Zach The day after the big fake wedding wasn’t what I thought it’d be. For one thing, I wasn’t hungover, which was a miracle considering the amount of alcohol Dad and Mr. Morris had supplied. For another, the girls were worn out and calm for once in their lives. It was late afternoon and Westwood Manor had settled into a rare kind of peace, filled to the brim but not chaotic or loud. It was just that everyone was home, lazy, and enjoying spending time together, but in a way we’d last done years ago, on Sunday afternoons before the start of another school week. Sunlight streamed through the massive back windows while people drifted between rooms carrying coffee, pastries, and children. Some of whom were my children. It had been two weeks since our actual wedding, but the thought that Jennifer and Lu were mine now too still hit me like a pleasant bolt out of the blue every few minutes. Adeline was blissfully calm, sitting with Charlotte, Eliza, Jane, Kate, and Jacqueline in the sunroom while Jennifer attempted to braid Emma’s hair and Lu lay on her back on the floor, letting Little J jump over her legs. Every once in a while, Adeline looked up and smiled at me, and every single time, I forgot what I’d been thinking or talking about. It’s a damn good thing she doesn’t work in my office. We’d be broke in under a year. This morning, my brothers and I had officially moved her and the girls —and Amber, for the time being—into Westwood Manor. Well, we’d helped, anyway. I’d had an entire professional moving team packing their apartment for the last two days while another team unpacked everything room by room. Since the Westwood men specialized less in manual labor and more in supervision, we’d all shown up to help. Including Trent, who’d actually done some heavy lifting when he’d complained that the movers weren’t doing it right, but the guy was a rancher. Manual labor was his forte. “You were all just pretending to help when in reality you carried maybe one moderately heavy box,” he was saying now, still giving us shit for it even hours after the movers had left. “That’s exactly what Alex did,” Jesse agreed with a smirk curving his lips as he tipped his beer toward our oldest brother. “Big ups for always managing to look busy, man.” Alex huffed out an offended-sounding groan. “I coordinated. Do you know how important that is? Otherwise, kitchen things end up in Lu’s room and you’ve got a box of stuffed animals in the buffet. How is that useful?”
“You pointed at things,” Will said, shamelessly having his twin’s back. Although they’d gone through a bit of a rough patch with the whole Eliza thing, it looked like it was business as usual with our very own Dynamic Duo now. “That’s not coordinating. It’s directing traffic.” “Also known as leadership,” Alex argued, rolling his eyes. “I don’t like it when you guys team up against us. It’s not fair. Nate, Zach, how about a little help here?” I snorted quietly from the couch where I sat, holding Tyler gently against my chest, absolutely refusing to even think of him as Tiberius. “Don’t look at me. I’m not your twin, man.” “Thanks for nothing.” Alex sighed and shook his head, then looked around for Nate, who was too busy watching Emma and making sure she didn’t take off on Jennifer. Meanwhile, I averted my gaze to the tiny human lying in my arms. He really was unbelievably small but was apparently a perfectly reasonable and healthy weight. He was also weirdly judgmental for someone who couldn’t hold his own head up yet. In a word, he was adorable. Perfect. I loved him already. Charlotte wandered past, narrowing her eyes at me when she realized I had her son. “You’re holding him correctly.” “Why do you look so suspicious about that? I know which end of a baby is up.” Alex scoffed down a laugh. “You were terrified the first time you held Cameron.” “Yeah, but that was only because he blinked weird. It looked like his eyes were rolling back in his head.” “That’s because he was tired,” Alex said emphatically. “If you’d just held on to him for a few more seconds, he would’ve fallen asle ep.” “Giving him back to the adult in charge made more sense to me at the time,” I said solemnly. Charlotte laughed. “Yeah, that sounds more like you.” As if on cue, Tyler yawned in my arms and I groaned. “You should take him now.” “Nope,” she said happily, sashaying away before I could even think about handing him over. “You’re good. If he blinks weird, give him to his daddy.” Trent held his hands up and shook his head. “Both his mama and his daddy are enjoying this break. If he blinks weird, give him to Uncle Alex. He seems to know exactly what every kind of blink means.” “F—” Alex stopped short when he seemed to remember the amount of kids in the room, clearing his throat before he pivoted. “Screw you, Sh epherd. It’s called experience. You wish you knew everything I did.” Nearby, Nate was now trying unsuccessfully to stop Cameron from trying to draw Emma into a pool noodle sword fight, turning to send Alex a murderous glare. “If you know everything,
