to say yes. It was a great opportunity since he only had to accompany one group for nine days and provide them with a behind-the-scenes perspective during their trip.
We’d arrived in Africa two weeks early, giving us plenty of time to explore with Ginger and Rose. Ages two and four, they were quite the seasoned world travelers since we made it our mission to take them on trips several times a year. It started with an extended tour of Italy on an extended honeymoon, although, I hadn’t gotten the champagne Harrison had promised me since I was four months pregnant with Rose at the time. Since then, we’d been to ten different countries on four continents—well, five now since we’d finally made it to Africa.
“Are you really surprised?” he asked. “You needed the test, so I made sure you had it.”
“Like always.” It had been like that since the day we met, Harrison doing whatever it took to take care of me. Making my dreams come true with all the adventures a girl could want and the growing family I’d always dreamed about. “But this time around, you get to tell my mom and step-dad that you knocked me up again.”
“Bunny will be thrilled,” he chuckled, knowing damn well that he was right. My mom had taken to the role of grandma like she was born to it. “But I have a feeling Stanley is going to threaten my balls.”
“That’s what you get for getting me pregnant while we’re in the wilds of Africa. You know how worried he gets, especially when we take the girls with us.” Stanley was an amazing grandfather to the our daughters, but he was also quite the worrywart—which he liked to say was because he had to do double duty as their uncle too. “And if it’s finally a boy this time, I just might let him have your balls since we won’t need them anymore.”
“Oh, yeah?” he huffed.
I cocked my head at him sassily before giggling. “Maybe not. I think I might want one more out of you either way.”
“Whatever you want, baby doll.”
Little did we know, he’d already given me the boy I wanted, along with another baby girl. Fraternal twins to round out our family.