Don’t Mind If “I Do” by Everly Ashton

Epilogue

One Year Later…

Mazzy

The baby shifts and takes up residence directly on top of my bladder. I swear I pee more these days than I actually drink.

I glance at the clock and see that there are only two minutes left of class, so I decide to finish up and hit the restroom on the way out of the seniors’ recreation center.

Since I rediscovered my love for painting, I decided that it was something I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to paint pictures for myself and sell them. Let’s be honest, I don’t need the money. So I decided to spend time teaching seniors and children how to paint. They love learning something new and seeing the looks on their faces when they see improvement in their skills brings me great joy. I’m no master by any means, but I get by.

“All right, everyone, that’s it for today. You all keep practicing that brush technique I showed you, and we’ll pick this back up next week.” I smile at the class.

“If you don’t have that baby by then,” Agnes says, pointing at my swollen belly as though it’s not noticeable from Mars.

I laugh and pat my stomach. “I don’t know, this little girl feels like she’s in no hurry to come out.”

I pack up while a few people in the class come up to say thank you. After I’ve used the restroom and have everything in the car, I drive home.

Nick and I decided to stay at his place. It works for now, but we’ll need to buy a bigger home if we expand our family past the little girl in my belly. I’d like more children, but I’m not getting any younger. I’m just grateful for this gift that’s been growing inside me these past nine months.

I still have my place in the city, and we stay there sometimes if we’re downtown for an event. I’m still very active on the charity circuit, and Nick tags along now without complaint. If we do happen to run into his brother or father, we simply keep our distance.

I pull into the driveway and only grab my purse from the car, knowing Nick will be on me about carrying my art supplies into the house. I’m perfectly capable, but he’s been a little… overprotective, shall we say? I chalk it up to the fact that he’s a doctor and fully aware of all the things that could go wrong.

I step into the house and find him standing in the entryway, waiting for me.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask with a chuckle.

“Nothing.” As I slip off my shoes, he holds my hand. “Come with me.”

He leads me into the living room, where I see that he’s set up a foot spa with rose petals in it.

I grin at him. “Look at you.”

“Sit in the chair and I’ll get you all set.”

I do as he says and drop slowly into the chair, leaning back so my swollen belly doesn’t restrict my breathing. He bends down and removes my socks, rolls up my pants, and sets my feet in the warm water. It feels even better when he clicks a button and the bottom shakes, massaging my feet.

“I figured your feet would be sore from standing during your class.”

“You’re the best,” I say, rubbing my belly.

“How are both my girls today?” He kisses my belly, and I run my fingers through his hair. He’s going to be the best father.

As though she senses her father, our daughter gives a hard kick where his cheek is resting and we both chuckle.

“I think she wants out of there,” he says.

“Soon hopefully.”

He stands and kisses my forehead. “You just relax. I’m going to go get you a treat.”

“Yummy. Are you going to spoil me like this after the baby comes?”

He laughs as he walks away. “As much as you’ll let me.”

I relax back into the chair and close my eyes. The hum of the foot spa is the only sound in the room, and I enjoy what could be my last opportunity to relax like this for a while.

Eventually Nick comes back, and I open my eyes. He’s holding something behind his back.

“Whatcha got there?” I ask, intrigued.

“You ready for dessert yet?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

He chuckles. “I got your favorite, chocolate lava cake.”

“Hand it over and no one gets hurt.” I hold out my hands with a smile.

He brings the plate from around his back, and yes, there’s a chocolate lava cake on there, the dark brown sauce running out of one side of it. But there’s something else unexpected on top. A diamond ring.

“What is this?” I ask, taking the plate. I keep looking from him to the ring to him again.

He plucks the ring from the top of the cake and gets down on bended knee beside the chair. “We were married so quickly that I never got a chance to shop for an engagement ring for you, and it’s something I wanted to do. Yeah, you have your wedding band, but you picked that out yourself. I wanted you to wear something that I chose for you. Mazzy, will you do me the honor of wearing my ring?”

Tears pour down my face. The nerve of this man doing this when I’m nine months pregnant. I can’t control these emotions.

“Yes,” I whisper through tears and sniffles.

I hold out my left hand and he slides on the ring. It’s a huge pear-shaped diamond with three smaller diamonds on either side, and it perfectly complements my diamond wedding band. “Nick, it’s gorgeous.”

“Not more gorgeous than you. I’m so happy we finally have what we always wanted, Maz—each other.” He gives me a chaste kiss.

I deepen the kiss, and once we close the kiss, questions fly out of my mouth. “I’m shocked. When did you do this? Where did you get it?”

He smiles. “I had a little help from your mother. If anyone knows jewelry, I figured it would be her.”

“True.”

I’m back on speaking terms with my father. Our relationship hasn’t been the same since he stepped down from the company, and I’m not sure it ever will be. But we have a relationship. That’s a start.

Pembrooke Financial has a more-than-capable woman at the helm now, and I feel confident that the business will continue to flourish with her guidance.

I gaze down at the gorgeous ring. I was fine with just my wedding band, but the fact that he wanted to do this for me makes this ring extra special.

“I have something for you too.” I wiggle to get up out of my chair, but he gently pushes my shoulder so I remain in my seat.

“Let me dry your feet so you don’t slip. One second.” He grabs a towel from the kitchen and dries my feet, then he moves the foot spa aside and helps me to stand.

“Come with me.” I lead him up the stairs to the bedroom that houses my art studio.

“You’re kind of stealing my thunder here, Maz.”

I laugh. “I’ve had this for a while. I just wasn’t sure when to give it to you. I wanted it to be the perfect time and now feels right.”

He’s behind me while I stand at the closed studio door, and he leans down and kisses the side of my neck.

“Careful,” I say, “or we won’t even make it that far.”

“You say that as if I’d object.”

It’s fair to say that pregnancy has made me horny. I’ve always loved being intimate with my husband, but pregnancy has turned me insatiable. So much so that Nick will probably try to impregnate me again right away.

I push the door open and point at a painting on the other side of the room that’s turned toward the wall. “See that one there? Go turn it around.”

He looks at me as though he’s intrigued and walks to the painting. Slowly he turns it around to reveal an abstract couple in blues and beiges, wrapped around each other. They’re clearly nude, and while it’s not graphic because of its abstract nature, it has an intimate feel.

“I called it ‘When Two Become One.’ I painted it for you because that’s how I see us.”

He looks from the painting to me and back again. “Mazzy.” His voice is rough, choked up with emotion. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

I beam with pride. I wasn’t sure if he’d like it, but his words and reaction are sincere. I’ve been working on more abstract pieces lately, as opposed to my usual style, and this is the first painting in my new style that I’ve really loved.

Nick sets the painting down and pulls me into a loose embrace so that he doesn’t crush my belly. “How the hell did I get so lucky?”

“I’m the lucky one.”

He leans his forehead against mine. “Sometimes I curse all the years we lost because of my stupidity, but then I question whether we’d be where we are now if things were different. And things right now are perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.” His hand ghosts across my belly.

“Neither would I.”

We aren’t perfect, but we are perfectly paired. That’s what matters most.

THE END

Do you need more Nick & Mazzy? Enjoy this exclusive BONUS SCENE I wrote!!!

If you want to know Oliver and Jemma’s story and exactly how they met (hint: she shot him) be sure to check out Hit or Miss (Love in Apartment 3B #1)!