care to tell me how to stop your son from terrorizing his cousin? Emma is relaxed for a change.” “Make sure they watch the good crystal!” Dad yelled from somewhere down the hall, but nobody listened. For a while, it really felt like the house was home again. No one was stressed, in a rush, or fighting about anything serious. It felt like a blast from the past, all of us together under the same roof again, just hanging out. I should’ve known it wouldn’t last, though, and when Alex emerged from the dining room, carrying another cup of his coffee and his I’ve-got- news face, I knew he was about to make everyone uncomfortable. Theo was sprawled lazily across an armchair nearby, but as soon as he noticed Alex, he sat up and preemptively started shaking his head. “No. I’m not doing it.” Alex frowned. “I haven’t even said anything yet.” “You have your matchmaking eyebrows on. I know what that means.” “I do not have matchmaking eyebrows.” Alex’s frowned de epened. “What even is that?” Jesse laughed and clapped his hands together. “Oh, wow. He’s right. You totally do.” Alex sighed and looked back at Theo. “Can we talk for a second?” Theo’s chin lifted, his head canting slightly. “What do you want to talk about?” Alex smiled, but before he could say the words that would inevitably ruin Theo’s day, Theo pointed at Tyler. “Sorry, man. Can’t. The baby needs me.” “The baby doesn’t know who you are,” Alex said. Theo shrugged. “Maybe not, but he feels me. We’re spiritually connected.” “No, what he feels is gas. That’s it.” Theo rose from the chair in one fluid motion. “Unfortunately, I’m busy today.” “With what?” “I have to go die now.” Alex sighed. “Just hear me ou—” “Nope. No. I’ve seen this movie. Every man in this room knows exactly what you want to talk to me about. Probably even Tyler, Little J, and Cameron know, and it’s not happening.” “Theo—” “I’m not ready for the ambush you’re planning.” Naturally, we all knew exactly what conversation was about to happen. Theo wasn’t wrong about what was coming for him, but the rest of us also knew there was no outrunning it. Even so, I knew he was going to try even before he took off, practically sprinting out of the room. Nate watched Theo retreat toward the hallway before glancing at Alex. “Hey, what happens once you run out of brothers to marry off? What are you going to do with all your free time once it’s over?” Jesse immediately turned toward Colin Thayer, who’d been peacefully eating leftover wedding cake in the corner, but froze when he realized Jesse was staring at him. He snorted
and started shaking his head before anybody had even said anything. “Nope. That’s not happening.” Jesse arched an eyebrow. “Why not?” Alex looked thoughtful now, but he still hadn’t said anything when Colin scoffed. “Everybody can stop looking at me. I’m not doing it.” “That’s usually how these things start,” Trent said. “I vaguely remember saying those exact words myself once upon a time, and look at me now.” Jesse nodded enthusiastically. “You see? Resistance is futile, and besides, you’d look good vulnerable and devastated. It does amazing things for self-reflection, bro.” Colin squinted at him. “Why are you like this?” “Genetics,” Jesse r eplied. “It’s not my fault.” The guys exploded into laughter and Tyler stirred against my chest, but he was fast asle
Ep I adjusted my grip on him, carefully not to jostle his tiny, warm body. “The Thayer family has plenty of bachelors,” Jesse said, obviously not giving up. “Alex will have too much time on his hands. Honestly, you all know it’s only a matter of time before he sinks his claws into Colin and his brothers.” Colin looked back at Jesse, his eyes wide and horrified. “Why are you acting like any of us have signed up for this?” “Because you will,” Alex said, sounding almost gleeful, but at least he sat down again and settled back against the couch, still thoughtful but allowing Nate to steer the conversation to safer territory after a few more minutes. The guys joked and reminisced over everything that had happened over the last couple years, most of them now blissfully married despite all the drama. It still felt surreal to me sometimes, the fact that I’d now joined their ranks still short-circuiting my brain a little whenever I really sat with it for a minute. I eventually returned Tyler to Trent’s arms before I accidentally bonded too hard and refused to give him back. He’d been asle ep against my chest for almost twenty minutes and a love for sle eping babies was already close to taking over my entire personality. Bear suddenly came barreling through the house, Cameron and Emma sprinting after him at full speed. Nate tensed before realizing the dog was the thing being chased and not Emma, the relief on his face visible. Parenthood had fundamentally altered him, which was also true for the rest of us, I supposed. Just three short years ago, Nate would’ve watched children launch themselves through a window and stoically continued eating dinner. Definitely not true anymore. Adeline caught my eye from across the room and smiled again, crossing toward me. Eliza distracted Jennifer with dessert and Lu attempted to convince Theo, who’d evidently es caped Alex by going to join the girls, to let her help him fix his motorcycle. When Adeline reached me, she slipped her fingers gently around my wrist. “Can we talk?”
