“Take me to bed, Daddy.”
That’s all I need to hear before I’m cradling her in my arms and kissing her soft lips. “Your wish is my command, little lamb.”
“Then why don’t you spank my ass and feed me a cupcake?” she says, her sass rising.
“Sounds like our regular Tuesday night. I’m in.” I wink at her and then do exactly what she says.
Epilogue
Dolly
A few years later…
“You feeling all right?” Brandon asks, kissing my neck. I tilt my head, letting him have more of me. He buries his face in my hair for a moment, taking a deep breath.
“I’m perfect.”
He makes a noise like he doesn’t believe me before turning me and picking me up. He places me on the counter in the kitchen and his hands go straight for my feet. That’s when I know I’m busted.
“You took your boots off.”
“I was hot,” I counter.
“They’re swollen,” he fires back.
They are, but I can’t stop. Not until I’m done getting things ready. I want everything to be perfect for our little girl’s second birthday. I might be going overboard, but I’m going to get in as much girliness as possible. Because I know these days are numbered.
“I’m almost done,” I tell him, looking around at all the food I’ve been making today. It was the last thing I had left to do. I’d even made the cake myself. I’d stayed up late making it, and it looks more like a pink wedding cake than a birthday one. But instead of there being a groom and bride at the top, there is a giant 2.
“You’ll never be done, little lamb. I know you. You’ll go go go until you fall over, and it isn’t happening. Not when you’re about to burst. You’re going to end up giving birth to our boys a month early at this rate.” The hand massaging my feet goes to my very swollen belly.
We’re lucky I’ve got child-bearing hips or these twin boys, who seem to be heading for their father’s size, would never make it out of me.
“I don’t know why you get so worked up. You know everyone will bring food. There is more than enough, and I already got the whole back yard decorated. It looks like a pink explosion out there. I even fed your cows strawberry syrup this morning so all their milk comes out pink just for the occasion.”
I snort as his joke.
“This is going to be the pinkest barbeque birthday Texas has ever seen,” Brandon says, making me smile.
“Mommy, everyone is here!” I hear Savannah squeal from the other room. Both Brandon and I laugh at her excitement.
She’s been bouncing off the walls waiting for her cousins to get here, like she doesn’t see them every day. Those kids are thick as thieves.
“I think she’s even louder than me,” I whisper to him.
“Think?”
“Hush, Baby-daddy,” I say playfully, smacking his chest.
Everyone pours into the house and, like Brandon said, they have stacks of dishes with them. All the women love to cook, and most family events take place at our house. It’s really become the center of the family, the place where everyone always ends up.
Little ones come barreling through the house and straight out the back door. Brandon takes a dish from my hands and follows me outside. He places it on one of the picnic tables that’s already covered in food.
“Go sit,” Brandon tells me. I start to protest, but he levels me with a stare.
“Doesn’t have a lot of power when I know you won’t spank me,” I tease him.
“Little lamb, I have other ways to punish you,” he whispers in my ear. He grabs me by the hand and leads me over to a chair. He sits down and pulls me into his lap with him. He knows I won’t stay on my feet if he wants me to sit with him. I relax into his big warm body, watching all the little ones run around. This is the third kid’s birthday our giant family in the past six weeks, with all of us popping kids out all the time now. It’s never-ending and I love it. Love every freaking moment of it.
“God, you look like Mom like that. I remember when she was pregnant with you. I swear you two could be twins,” Ty says, sitting down next to me. He pulls his wife MJ into his lap, resting his hand on her small baby bump like Brandon has his on mine.
“She would have loved this.” I look over at him. My eyes water, not because I’m sad, but because I’m happy. We all are. This was all Mama ever wanted. For the family to be close and happy. I knew that was her dying wish when I’d read their will after she passed. They’d split up the land, but made sure we’d all be stuck together. She got what she wanted, and I’d spent my life until now making sure that happened, too.
Making sure all of us stayed close. Making sure all my brothers always had what they needed until they found their wives.
I rest my hand on top of Brandon’s.
“I think these babies might be my last,” I say looking at my belly.
“Nah. We keep popping them out, we won’t even need farmhands anymore. We’ll just have our own little crews,” Ty says.
Brandon laughs before he adds his own two cents. “I’m good with three, but she said the same thing last time. Wait until these boys start crawling around and she’ll be wanting another.”
I think about our twins crawling all around and I feel my face drop. I don’t like that idea.
Brandon laughs even harder. “See? She’s pregnant and already thinking about another baby.”