The Inheritance Clause by Flora Ferrari

Extended Epilogue

Amelia

I lie back in the bath with a sigh, letting the warm water send a good feeling through my body. There’s plenty of bubble bath and a candle lit for me, both gifts from Leo. I smile to myself. How did I land such an incredible husband? A man so dedicated to looking after me, to making me happy?

He always knows how to make me feel good. The last few months have definitely been hard. I can’t wait to meet our baby, but the morning sickness and back pain get me down at times.

But Leo is always around to make things better. He’s always finding ways to help me out. He takes me to our private doctor regularly to talk about any concerns I have, and he massages my back every single night before we go to bed. When it all gets to be too much for me, I put on a brave face and get on with it, but he always senses when I need a rest like I do today. He can read me so well and it makes my life so much easier.

This bubble bath is exactly what I needed. I don’t know how to thank him. Because it’s not just thanking him for doing nice things for me. It’s for knowing me inside out. It’s for caring enough to make an effort that most people wouldn’t put in. He loves me so much and sometimes, I can’t quite believe it. I’ve always felt like I don't deserve him.

But as the years pass and he stays by my side, I’m learning that it doesn’t matter what I think. Because he’s loyal, pure, and is good at heart. He will never leave me, even when times get tough. He’ll always be around, even when things get hard for him too. I know it can’t be easy having a pregnant wife, whose needs change entirely with preparing for a baby. We are still learning the impossible task of being parents, and it’s as stressful for him as it is for me.

But instead of walking away, he dives in at the deep end. He makes every effort to make it work. He supports me while also lifting himself up. I know for certain that I couldn’t do any of this without him at my side.

I let out a long, blissful sigh just as the bathroom door opens. It’s Leo, bringing me a glass of orange juice. He smiles as he hands it to me.

“Enjoying your bath?”

I moan. “Oh, yes. It feels so good. It takes some of the weight off my back. It’s so relaxing too.”

“What can I do for you? You want me to bring you a book to read? Put some music on?”

I smile. “You’ve done enough. More than enough.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” he says, moving closer to me. “My job as a dutiful husband is never done.”

I giggle as his strong hands move to my soapy shoulders. He wipes suds from them and then his fingers begin to massage the knots in my shoulders. I close my eyes and moan. He’s so good at that. It’s just one of the many ways he’s good with his hands.

“Does it feel good?” he asks, in a husky voice. I tilt my head back to look up at him.

“You know it does, baby.”

He kisses the top of my head and continues to massage my shoulders. All of this attention makes me feel so special. And these moments are precious to me. As much as I hate seeing Gigi leave, I love the moments where it’s just me and Leo alone. Children change everything. They need constant attention, and it means that my time with Leo is sliced in half. We can’t spend whole weekends in bed together anymore, making love all day and then cuddling all night.

But it’s not a bad thing. Even sometimes when I miss those days, I feel like I have something better now. Family life is everything to me. I never really got to have this feeling when I was a kid, so I treasure it even more now. I’m so lucky to have my husband, my baby girl, and another child on the way. It’s all an adventure I wasn’t sure I’d get to have.

And then there are these special days where it’s like I step back from real life. We’re in a bubble, just the two of us. And on these days, I revisit all the reasons I married my husband. All the reasons I fell deeply in love with him. All the reasons our love is still so strong now, just like it was when we first fell for one another.

“Can you help me out of the bath?” I ask him after a long while. “I’m turning into a prune.”

He laughs as he grabs me a big fluffy towel. He helps me up and wraps it around me lovingly. I pad through to our bedroom and lie down on the bed, the towel keeping me snug and warm on this frosty day.

Then Leo lies down beside me, and I’m suddenly not so tired anymore. There’s something about being in our bedroom together that always turns me on. It’s instantaneous when he’s next to me. I can’t help myself. Even on days where I’m tired beyond belief and I just want to relax, nothing will ever stop me from wanting him.

He knows it, too. I know he feels the same way. His smile is sultry as he runs his hand up my leg, delving beneath the towel.

“Let me make you feel good,” he growls, so seductively that it sends a shiver down my spine. He knows how much I want sex, but it hurts my back at the moment. So he settles for the next best thing.

