Page 19 of Bred By The Deputy
Holding my hand out to admire it, I sigh. How is this my life? When I ran here, I just wanted a place to hide out. A place I could feel safe, a feeling that was foreign to me most of my life. The moment I met Dole, I knew what safety was. What being secure could be.
“Congratulations,” Brielle announces as she and Willa wheel a small table over with a cake. “We still have something to find out, don’t we?”
Lennon and Quinn flank me, both holding little firecracker-looking tubes. I notice several of the men in the room, well their men at least, also hold similar tubes. Lighting some sparkling candles on the cake, Brielle nods at Willa who brings a finger to her lips to hush the crowd.
“We ready, folks? Let’s find out what we’re cooking in here,” I shout, lacing Dole’s hands with mine over my very round belly.
All at once, the ones holding the tubes pull a string and the room explodes with confetti. At the same time, the sparkling candles change colors. The fluttering confetti falls, and the bright sparkling lights tell us what we want to know. All of it is pink.
“A girl! We’re having a girl!”
“Called it,” Dole chuckles with a kiss on my cheek.
Catching some of the falling confetti, I laugh too. He did call it. Matter of fact, he called it from that very first night. Dole said he wanted babies and forever after—and that he wanted it with me. I could not know he meant it, and that I would want it just as badly, but here we are.
Dole saved me and helped me find who I wanted to be—and I want to be his wife, the mother of his babies, and his forever after.
Epilogue
Dole
One Year Later...
Watching my wife nurse our baby boy as our little girl coos on my chest is how I want to spend all my Sundays.
Della loved being pregnant with Ilsa, our one-year-old. I loved her being pregnant. I got to dote on my girls, seeing to any craving, any pampering, and any pleasure, she asked of me. Once Ilsa was born, she said she wanted another baby as soon as possible. I was all too pleased to oblige.
Watching her become a mother has been beautiful. Della comes from a family who love each other but never knew how to show it. Who placed such weight on appearances, stature, and power. All she cares about is making her babies happy, showing them love, and being a good mother to them. An amazing wife to me.
Before finding out we had another baby on the way, Della decided to start her own food delivery service. Sourcing materials alongside Lennon and her other friends, she creates delicious courses that she then delivers to folks here in town. People like Mrs. Murphy, who was her first customer, and even grumpy lumberjacks up on the mountain love her meals.
Seeing he come into her own, as not just a wife or mother, but as a woman, has been so rewarding. Finding herself is still a work in progress and it has made me think about who I am as well. I am a husband and father first, and a deputy second. But I am also a friend, having bonded with several of the lumberjacks married to her besties. I have also grown closer with Panic, turning to him more than once since he handled Acosta.
Finding love, finding safety, finding ourselves, has made us stronger, both together and apart, so strong I know nothing could break us.
“What comes next, darlin’?” I wonder as I watch her fuss over the baby, the joy on her face making my heart swell.
“Before another baby,” she muses with a light in her eyes that makes my gut twist. “How about we go on a vacation? I have never just gone somewhere for fun. Could we do that, all four of us?”
“We can do whatever you want, mama,” I answer, kissing the top of Isla’s downy soft head. “Where do you want to go?”
“Can we…can we go camping? You know, the way my father did with us when I was little? Kind of like our first date together, out in the woods, with a fire and…maybe even s’mores and a tent?”
Grinning at her, I nod, setting Isla down to let her walk between my legs. “Hell, yeah, we can go camping. Where would you want to go?”
“Anywhere as long as we can fish and swim, cook out like normal people do, play with the kids. We could invite Quinn and Keller too. Brielle would maybe want to go with Brett? Could we do that?”
Gazing at my wife, I nod. Because there is nothing she could ask of me that I would turn down. Being with her friends, the families they are starting, means a lot to her. Which in turn makes it mean something to me. They have become her new family, one that shows her how much they love her, who do not care about power or appearance, and who have been there for both whenever we needed them.
“Yeah, darlin’, that sounds good. Take the kids out to show them real life in the wilderness. I bet all the guys would love to get their women out in the woods,” I tease her, reaching over to take the baby from her.
Scooping up both kids, I head down the hallway to put them to bed. I am off duty for the weekend, so I am excited to get some time with them. Being away from them has gotten harder instead of easier. I still want to be a cop, I still love what I do. I guess I still want to be a good guy.
Once I settle the kids in their shared room, taking a moment with each of them the way I always do, I head down the hall to our room. Pausing at the door, I just stare at my beautiful wife. Outside the sun is setting and the light filtering in from the big open windows shines on her lying in bed.
“I love you,” she whispers with a grin, beating me to it. Each day we play a game of telling each other first or most often. A game I will never tire of.
“I love you too, darlin’,” I rasp as I step into the room, pulling the door almost closed.
