“He’s right. You are welcome here, with some conditions.”
“Which are?”
“You speak not a word of this to Kendrix. You accept Kent as my future husband, and you accept Kendrix as his daughter. That goes for her name as well.”
“Delaney.” Tillie’s voice is pleading.
“No. We’ve played by your terms for far too long. I’m taking back my life. Starting now. Take it or leave it.”
The room is silent for several minutes when Tillie finally nods. “I’ll ship your things.”
“Thank you. I’ll send movers to come and pack it all up. I just need you to let them in.”
“Can I see her? Before I leave, can I see my granddaughter?” She swallows hard. “C-Can I see K-Ken-Kendrix?”
“I think she’d like that.”
Tillie nods. “Thank you.”
“Will you two be okay here? I’ll run to my parents’ and pick up our girl.”
“Thanks, babe. We’ll be fine. Drive safe.”
“Love you.” I kiss her quickly and rush out the door.
By the time I’m back, Delaney and Tillie have managed to whip up some spaghetti for dinner, and have plates set out at the island.
“Grandma!” Kendrix rushes toward Tillie and hugs her legs tightly. “You’s been gone fowever.”
“I know, sweetie. Grandma has been giving you time with your daddy.” Her eyes flash to mine then back to my daughter.
“Oh, I love my daddy. I gots a mamaw and papaw too.”
“I heard that. I’m so happy for you, Kendrix.”
Delaney sucks in a breath, and when I look at her, I see tears in her eyes. It’s then that I know everything is going to be okay. The odds may have been stacked against us, and the future uncertain, but we battled our way through.
Life has thrown us some curveballs, and there have been times when the unexpected changes have literally knocked us on our ass. We’ve had to learn to live one breath, one second, one minute, one hour, one day at a time. We learned that the best things in life are truly unexpected. We’ve embraced it and learned to live with our unexpected odds.EpilogueDelaneyToday is a special day for so many reasons. Let’s start with the fact that my little girl turns five. I can’t believe how fast time has passed. She’s been talking about today, her princess party, for the last two weeks. She’s not the only one who’s excited. Her daddy, my fiancé, he’s also a bouncing ball of energy. This is the first birthday he’s gotten, and he ran with it. Our house looks like someone puked pink and purple, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be sweeping up glitter for months. I’ve let him plan and make this day so extravagant I don’t know how we’ll ever top it. So yeah, that makes today extra special.
“I gotta admit,” Reagan says with her hand on her growing belly bump. “I never thought I’d see Kent all pinked out.” She chuckles.
I’m sitting with the wives, Kendall, Reagan, Dawn, and Mara, while the guys finish with the decorations. “He’s a big softie.”
“Oh, they all are,” Mara agrees.
“Honestly, I still find it hard to believe there are five of them. Five guys, the best of friends, and all great catches. They love us and our children fiercely, yet still manage to look like badasses.”
“Shh.” Dawn laughs. “Don’t let them hear you. They don’t need their egos stroked.”
“I don’t know.” Kendall rubs her baby bump. “We should give credit where credit is due.” She points down at her belly, and we all break out into a fit of giggles.
The guys look over at us, each one of them only having eyes for the leading lady in their lives. Kent’s eyes sparkle with happiness as he winks at me.
“Let me see that rock again.” Reagan reaches for my hand and places it on her pregnant belly. “He did good. He did damn good,” she praises.
“You guys really didn’t know?” I ask them.
“Not a word. Ridge came home with Kendrix saying we were watching her so you all could get the house ready for the party and that Kent wanted it to be a surprise,” Kendall explains. “I called him out on it when we got here, and you all told us you were engaged. He knew!”
“Oh, they all knew,” Reagan tells us. “Tyler sang like a canary. Apparently, it’s the pregnancy hormones or something. He said he was scared for his life.” She cackles.
“We’re lucky,” Dawn says wistfully. “Sure, I mean, so are they, but really, we’re lucky. It’s rare to find a love like we all have, and look at us. All five of us have found it. Not only that, but it brought the five of us together. I cherish that, and each of you.”
“Damn pregnancy hormones.” Mara laughs, wiping her eyes.
“What?” Kendall shrieks. “Are you?”
Mara’s face goes beet red. “I meant Dawn.”
“Nope. Spill it, sister.”
“Fine, yes, we’re pregnant. I’m freaking out. Ryder will be thirteen months old when the baby gets here. That’s two under age two, plus an almost four-year-old. What were we thinking?”