Chapter 38: Epilogue

As time went by, she could feel the babies inside her growing and occasionally moving. But having twins was not an easy task.

She tired easily, and her mood swings and cravings were at their highest level. She felt fat and was afraid that Dexter wouldn’t find her attractive anymore.

She sat on the bed, holding her stomach, and started crying. That was how he found her when he entered their bedroom.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, going over and sitting down beside her. He put his arm around her.

“Don’t look at me. I feel so fat and ugly,” she said, sniffling.

“You are not fat, and you are more beautiful than ever. I know you’re feeling a little uncomfortable, but sweetheart, you are carrying twins.”

He placed his hand over her belly. “The product of our love is growing inside of you. Why don’t you lay down and get some rest, and I’ll go get you some ice cream.”

“I can’t. I have to get ready and go to work. But I can’t find anything to wear that fits me.”

He held back his laughter, not wanting to upset her. She had tons of new maternity wear that she could put on.

“You have plenty to wear, but I was thinking that maybe it’s time you gave Cathy and Carson more responsibility, and you can work from home.

“That way you could work when you’re up to it, and when you’re tired, you can lay down and rest.”

“I might as well work from home. Who wants to see a whale waddling around the office?”

“Now you stop that nonsense. You’re not a whale. And I love you, and I think you are the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“No you don’t. You don’t even want to make love to me anymore.”

“What are you talking about? We just made love last night, and it was amazing. Soon we won’t be able to, and let me tell you, it is going to be so hard for me not to be able to touch you.

“I have to leave for work now. Are you going to be okay?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess so. I’ll go into work today and make the arrangements to work from home from now on.”

“I think that’s a good idea. You really shouldn’t be driving anymore, so let me give you a ride to work, and I’ll pick you up afterwards.”

“All right. Just give me a few minutes to change, and I’ll be right down.”

It took a few days for her to make all the arrangements, leaving Cathy and Carson in charge.

With all the technology these days, emails and Skype, she was able to keep in touch with them on every little thing.

She would spend time in her office designing her new line of clothing, and she didn’t have to worry about cooking and cleaning, as they had full-time help now.

For the most part she was quite happy working from home, but there were times when she got bored and needed human contact.

So every now and then she would go to work and see how everyone was doing in person. Her father and Sandra would come over and visit quite often.

The babies’ room was finished. Everything was bought, and all she had to do now was wait for the birth of their children.

They had decided they wanted to know the sex of the babies instead of waiting. They were thrilled to death to find out that they were having one of each.

She was now in her eighth month and spent most of her time in bed. One night she was feeling particularly down.

She was lying in bed when Dexter came out of the shower, his skin still damp, and she began to drool. “You’re perfect,” she said when he got into bed next to her.

“So are you, baby,” he said, leaning over to give her a kiss. He was happy to see that she was in a good mood. But that was about to change.

“I suppose the women in your class are all young and beautiful. Do you think they’re beautiful?” she asked, crossing her arms and giving him a dirty look.

He knew he had to choose his words carefully so as not to upset her. “I never look at them as women, and the only woman I think is beautiful is my wife.”

“Yeah, right. I bet they’re always flirting with you. Do you flirt back? I bet you do.

“I can just picture it now. You’re all sweaty. They’re all sweaty, with their skinny little bodies pressed up against yours.”

He turned to look at her, feeling a little bit angry.

“Roxie, just stop with this nonsense right now. This isn’t like you to be so insecure, and you know that I would never look at another woman or cheat on you. I’m a one-woman man.”

He knew his tone was a bit harsh, and he felt like a jerk when she started to cry. He put his arm around her, lifting her chin up with his fingers so that she would have to look at him.

“Baby, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. You have to know you can trust me.”

“I know I can. It’s just that I feel so unattractive. I really love being pregnant, but I really wish these babies would come soon. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”

He lowered his lips to hers, giving her a sweet and tender kiss. “I could never be mad at you, and I do understand how you feel. But once the babies are born, you’ll feel a lot better.”

He was taken by complete surprise when her mood turned completely around, from moody to happy.

“Do you know what I would love right now?” she asked, smiling.

“Honey, as much as I would like to, the doctor said that we couldn’t be intimate now.”

She gave him a light slap on the shoulder. “Not that, silly. What I really want is some pickles, the nice big fat juicy ones. You know the ones I like.”

He got out of bed and pulled on his pants. “I’ll be right back with them.”

He went down into the kitchen and opened the fridge. When he found that there were no pickles left, he ran his fingers through his hair and growled.

There was no way he wanted to go out at this time of night, so he made her up a bowl of ice cream with berries and syrup and took it upstairs.

“Sorry babe, but we’re out of pickles, so I got you this instead.”

“I don’t want that. I want pickles.”

He lowered his head and rolled his eyes as he picked up his shirt. “I’ll go to the store and get some. I should be back in about fifteen to twenty minutes.”

As he was walking out, she shouted out to him, “Thank you! I love you!”

When he returned home, he decided it would be easier just to take the whole jar of pickles upstairs. When he got there, she was fast asleep. The bowl of ice cream had been eaten.

Chuckling, he removed his clothes and got back into bed. Since she was asleep, there was no way he was going to wake her up.

He couldn’t get mad at her. It was her hormones. And she was, after all, carrying his twins.

Two weeks before her due date, they had her father and Sandra over for dinner. Thomas announced to them that he had asked Sandra to marry him and she’d said yes.

Roxie was so happy. She loved her like a mother. During dinner Roxie grabbed Dexter’s hand.

“My water just broke.”

Forgetting about their meal, they all went to the hospital. Dexter sat in the back with her, holding her hand and telling her to breathe.

“I know how to breathe. Just get me to the hospital,” she snapped.

Thomas and Sandra waited in the waiting room while Dexter was with Roxie in the delivery room. She put her arm over Thomas’s shoulder when she saw how worried he looked. “She’s going to be fine.”

“I know. I just can’t stop worrying about her. It seems like yesterday that she was born and I held her in my arms. After her mother died, I thought I was doing the right thing by marrying Claudia.

“I thought she would fill the void in Roxie’s heart, but I was so wrong. She was really an evil stepmother.”

“She’s out of your life and Roxie’s. All you can do now is live your life and be happy. Just think, you will soon have two beautiful grandchildren to love and spoil.”

Seven hours later Roxie gave birth to a healthy seven-pound baby boy, and fifteen minutes later a six-and-a-half-pound baby girl.

Michael and Rosa Sinclair:

To sum things up: Dexter and Roxie never had any more children. She continued to run her business, adding maternity wear to her line of clothing, which became her biggest seller.

Dexter continued teaching and would be Roxie’s head security man whenever she put on a runway show. Thomas and Sandra married and were very happy together. They often babysat for the twins.

Dexter taught the children early self-defense. Michael ended up following in his father’s footsteps and entered the Navy SEALs. Rosa became an FBI agent. Both married and had children of their own.

Dexter and Roxie never lost the love or passion they had for each other.

He started off as her bodyguard and became her lover, husband, and father to her children, and to this day still considers himself her personal bodyguard.

^The End^