“Baby, I want you to feel good too.”

“Today is all about you,” he says as his fingers find my pussy lips, wet and ready for him. “Just relax.”

I don’t argue with him. How can I when he’s about to make me feel so damn good? Besides, there’s no stopping him now. Not when he knows how much I want him. Not when the beast inside him has been unleashed. He’s like a caveman, giving in to his primal instincts. Except he’s not grabbing me and fucking me like he usually would. No, he’s putting all the focus on my pleasure alone.

Minutes later, I’m a quivering mess. He always knows just how to touch me, exactly what I like. Not a day has passed in our entire relationship where we haven’t had our hands all over one another, pleasuring each other in every way possible. There hasn’t been a single time where he has failed to satisfy me, but I’m always left wanting more. I can’t get enough of my handsome hunk of a husband.

And now, as he gently touches me, bringing me to ecstasy over and over again, I feel bliss like no other. It relaxes me so much that I just close my eyes and enjoy the way he’s pleasuring me. This is the life.

He plays with my pussy for over an hour, using his mouth and his fingers to send me over the edge over and over again. I’ve lost count of how many orgasms he’s given me. When we finally call it quits and he lies beside me, holding me close, I feel so special and loved. I know that not all marriages are this magical, but I knew from the moment that I met Leo that it would be this way. I knew if we made it this far, we’d be unbreakable. Back when we started out, it seemed like there were so many obstacles in our way, but we’ve overcome them all now, leaving us without a single care in the world.

“Did that feel good for you baby?” Leo asks.

I nod with a deep sigh.

“So good, baby. I needed that.”

“Are you in pain? Does your back hurt?”

“A little but now that you’re with me, I feel so much better.”

He moves a hand to my swollen belly. I can feel the baby kicking around inside me and it makes me smile. The thought of meeting our second child in only a few month’s time makes all of the pain worth it.

Leo smiles.

“I feel him kicking.”

“He barely stops these days,” I joke. “I think I’m giving birth to a soccer player.”

“A man can dream,” Leo teases. “I love our Gigi, but I don’t think she’ll be playing sports with me any time soon. I’d love a little boy.”

“Me too. And another girl. And another boy. I just want an entire house filled with kids. Is that crazy?”

“Not at all,” Leo says, kissing me gently. “I feel the same. I always wanted children, but I never thought I’d get them. Now, watching you pregnant for a second time...you don’t know how happy it makes me.”

I smile softly. Leo doesn’t open up much, but when he does, it’s always worth the wait. He’s got this sweet side to him, despite his tough, sexy exterior. I think I’m the only one who sees this side of him, and that makes me happy too. It’s like he reserves this side of himself, his loving caring side, just for me and Gigi. In other words, just for our family. And I like it that way. I don’t care about a single person outside of this household. My family are the only people who truly matter to me.

“I’m so glad I can give you something back,” I whisper to him. “You take care of me so perfectly, and I can give you the family you’ve always wanted.”

“You don’t owe me a thing. I share my life with you because I want to,” Leo growls, touching my cheek gently. “But I’ll always be grateful to you for making all of my dreams come true. You have given me so much that I thought I’d never have. I never thought I’d get to fall in love, have children, to have a family after dad passed away. But you came at the perfect time, didn’t you?”

I smile as I remember the inheritance clause. What a crazy time in our life that was. It still baffles me that Leo’s father practically planned our marriage and made it happen. I’ll always be grateful to him for that. I wish I could’ve spent more time with him, my father-in-law. I know Leo misses him every day. But I guess things never would have panned out the same for us if he was still alive. Maybe it would’ve taken much longer for us to reach this point. Sometimes I feel sad about him being gone, but I owe him everything. My happiness is all down to him.

And he’d love to see what we’ve built here. A family that’s growing every year. A love that can’t be contained or restrained. A whole lot of happiness that so many people never get to experience. We really have it all. I glance over at Leo and smile. This man changed my life forever. I was miserable before him, and I was miserable when I was waiting for him to want me back. But that misery was worth it because now we’re together, and we’ll never run out of happiness.

This will last a lifetime.