Hammers & Heartstrings (The Riley Siblings #3)

EPILOGUE Aggie

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

“It’s okay, baby.” I sway back and forth and trail a finger over Ivy’s chubby red cheek. “I know those teefers hurt but Mommy’s got you.”

My nine-month-old’s stormy blue eyes drift closed as I press a kiss to her forehead, breathe deep the smell of baby, then run my palm over her curly white-blonde hair.

I had no idea what happiness really was until the last few years, never truly experienced how perfect life could be until my best friend told me he loved me and had since we were six.

But right now, standing in our baby’s room while I rock her back to sleep, our five-year-old snoozing soundly across the hall with Tank curled protectively around her, my best friend and husband waiting for me to come back to bed, this is what pure unfiltered joy really feels like.

Noah and I got married right after I told him about Ivy, did it a week later right there in Jupiter when Blake, Sid and the kids came back down for BookCon. Vin and Jax were there too and our ceremony was perfect and intimate, private and everything I’d ever wanted in a wedding to the man who’s had my heart since first grade. I filed paperwork to adopt Clover at the same time, and a few months later, it was official. All of us were Thornbie’s and we belong to each other 100%.

We finished up Noah’s final tour as Noah Thorn just before school started again, the one that went exactly how he planned it out following the release of Hammers and Heartstrings, his first and only solo album that went platinum within the first week after it dropped. My husband wrote every word and orchestrated every note, created the most beautiful combination of soul searing blues and heart stopping emotion with spine tingling rock ‘n roll, and he did it all himself.

Well, almost.

Noah used his incredible power of persuasion—and let’s be real here, his enormous dick—to convince me to sing on the album with him. Nothing crazy, just supporting vocals and my mediocre guitar skills, but I was on a few of his songs and that was pretty cool, it’s just not for me.

I’m perfectly content being a stay home mom to our beautiful daughters and occasionally dabbling in art here and there. And being a rockstar isn’t for Noah anymore either. He’s a part of the family business now, my husband working with my big brothers and their wives as well as myself at the craziest place I’ve ever stepped foot in but am proud to say I helped create.

Knox and Hazel opened their business at the same time they moved, a facility that offers all kinds of therapy and physical health services for those who can’t afford it otherwise, but it goes way beyond fixing your body.

Blake and Sid have reader groups that cater to all ages to help form a love of written word, help plant and sow the seeds of aspiring authors or reading enthusiasts. Knox gives MMA lessons to troubled kids or ones with dreams of becoming professional fighters, while Hazel improves the overall physical health of everyone from all walks of life with her eclectic combination of treatments.

I teach various art classes to those who want to paint and my so sexy, kindhearted husband gives free music lessons on every instrument he knows how to play for kids who don’t have the means to do it on their own.

The Charlie Riley Center for Peace and Wellness is basically a community center that mixes all of our passions in order to give back the way our da always wanted while allowing us to do what we love on our terms.

A business Da would be proud of and I fucking love working with my family.

We moved to Georgia a week before Knox did, a week after Ma did, and all of us live within a house or two of Blake and Sid.

Okay, so we actually have the four big ass houses at the end of a cul-de-sac, the Riley-sac as Blake so stupidly calls it, but it’s perfect and amazing to have my brothers and mom a simple few feet away. Especially while our family continues to grow.

I smile down at Ivy, her sweet angel face so much like Noah’s, with little hints of me scattered throughout. Both of our girls are mini versions of my husband, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s too pretty to have those genes wasted.

“See you in a few hours, baby girl.” I lay her down in her crib, Ivy sighing contentedly, a small smile pulling at her Cupid bow lips.

I tiptoe across the hall and peek in on Clover, my punk wrapped up in her burrito, messy mane fanned across her pillow while she mumbles something about peanut butter parfaits. Tank’s tail thumps against the foot of her bed, but he doesn’t get up, doesn’t lift that giant block head from Clover’s stomach.

Such a good boy.

Always protecting his babies.

Satisfied both of our girls are off in dreamland, I head back to our room, hopeful Noah and I can get a couple hours of sleep before the sun rises completely and the total chaos of today’s festivities begins.

“She’s out,” I whisper, probably to no one as I close our door, then I almost scream when the lamp on Noah’s side of the bed clicks on. “Jesus fuck, Thor, you scared the... oh my god.”

I start giggling uncontrollably as my husband, my very, very almost totally naked husband, smirks. “What?”

