Page 76 of Only Temporary

I laugh, but it warms my heart to hear it. If the kids had a problem with me being here, it would hurt, but I’d have to respect that. They matter. And they spent so many years of their lives thinking they didn’t.

Thankfully, they’ve all expressed they’re fine with me being here, and I’ve spoken to each one of them individually to tell them they can still tell me anything. That if it ever becomes a problem, they can talk to me.

Cason is turning sixteen tomorrow, and we’re having a small party here for him. I already have all the stuff, and it was on the calendar a long time ago, so no one will forget. I’ve noticed so much growth in him since the very beginning. It seems he’s starting to heal. They all are.

There’s one last hurdle to jump through, and that’s the court date, but at this point, it feels like just a formality.

I can’t wait to see Kellan granted guardianship of the kids—the kids he felt like he left behind but could never possibly have. He carried them with him every single day, and now they’re all back together.

As I look around at them, I realize I got what I didn’t even know I was searching for. A man who’s strong enough to be vulnerable but who doesn’t need me to fix him. Didn’t even want me to try.

He just wanted me with all my flaws and uncertainty.

And honestly, that’s pretty damn great.

EPILOGUE

Three years later...

“You know we have to hurry up, right? We really should have learned our lesson from last time. We never learn.” My husband just babbles away, the way he does when he’s nervous but also really, really turned-on.

And with his cock in my mouth right now, my finger pressing into his tight hole, I’m pretty sure it’s mostly the latter.

“Kellan, hurry,” he gasps.

Cason just left for college yesterday, and the younger kids are actually all at school. But he’s right—we’ve been busted before.

We still live in the same house, but we did add on another bathroom, and we saved enough to pay Tatum for his half. I never feel like I’ll actually be able to repay my best friend for everything he did for me, but he said we were even a long time ago.

He’s happy with his man though, so he says more and more things like that every day.

I push another finger into Phillip, soaking in every soft gasp and moan he makes as water pours down over us both in the extra-large shower we had put in the new bathroom. We realized we were practically living together shortly after the court date—the very important court date where I was awarded permanent guardianship of the kids. They’re mine, and I’m theirs. No more belonging to the state or bouncing around from foster home to foster home.

This is their home. And mine and Phillip’s. I officially asked him to move in with me the day after the court hearing, and he asked me to marry him. We both said yes.

We got married in a simple backyard wedding with the kids, Tatum, and the man who stole Tatum’s heart. It was a perfect day. And no, not every day since then has been perfect, but they have been to me.

I’m mostly forgiven myself for leaving the kids—though it comes back in waves sometimes. And I’ve forgiven my mother. I’m still angry with her, but I know she was sick, and the system isn’t always built to actually help. You have to have people around you willing to hold you up when you only feel like falling, and she didn’t have that.

I was lucky enough to find Tatum, then Phillip and build our own family.

“Kellan, stop. I’m going to come.” I smile around the mouthful of cock, and he looks down at me, exasperated. “I want you inside me.”

Well, I’m not going to argue with that. I reluctantly pull off his shaft, licking at the tip and making him tremble and curse me before I remove my fingers from his tight ass and stand up. Gripping the back of his neck, I pull his mouth to mine and steal into it. Still never getting enough of him.

We lean on each other, I’ve realized. Everyone should be so lucky to have someone they can really, truly depend on to be there and who you want to be there for.

He turns away from me, bracing his hands on the shower wall, sticking his ass out for me, and I grip his firm cheeks, kneading them, my cock leaking and begging for mercy.

I put us both out of our misery and push into him, inch by inch, taking what he gives until my balls are pressed against his ass. He reaches his hand around to my hip, pulling me even closer to him as I kiss his neck and then pull back, thrusting into him over and over until I’m seeing stars.

We don’t have a lot of alone time, but I take every second I can get with him. He starts to work his cock with his hand, his head falling back onto my chest as I move inside him, never wanting to leave.

But when I feel that familiar squeeze around me and hear his cry of relief, it’s all over because his pleasure sends me over the edge. I come inside him, biting on his shoulder and holding onto him.

“I love you.”

“I loveyou,” he says when he catches his breath, and I slowly pull from his body, marveling at the sight of my cum sliding out of his used hole. I press a finger inside him, not wanting my release to leave his body.

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