Never Been Snow Lucky (Snowed Inn Romance)

Epilogue

JACK

“ I can’t believe my mom is ice-skating with the kids.”

I pulled my wife closer to my side as we leaned against the dasher boards surrounding the rink. “She’s doing pretty good, too. She only fell that one time when she first went out.”

“In all the years that I figure skated, I can’t think of a single time she went on the ice with me.”

I hated that her parents had let her down so much when she was younger, but I loved how she’d turned that pain into determination to be the best mother she could for our children. “Poppy will never be able to say the same about you.”

“Not after I practically dragged her onto the ice when she was three.” Iris rolled her eyes. “Our baby girl is as stubborn as her daddy.”

I gently bumped her with my hip. “If that’s the case, then our son gets his stubbornness from his mommy.”

“Fair point.” She beamed a mischievous grin at me. “But he definitely got your snowboard skills. Not mine.”

“And thank fuck for that or else we’d never be able to let him on one.” Iris was great on skis, but her luck was awful every time she tried to board. When she broke her arm, I banned her from getting on one again. Not that she argued. She was happy to be done with snowboarding by then.

“It’s amazing how far we’ve come after that first blizzard stranded us together,” she mused, giving me a little more of her weight as she leaned further into my side. “Other than my lack of snowboarding skills.”

I thanked my lucky stars for the fact that I had gotten stuck on the mountain with nowhere to stay that holiday season. Iris was the best thing that had happened to me, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her and our children in it.

Her parents had been stunned when she told them that she was going to finish her thesis while living in Winter Falls—with me. The engagement ring I put on her finger before they headed back home had helped a little. But it wasn’t until we were married that summer and announced that she was pregnant that they truly got on board with our plan.

And it was a damn good thing because I no longer felt as though I had to protect my wife from her parents. I would never be able to understand why they’d done a piss-poor job of showing her how important she was to them before I came into the picture, but they’d proven to both of us that they’d learned their lesson by treating our son and daughter

The magic of Winter Falls had worked even better on my in-laws than anyone could have expected. After Poppy was born, Bob surprised everyone—even his wife—when he bought a three-bedroom house in town. He’d said that he wanted Diane to have somewhere to stay so she wasn’t underfoot when she visited. But then when we had James three years later, he announced his retirement. They moved here two months later and had dedicated themselves to being involved grandparents.

“Having two children tends to do that. Change things, I mean.”

“Three,” she murmured.

I tore my gaze away from my son, daughter, and mother-in-law to gape at my wife. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“That depends.” Her lips curved into a huge smile as she pressed my gloved hand against her belly. “Was that one-word hint enough for you to figure out that I’m pregnant?”

“Holy fuck.” I crushed her against me in a tight hug, being careful not to apply too much pressure to her belly because I didn’t want to make her nauseous. “Is that why your mom is out there instead of you?”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t know it’s because I’m pregnant. I wanted to tell you first.”

Thinking about how insatiable she’d been the past month or so—and that I’d been able to make her come just by playing with her tits last night—I finally realized they’d been signs that she was carrying another of my babies. “Damn, I shoulda known. How far along are you? Seven or eight weeks?”

“Probably right around there, but I haven’t gone in to see the doctor yet since I knew you’d want to be there with me.” She shook her head with a rueful laugh. “I guess we’ve both been distracted lately because I didn’t even realize that I missed my period last month.”

“Neither did I.” I lifted her off her feet and twirled her around in a slow circle, grinning from ear to ear as her giggle filled the frosty air. When I set her back down, I whispered, “Already thought I was the luckiest man alive, but you just keep making my life better. Thank you, angel.”