“You know what.” I snort, keep giggling my way to the bed, then point to his incredibly huge hard dick that is standing tall and wearing… “Oh my god, it’s a Santa hat.”

Noah smiles proudly as he gestures to his holiday boner. “Tis the season.” Then he wags his brows. “Tis the day actually, and I thought I’d give you your gift now.”

“The girls shouldn’t be up for at least two hours.” I climb onto the bed and out of his t-shirt I’m wearing. “I was hoping we could try to sleep, since it’s going to be total madness after that.”

He scoffs, “Where is your holiday spirit, kitten?”

“I’m naked, aren’t I? I think that’s pretty spirited.”

“You’ll get no argument from me, but I’m too excited to sleep.” Noah reaches into the nightstand and searches for something. “Your gift is really our gift and as soon as you open it, I’m gonna fuck you silly, then wake up the girls so we can share it with them too.”

I straddle his lap and sit back on his thighs. “You’re kind of horrible at this.”

He pulls an envelope from the drawer, closes it, then grins. “You knew this well before we even hit puberty. I love Christmas, can’t keep a secret and I love this whole thing even more now that I have four girls to spoil rotten.”

“Or three girls and a boy.”

Noah sighs to cover his hopeful tone. “You still think it’s a boy?”

“Yep. This time is different than Ivy.”

“Barely.” He rolls his eyes. “The only difference between this pregnancy and the last is the fact that you’re too gassy to do anal.”

I scrunch up my nose. “Oh, quit complaining. I’ve made up for that at least ten times over with the sudden spike in blowjobs.”

“One pregnancy craving I am most thankful for.”

“As you should be. My love for your cock in my mouth has doubled the last three months, so enjoy it while you can. As soon as we’re halfway through the second trimester, I expect you to put forth maximum effort in terms of the butt stuff. Especially since I know you ordered more toys.”

Noah gasps and clutches his imaginary string of pearls. “Did you snoop through my Amazon cart again?”

“No.” I giggle. “I just happened to notice the almost five-hundred-dollar purchase on our bank statement. It’s hard to miss anal plugs, cock rings, paddle vibrator when I’m paying the electric bill.”

“Foiled by adult responsibility.” He scoots up the headboard and grabs my thighs, then nods toward the envelope on his chest. “Open it, kitten.”

With a deep breath, I nod, and reach for the paper that contains the gender of our third baby.

“If it’s a boy, Ma is gonna flip.”

“She’s gonna flip either way.” Noah smiles as he starts rubbing his palms over my skin. “The closer we get to evening the scales, the crazier Ma gets about perfect alignment of chakras and shit. If she gets her Christmas wish with six of each, I’m a little worried Linda Riley is going to spontaneously combust into a supernova.”

He’s not wrong.

Between my brothers and I, there are six girls and five boys—two of which are still cooking because Hazel, Sid and I are all currently pregnant.

Knox has Julian, who is seven months old, and Henry, who is due this summer. Blake has Sloane, Jack, and Holden from Sid’s first marriage, Charlie who is almost two, the twins, Scarlet and Lucy who are about to turn one and Addelaide, who is also due next summer.

And that means Clover and Ivy make six granddaughters for Ma, so she’s hoping our little bean coming next summer is a boy because she has a thing for even numbers.

If it turns out we’re having Jacob—after Noah’s Pop—and not Rosemary—because we have a theme with our girls, Ivy’s middle name is for his mom—Linda Riley will definitely explode.

“You gonna open that, or is your plan to read it telepathically while my dick gets so hard it shoots off my body and straight into your vagina?”

I snort as I roll my eyes. “So impatient.” I scoot forward, take the tiny hat off Noah’s cock, then go up on my knees. “Anyone ever tell you that before?”

My husband bites his lip and watches with hooded pale blue eyes as I sink down on him. “Just you.” His head thumps against the headboard. “Fuckity fucking fuck. Goddamnit, kitten.”

I smile because he says that every time we make love.

Every. Single. Time.

Just like he did the very first time in the basement of my second childhood home in Jupiter. Just like he did the first time after we confessed our true feelings for each other. Just like he did each time we made a baby.

Most probably think it isn’t romantic or sexy to hear your partner groan the made-up word fuckity when you have sex, but for me, it’s everything. Noah’s words, as well as his actions, have always meant everything to me and when he makes them up, creates new and colorful words on my behalf, hell yes, it’s romantic and sexy. Especially in that deep velvety voice of his.

