Chapter 34: Finding Forever: Epilogue

His wife had a coronet of flowers in her hair and Cade found himself ridiculously charmed by how beautiful she looked. Like a heavily pregnant elven princess with her long, wavy platinum hair and her flowing teal chiffon dress with its empire waistline.

She had a becoming flush on her cheeks and happy sparkle in her eyes.

“How was it?” he asked as he tugged the seatbelt over her belly and clipped it in. A task which—at eight months pregnant—defeated her.

“Amazing. And did you know? Iris was there? Of course, you knew. She told me you knew… you were all sneaking around behind my back to make this work.”

“Trystan and I knew how much it meant to both of you to have her here,” Cade told her with a smile, before nodding at Ian to drive. “So, he shuffled some things around to make it happen.”

“Well, it works to their advantage because she tells me they’re going to view some houses while they’re here. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Hmm.” Cade nodded, eyes still lingering on her face. “And what did you ladies get up to?”

“The usual baby shower things. Well, I’m told they’re the usual things. I’ve never actually been to a baby shower before. We played some really weird games, and the food was amazing. And I think we scored everything we wanted off the baby registry.”

Because they didn’t really need anything for their baby, she’d set up a registry to donate gifts or money to a local sanctuary for orphaned and abandoned babies.

“Oh my God and the venue was beautiful,” she said. “I’m going to have to be on my A-game when it’s my turn to host a baby shower for Beth. I don’t know if I’ll even come close to competing with this.”

She ran her hand in soothing circles over her distended belly. The baby bump had pretty much doubled over the last six weeks. And Fern could now only walk at a slow waddle. She was studying mostly online, and would take a leave of absence soon, intending to continue later in the year with more online courses, before continuing on campus in March at the beginning of the school year.

Cade was watching her hand.

“Is he kicking again?” he asked sympathetically, and she grimaced.

“Like a frikking rugby player.”

He palmed her belly and leaned toward it.

“Hey, buddy, we’ve discussed this before, aye? It’s not okay to kick girls. So how about you give your mummy a break, right?” he said sternly, and Fern giggled.

“I told you before,” she reminded him. “That voice isn’t as scary as you think it is. You’re suggesting, not telling. This kid is going to have your number from day one.”

“Is he still kicking?” he asked her with a pointed lift of his brow and she pouted a bit.

“No.” It was an endless source of annoyance to her that Cas responded to his voice more than hers. If he had anybody’s number, it was hers. Dr. Khan believed it was because of the low timber of Cade’s voice.

Cade’s theory though was that he and his boy already established an unspoken bro code that only they understood.

“How was the dadchelor party?” she asked, changing the subject and he winced.

“Firstly, I told you… we’re not calling it that. And secondly, do you know how fucking tough it is having a get together with an A-list movie star on the guest list?”

“Trystan was there?” She sounded delighted at the thought. Because that was his wife, she wanted everybody to be friends and get along. And Trystan was a good guy. Just… not inconspicuous.

“I couldn’t very well leave him off the guest list, not when his wife was here specifically for the baby shower and knew we were doing the dad party too.”

“What did you do?” she asked curiously. “I thought the whole point was to have a wild fling and get drunk and do stupid man things.”

She peered at him closely and then shook her head looking almost disappointed.

“You don’t even look a little bit drunk.”

“Have you ever seen me drunk?” he asked, suppressing the urge to laugh. She chewed on her upper lip—the little temptress. Now that she understood how much it distracted him, he knew it was deliberate—and shrugged.

“Not really.”

“I’ve never been a big drinker,” he said.

He could tell that she was about to question him further, when they turned into their driveway.

Ian parked the car in the massive garage of their new house in Scarborough. It had an amazing ocean view, six bedrooms, five bathrooms, with a huge yard, a big pool, and a private path that took them directly to the beach. And—conveniently—it was located a quick drive away from Beth and Gideon’s place.

