Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
"I'm fine, baby girl," I murmured, leaning over to kiss her.
Her heart rate sped up on the heart monitor, and I grinned against her lips, loving the effect I still had on her. I hoped these powerful feelings never faded.
She opened her eyes, smiling up at me with the smile I had missed so fucking much—a smile she reserved solely for me. "I'm okay now, you know that, right?" She reached up with her hand to run her fingertips over the stubble on my jaw.
I nodded. "I know, baby.” Sure, she still had a lot to work through, but that bastard was out of her life for good, and she could finally begin to heal like she should have been all along.
She gripped my shirt in her fist, pulling her lips back down to mine.
Fuck, I had missed this girl.
Epilogue
Four Years Later
TRACEY
Iscowled deeply at Trevor when he put way too many packs of birthday cake cookies in the shopping cart. He sent me a sheepish smile, almost making my scowl disappear, but I kept it in place. "What? I know you've been craving cookies, baby." He wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed me gently.
"That doesn't mean I need them!" I snapped at him.
He pouted at me, making the scowl drop from my face instantly. I hated when he gave me that look. I could never stay aggravated with him. "I just wanted to make you happy."
I sighed, my eyes watering, my emotions way too damn close to the surface these days. I bit my bottom lip to try to keep it from trembling. Trevor sighed, pulling me against him as much as he could with my protruding belly sticking out so far. "No, don't cry, baby,” he begged me, pressing a kiss to my temple. “I'll put the cookies back."
I sniffled. "I want the cookies," I admitted. "I just don't want to look like a whale."
Trevor laughed a little, pulling back so he could kiss me softly. "Baby, you're not a whale.” He shook his head at me. “You're eight months pregnant. If you want cookies, eat cookies. Besides, you heard the doctor—you’re not gaining enough weight."
I had just come from the doctor a couple of hours ago, and my midwife had informed me that even though my baby was at a very healthy weight, I still wasn’t gaining the correct amount of weight for how far along I was. Honestly, I didn’t understand how because I ate all of the fucking time.
"Trev, what did you do now?" Lucas asked as he walked up with his backpack slung over his shoulder.
Trevor shot his little brother a scowl, making me sigh. "I told you to meet us at home.”
Lucas shrugged. "Yeah, but I wanted to come shopping with you guys, so here I am,” he said with a grin that was practically identical to Trevor’s.
I shook my head in amazement. Lucas was the spitting image of Trevor. At ten years old, the boy was fluent in sarcasm, and he loved getting under Trevor's skin. Trevor loved him though, and he constantly told me he wouldn't ask for anyone else to be his brother.
When we had graduated high school—me by a hair—Trevor had enlisted into the Marines. As soon as he came home from basic training, he asked me to marry him, and the day before he was supposed to go back for schooling, we went to the courthouse to get married.
Now that he was back home from serving his four years, we were planning a proper wedding. Though, when he had gotten back, he hadn't wasted any time in getting me knocked up, that was for damn sure.
When Trevor and I had signed the papers for our house, Lucas had withdrawn again. His nightmares were coming back since I wasn't living with Dale and Glenda anymore, and he didn't have Trevor around anymore. Trevor convinced Dale and Glenda to allow Lucas to come live with us, and so here we were, taking care of a ten-year-old boy with a baby girl on the way.
"You don't listen for shit, do you kid?" Trevor asked him, sighing in aggravation and shaking his head.
Lucas's face fell at Trevor’s words, and I sighed, moving away from Trevor as I walked over to him. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go get some ice cream, hm?"
Lucas was still dealing with being scolded. He understood that there were some things he couldn't do, and he followed rules extremely well. It was just when Trevor snapped at him a bit too harshly, Lucas shrunk back into his shell. I knew Trevor didn't mean it harmfully; that was just how Trevor was, and sadly, there was still some part of Lucas’s brain that was wired to automatically fear men.
I heard Trevor curse under his breath quietly as I waddled off with Lucas's hand in my own. When we got to the ice cream section, Lucas's eyes instantly lit up. This was something Trevor and Lucas certainly had in common—they both loved ice cream with a damn passion. I mean, hell, I ate a fuck ton of ice cream, but those two still ate more than I could ever think of eating.