I nodded, joking as we walked away together. “It’s too late. We’re already married.” Surprised when the joke didn’t get a laugh out of her, I frowned, my footst eps actually faltering when I realized her smile was nervous and her eyes too wide. I tightened my grip on her hand and pulled her into the nearest room. “Hey, what’s wrong? Did someone say something to upset you?” “No,” she said quickly. “Nothing is wrong and everyone has been amazing.” “You know, historically, that’s what people say right before they drop a bomb that makes an entire family implode.” Her mouth twitched, but she curled her fingers into my shirt and tugged me closer. “Come here.” I st epped closer to her willingly, but my heart was suddenly racing, my palms even growing clammy when I realized she was looking at me like she was trying to gather courage. Before I could start hyperventilating over the possibility that she’d changed her mind, she rose onto her toes and whispered against my ear. As soon as I realized what this was about, I had to grab the edge of the table beside me to stay upright, my knees going weak so fast, it was embarrassing. I genuinely didn’t know what else to do with the sheer amount of emotion trying to rip through my chest, so I folded her into me and just held her, my eyes sliding shut against the tears threatening to fall. Five minutes ago, I’d thought I was happy. Fulfilled. But now, I knew that no matter how good things were, it was always possible for them to get even better.
Epilogue Adeline It was early fall in Chicago and the air was crisp, the trees lining the streets as beautiful as if they’d been professionally color graded. I’d forgotten how gorgeous this time of year was here—and how cozy the entire city became, with everyone suddenly holding a coffee cup as they walked, wearing a sweater they technically didn’t need quite yet. I left the Chicago Institute of Art, grinning like a loon after another successful meeting about the massive catalog of art back home. Back home. I still couldn’t believe I was living in a house filled to the brim with priceless art, but it was also so much more than that. It really had become home. For a little while before we’d moved in, I’d been worried that we’d always feel like guests, but Westwood Manor had stopped feeling like Zach’s family’s house weeks ago. Lu had claimed Charlotte’s old bedroom, Jennifer organized tea parties in the formal sitting room, and Amber often threatened bodily harm if anyone touched her espresso machine in the kitchen. Between that and so many other things, the house had quietly become ours. We’d finally redecorated some, Zach and I buying furniture we actually liked together and painting a few of the walls. Slowly but surely, we were bringing it into the modern age, but we were also careful to respect its history—a fact Theo was struggling to get behind. In his opinion, we should just rip it all out and install new everything, but neither of us had wanted that. When we’d decided to live there and raise the girls in the house Zach had grown up in, I’d been a bit concerned about the other Westwoods’ reactions, but it turned out they were ecstatic the place would be staying in the family, and none of them had ever had any aspirations to move back in, it seemed. Alex was relieved that the maintenance and upke ep would no longer be his concern and Douglas was overjoyed we were breathing new life into the place, apparently having been worried the kids would simply sell the old mausoleum once he was gone. Literally the only caveat from anyone had been that we continue the tradition of hosting Friday night family dinners there. Apparently, they hadn’t always been very good about it, but the last few years, they’d really been trying to ke ep it up and I was over the moon about getting to become a part of that. Life had been coming at us fast since the weddings, but it was so beautiful that I rarely stopped smiling. Honestly, sometimes, I still felt like I was living a dream. I climbed into my car, Zach’s wedding present to me, still smiling as I turned over the engine and excited to share the news with him that the deal with the Institute was done.