They’d moved in a couple of months ago. With Fern’s studies, as well as her advancing pregnancy, the timing hadn’t been ideal. Especially since they’d kept the Clifton apartment, which meant they’d needed all new furniture and decor for the new house. It had been exhausting for Fern, but once they’d moved and settled in, neither of them had regretted their decision. This place felt like home in a way their apartment didn’t. It belonged to both of them and was a charming blend of their tastes.

And Fern loved being able to go for walks on the beach whenever she wanted.

Sure enough, after they waved Ian off, she kicked off her shoes and Cade grabbed the sunscreen that she’d left on the kitchen counter that morning.

They didn’t speak. She waited patiently while he warmed the lotion between his palms and massaged it onto her skin. Shoulders, back, chest, arms, and face. He left no inch of exposed skin unprotected. He smeared the residual lotion on his face and arms and opened the back door, standing aside while she waddled past him.

They were both barefoot. Fern, still in her pretty baby shower dress with flowers in her hair, Cade in jeans and a T-shirt. He grabbed a cardigan from the coatrack and draped it over her shoulders, and she slanted him a grateful look.

It had been a warm enough day in late April, but the evenings brought that unmistakable sharp mid-autumn chill.

The sun would be setting in a few minutes and Cade knew that Fern was anxious not to miss it. He was too… for different reasons.

While his wife enjoyed every new sunset with the same reverence and joy as the one that had preceded it, Cade could honestly say that—since their marriage—he’d never seen one directly.

“So, what did you do at this mysterious dad stag?” she asked, a little breathless despite their slow pace.

“Had some beers, talked some shit—” he said with a nonchalant shrug, slipping a supportive arm around her waist.

“That sounds really boring,” she said, a little put out. He wasn’t sure what the fuck she thought they’d be doing. They truly had just sat around at Gideon and Beth’s place, braaing and shooting the breeze. It had been… great actually. Gideon, their father, Trystan, Mitch—who’d happily relocated to the Cape—Cyrus, and some other friends Cade had made in the new office over the last few months.

“Did you play games too?”

“Some pool, darts.”

“Oh. What did you talk about?”

“The guys wanted to know if we’d chosen a name yet, or if Casper was it.”

They finally reached their favorite spot on the long stretch of beach. There were a few other people out. Some walking their dogs, some in the frigid water, others just standing and watching the horizon, also there for the sunset.

Cade led Fern to a nearby bench and they sat down. He dropped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer, wanting to share his body heat with her.

“We should probably start thinking about a name,” she said with a contented sigh, clearly happy to be sitting down. Her eyes were trained on the horizon and the giant red orb sliding ever closer to the ocean.

His eyes were on her, riveted by the way the dramatic lighting of the sky was turning her hair a vibrant orange. Adding warmth to her skin and fire to her eyes.

Always so fucking beautiful.

His favorite time of the day.

“What’s wrong with Casper?” he asked, just to be contrary. She dragged her attention away from the horizon to give him a disbelieving stare.

“You’re joking right? You want to name him after a cartoon character?”

“I looked it up and the name Casper means bringer of treasure and since he brought me you, it’s kind of apt don’t you think? Because… y’know, you’re my treasure.”

He could see her fighting hard not to be moved by his words and could tell exactly when she lost that fight.

Her eyes went huge and her chin wobbled and she very quickly diverted her attention back to the horizon. He kept his eyes trained on her profile and after a minute heard a soft little sniffle.

“I suppose we could keep it. Everybody calls him that anyway and I like shortening it to Cas.” His arm tightened around her shoulders and he dropped a kiss on her temple.

They were silent after that as she watched the sunset, and he watched her.

Afterward she turned to him, eyes big and vulnerable, a soft beautiful smile on her face and said what she always did, “I think that was the most beautiful one yet.”

He nodded and gave her a sweet, lingering kiss.

“Yes, it was, sweetheart. Absolutely incomparable.”

The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!