I start rocking my hips slowly, revel in the feel of my husband buried inside me, filling me so full, filling me with all of him. So fucking full of his cock and his love, his heart and his soul. Noah is my other half in every way imaginable.

“Kitten...” He moans, his fingers digging into the muscles of my thighs. “Aggie, fuck.”

With a grin, I keep my pace slow, steady, languid as I tear open the envelope. “Ready, Thor?”

“Yes,” he hisses through clenched teeth. “I’m so fucking ready.”

And while I know he really means he’s ready for me to ride him harder, to fuck him like I own him, I fight the urge to do exactly that and pull out the slip of paper from my doctor.

Then smile so damn big my face may get stuck like that.

“Congratulations, Daddy.” I wait until those pale blues find mine. “It’s a boy.”

Noah growls as he sits up, wraps me in his arms, and kisses the life out of me. Then I’m on my back, legs over his shoulders, while my husband starts slamming into me in the most deliciously brutal way.

“Fuck, Aggie,” Noah grunts and drops his hand to my pussy, finds my clit and strokes it with his thumb to match the rhythm of his hips. “Fuck, kitten, I love you.”

My back arches, my pussy flutters, the paper falls from my hand as I fist the sheet. “Yes... oh my god, yes, I love you, Noah.”

He leans down and kisses me hard, licks and nips at my lips while his cock pounds into me, goes so fucking deep I feel it in my soul. “Thank you, baby.”

Tears spring to my eyes as I claw at his back, as each forceful thrust drives me closer and closer to the edge.

That’s something else that happens almost every time we make love. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been together for two years as a couple in love and have sex so much we’ve probably set a record, I still cry almost every time because I can’t get over the fact that my best friend loves me the way I have always loved him, that Noah loves me and cherishes me in the way I was always meant to be loved and cherished, not just by anyone, but by him.

“Goddamn, I love you,” he grunts, Noah’s lips against mine. “Aggie...”

“I love you, Noah.” A few tears slip down my cheeks. “Oh my god, I love you... I’m gonna come. Yes, my god, yes.”

I can feel his cock swell, feel it grow impossibly harder as Noah crushes his mouth to mine and just when my orgasm takes over, explodes through ever fiber in my body and my pussy clamps down around his cock to send me spiraling into complete bliss, Noah’s teeth sink into my neck so he doesn’t scream while he pumps out his own release.

My husband collapses on the bed next to me, both of us panting and smiling like idiots. “A boy?”

I nod as he rolls me toward him. “Yep. You can even see his wiener on the ultrasound.”

“Of course.” Noah laughs as he grabs the paper and sonogram. “He is my son, after all. The doctor probably thought our baby had a third leg.”

“Oh my god.” I swat his chest as I wiggle around so we can both look at our son. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Just stating facts, kitten.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“You disagree? Because I’m pretty sure you’ve had nothing but kind words for my dick ever since you first met him.”

I roll my eyes. “We aren’t talking about my love for your dick. We’re taking about our son.”

Noah’s eyes go a little glassy as they roam the black and white picture. “Jacob.”

“Jacob Riley Thornbie.” Blake used Da’s first name, Knox used his middle and Noah and I decided to use our last name. Da was just as important to my husband as he was to me and my brothers, so it just felt right to pay tribute in our own way.

“Has a nice ring to it.” Noah sighs. “It’s a strong name.”

“A strong name from three of the strongest men I’ve ever known. Our baby boy is lucky to come from a line of warriors in their own right.”

He sets the sonogram on his chest, turns and tilts my face so I’m looking him in the eye. “I have no idea what I did to deserve you, to deserve the life we’ve created, and I have no idea how I got so fucking blessed to not only have your love but the love of Clover Creek, Ivy Lynn and Jacob Riley too.”

I press a kiss to his lips. “You deserve all of us, Thor. All of us and anyone else that comes along, because you love so big and beautifully, it only makes sense for you to have that in return.”

“I love you, Agatha, and I am so goddamn grateful you never walked away from me, that you still loved me despite everything we’ve been through.”

Another kiss, a few more tears. “There has never been a time in my life when that was truly an option because loving you and our babies is what I was born to do.”

“Damn straight.” Noah kisses me hard and just when I think we might be headed to round two, our bedroom door swings open.

“It’s Christmas!” Clover screeches as she walks awkwardly alongside Tank, who has a very smiley Ivy sitting on his back, clutching his collar in her tiny hands. “Santa came and it’s Christmas and Ivy climbed out of her crib again!”

