Big Nick Energy (Bringing Home Trouble)

Epilogue

NICK

Eight years later

I walked through the quiet kitchen. The only sound was of my feet patting against the cool tile as I got to work on making my wife and kids breakfast.

Eight years together, seven married and five, almost six, of those as parents.

Life was wild.

I couldn’t believe just how much my life had changed. It was less than ten years after I had been looking forward to Noah graduating high school and going off to college. I’d finished, or so I’d thought.

Man, had I been wrong!

Life had just started for me.

I took stuff from the fridge for breakfast and set it on the counter. My eyes caught the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree, and my lips twitched. Quietly, I closed the fridge and tiptoed my way to the tree.

Sure enough, our Irish Twins, Nora and Bodie, were lying under the tree. The two of them tucked inside their matching sleeping bags. I pulled my cell from the pocket of my PJ pants and snapped a shot before kneeling down and looking at my little angels sleeping.

Our Nora was about to turn six a couple of days after the new year. And Bodie would turn six nine months later in September. I smiled and stood up before looking at the tree they slept soundly under. My eyes caught all the ornaments on it. Different ones from through the years. My favorite, though, were two that always sat at the top next to one another that boasted our first Christmas together. I rubbed my chest at the sight of the two of us smiling into the camera, the tree farm behind us, while the other had our faces illuminated brightly, my face at her shoulder as I held her by the waist. I loved both those pictures.

My daughter stirred and stretched, but she didn’t wake up. She loved to sleep. Not like Bodie, who, as soon as he woke up, was up and running.

They kept us busy and made life so much more interesting than I could have imagined. I’d loved being a dad to Noah, but older and wiser now, I took time to appreciate the small quiet moments I had stupidly rushed through when my firstborn had been younger.

I reached for the throw blankets on the couch my beautiful wife liked to keep so the kids and I could cozy up and covered them up as well as added a couple of throw pillows over the presents they were close to. To make sure neither of them poked out an eye with a corner of a box.

I walked back to the kitchen and got breakfast going. I was slicing up strawberries for the waffles when I heard my girl making her way down the stairs. A couple moments later, I felt her behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist, resting her face on my bare back.

“I don’t know where you get that Big Nick Energy from,” my wife mumbled against my back before pressing a couple of kisses to my skin. I. turned and lifted her up and sat her on the counter.

“Big Nick Energy?” I asked with a quiet chuckle.

“Yeah.” She wagged her brows up and down. “How’s Daddy this morning?”

“Good.” I winked. “I had a very merry Christmas morning.”

“Mmm…” she purred, wrapping her arms over my shoulders. I loved Christmas morning, but I loved it more because it was the first morning since we found out we were expecting a third surprise without Blanca rushing to the bathroom to throw up.

My girl had woken up very energetic, and I made sure to thank her after waking up with my cock in her mouth.

“I thought I left you sleeping. You should be resting,” I said quietly. She shrugged, her eyes happy even if a little sleepy.

“I missed you,” she whispered. “They sleep under the tree again?” I nodded.

“Yeah.” I grinned.

Life was fucking good. It was great. When you least expected it, it changed, tossed you a curveball, and it was up to you what you made of it. Thankfully, I hadn’t dropped my curveball and fucked it up.

I couldn’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t taken Winston’s advice that Thanksgiving night. Everything happened for a reason, and since that night, I had made sure to live life to the fullest and grab hold of the good in my life in a way I would never fucking let it go.

“Love you, princess,” I mumbled, stroking her face tenderly.

I had no idea how my girl, my wife, did it. She was still as soft and sweet as ever. After everything we had done, she still blushed for me. My body reacted like it always did when I was around her.

We didn’t play as often as we liked, but it didn’t mean we didn’t.

In fact, the kids were going to be spending the night with their uncle Crank and Aunt Libby this weekend, and I couldn’t wait to spend some much-needed one-on-one time with my wife.

“Love you, too, Daddy. Merry Christmas,” she whispered and sealed it with a kiss.

Merry sweetness was all I’d had since we got together. And I couldn’t wait to see what else life could possibly have in store for us.