Manhattan's Most Scandalous Reunion by Dani Collins, Caitlin Crews
EPILOGUE
Three years later...
“DADDY!” MARTI—SHORT for Marta, which was Nina’s grandmother’s name—came running at him the minute he entered Nina’s studio above the showroom for the Lakshmi label.
Reve caught up his two-year-old and closed his eyes in a moment of deep gratitude as her small arms went tight around his neck, constricting his breathing and filling him with the most incredible sense of wealth.
“Look.” She showed him her bandaged finger.
“Did you find one of Mommy’s pins?” No matter how vigilant Nina was, here or at home, their daughter was a magnet for finding them. She never put them in her mouth, always bringing them to the nearest adult, but had pricked herself more than once.
“She found Mommy’s scissors,” Nina said, her expression appalled. She moved in a slow, heavily pregnant gait, cute as hell when she was all round like this. “I left them there—” She pointed to her worktable, well above what Marti could reach. “She pulled over that chair and stacked those books on it so she could reach. Because she heard me telling Auntie that we would have to cut the order off at ten thousand. So obviously, I needed the scissors.”
“Mmm...helpful girl.” He kissed Marti’s cheek, proud even when he was daunted by what a resourceful and determined little sprite they had created. “You’re supposed to work at your own table when you visit the studio,” he reminded, and set her in the corner that was fenced in with a countertop over shelves where her baskets of toys and books were stored.
She couldn’t crawl under it, but immediately stepped on the books she’d left stacked on the floor. She was over it and free in record time.
“That’s what I’m up against when the nanny drops her off now,” Nina said with a bemused chuckle. “I don’t know whether to be proud or frustrated.”
“I had the same dilemma when she turned off the power bar under my desk. IT loved me when I dragged them in and that’s all it turned out to be.”
“No one in the history of having children said it was easy,” she said with a rueful shake of her head. She absently moved his hand on her belly so he could feel their second baby moving. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. This is exactly the life I wanted. Messy and confusing and so full of love I can hardly stand it. Thank you.” She looked up at him with the smile that wrapped him up in so much love, his heart could hardly bear the force of it. His knees went weak.
“It’s the life I didn’t know I could have. Thank you.” He loved her back with everything in him and bent his head to kiss her, wanting her to know it, but he kept one eye on—
Marti bent and immediately came toddling over. “Here, Mommy.” She held up a pin.
“Ah. Thank you, baby. Should we go home with Daddy?”
Marti nodded and held up her arms to Reve.
Home. Reve loved that word. They had several, but whichever abode they were in was home so long as he was with his family.
And three weeks later, when he returned to the penthouse with Nina and their son, it was even better.