I giggle as my husband very stealthily slides our clothes under the sheets, then pulls his shorts on so he can retrieve our nine-month-old from her Pitweiler ride.

“Santa came already?” I pull Noah’s t-shirt on then sit up, and make sure my naked hoo ha is hidden. “It’s barely six.”

“He did, Mommy!” Clover launches onto the bed as Noah climbs back in with Ivy. “I know I’m not upposed to peek, but I was so excited I had to, and Santa already came! Then when Tanky and I came upstairs, we heard Ivy climbing out of her crib, so we had to investigate to make sure she was okay.”

I nod with a semi-serious expression. “Of course. Surely the baby monitor wouldn’t have gone off when she landed on her butt.”

“Right!” My five-year-old giggles as she burrows between Noah and I, then snorts as Ivy claps and wiggles out of my husband’s arms so she can climb on her big sister. “It’s my job to make sure Ivy is okay.”

“You got that right, peanut.” Noah smiles. “You’re the oldest, and that’s what the oldest does.”

Clover nods. “Just like Uncle Knoxy. He makes sure you and Uncle Blakey are okay all the time.”

I smirk cause she’s absolutely right. “Yep.”

“I’m just not a bear like him.”

Noah and I both crack up at that.

Knox is a teddy bear these days, being married and having kids around definitely softened him up, but my oldest brother has always been a bear and it was a thousand times worse when we were younger. Clover only calls him that because she hears Hazel do it all the time, but one day she’ll understand just how on-point she really is.

“Definitely not a bear.” I grin as I kiss her wild mane. “You’re a punk.”

Clover giggles. “A punk rock princess peanut, just like Ivy.” Her baby sister claps and blows a raspberry. “What about the new baby?”

I glance at Noah over her head, give him a shrug when he nods like a bobble head.

“No princess for the new baby, peanut.” He smiles so wide. “Looks like you got a baby brother for Christmas, kiddo.”

Clover all but screams as she starts wiggling and dancing on the bed, Ivy laughing her deep little belly laugh while she watches her big sister with so much adoration already.

Then Clover is pushing my shirt up so it sits just under my boobs, her little button nose pressed to my belly while she talks into my belly button. “Hi Jacob! Hi baby brother! I’m so excited you’re a boy! I’m gonna show you how to climb trees and throw a football.”

I smile down at her through a new wave of tears. “But it’s okay if you don’t wanna do that stuff. You can play dollies with me and Ivy too. And if you want to wear dresses, you can borrow mine and have long hair like Daddy. He’s really good at braiding. If you wants to paint instead of playin sports, that’s okay too, cause Mommy is the bestest painter ever or you can play music like Daddy. Or maybe you can writes books or fight big muscle guys. You can even go into the secret operations and be a spy like uncle Jax!”

Clover kisses my belly and I damn near melt when Ivy crawls over and does the same. “It doesn’t matter what you like to do or what you want to be because you’re Jacob Riley Thornbie and you are my baby brother. That’s the mostest important thing, anyway.”

Yep.

Totally bawling.

Noah is too.

We’ve done a really good job with our punk rock princess peanut.

Who is completely wrapped up in her own bubble as she sits up, hugs Ivy and grins. “Can we open presents now?”

“Not yet, peanut.” Noah sniffles. “Gotta get dressed and wait for everyone to get here first.”

“Gotta wear our matching jammies for gramma Linda?”

I chuckle a little. “Yes ma’am. The fact that your gramma bought all of us matching footie pajamas means it’s a requirement before?—”

“Hello!” my mother’s voice bellows through the downstairs. “I hope everyone is decent and awake.”

Speak of the devil. “See?” I grin at my daughter. “Your grandmother does not mess around on Christmas.”

“That’s okay.” Clover grabs Ivy and pulls her between Noah and me. “But she’s gonna hafta wait a minute because I want to snuggle for a little longer.”

I wrap my arm around both of my daughters as Noah wraps himself around the three of us. He gives my more dread free curls a little tug and when I lift my eyes to his, my heart grows to triple the size.

“I love you, Agatha.”

I’m going to be an emotional mess today, but I smile. “I love you too.”

He leans over and kisses me sweetly, then smiles against my lips. “Merry Christmas, kitten. Thanks for making it my best one yet.”

Instead of words, I just kiss my best friend, my husband, my soulmate and the father of my children with all the love and gratitude I can convey.

This truly is the definition of what real happiness feels like.

****