Douglas and I were both thrilled to be moving some of his pieces to the museum. He’d even gotten all teared up when I’d told him that it was happening, and then he’d given me this long, tight, relieved hug and emotionally whispered thank you. I’d honestly thought he’d forgotten about all those pieces since they’d been in the attic for so long, but nope. One day, while I’d been walking him through the catalog I’d compiled for them, he’d confessed that he’d been moved to buy each piece because he’d known his wife would’ve loved them. Each one had made him feel closer to her, like he had a little part of her back, but it’d hurt him too much to look at them every day. He’d said he was honored to share her collection, and then he’d moved me to tears when he’d thanked me for ensuring that her legacy would live on. W&S was also making a massive donation to the institute in honor of the Rochelle Westwood Collection showcase, and a hefty portion of that money had been allocated to bringing art to underprivileged kids. Zach had asked for that to be included, and thankfully, the Institute had agreed. The drive home was beautiful, golden leaves covering the trees lining the streets and gray skies threatening rain but in that way that made the world feel quieter. Peaceful. When I got to the house, I had a couple hours left before I had to pick the girls up from school. They’d started at Ellison Academy at the beginning of the school year a few weeks back and they were loving it. So much so that they were often disappointed to have to leave at the end of the day. But since I still had some time before then, I slipped out of my coat and hung it up. Then I headed upstairs toward my study on the third floor, mentally pr eparing myself to spend the next few hours arguing with insurance databases as I continued trying to have the collection appraised. When I reached the landing, however, I noticed Zach’s office door was open and I frowned. I’d thought he was at the office, but when I peeked inside, he was sitting behind his desk in a dark sweater with the sleeves pushed up, flipping through paperwork. My heart did stupid little gymnastics as I looked at him, a smile spreading across my face. “I didn’t know you were working from home today.” He glanced up, returning my smile with a wide one of his own. “There’s my wife. How was your meeting?” Tingles still shot through me at that word. “It was good, but you first.” “I wrapped up my accounts at the office and I had a few things to finish here, so I came back,” he said, his tone suspiciously casual. “Your turn. How’s your day been so far?” I narrowed my eyes as I walked in, knowing for an absolute fact that when he had to try that hard to sound casual, he definitely wasn’t. There were papers spread all over the desk, and the
second I st epped closer, he shuffled half of them into a folder. “Uh-uh,” I said. “Don’t do that.” “What?” “You’re hiding something.” He scoffed. “I’m literally sitting in my office, doing paperwork. How could I be hiding something?” “You hid the paperwork.” I rounded the desk and reached for the folder, but he grabbed it first. I giggled but grabbed his wrist to ke ep him from jerking the folder away. “Give it to me.” “No.” He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arm as far away from me as he could reach. “This isn’t mature, Adeline. It’s nothing.” “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be hiding it.” “That’s...” He sighed, laughing as he caught me around the waist and hauled me directly into his lap. “Yeah, that’s probably fair.” I cuddled into him, one of my arms sliding around his neck, but I was still eyeing the folder. “What are you doing?” “Nothing nefarious.” “Then why did you hide it like you’re trying to protect nuclear launch codes?” “It’s supposed to be a surprise,” he admitted reluctantly. “I’m still working on it. I just didn’t realize you’d be home so soon.” I groaned. “I hate surprises.” “That’s unfortunate given that we’re parents,” he teased, bringing his mouth unfairly close to my ear. “Every day comes with surprises. Some good. Some bad. Sometimes, Jennifer cuts her own hair at midnight and there’s nothing you can do about it.” “That happened once.” “She gave herself bangs. That sure surprised me the next morning.” He buried his face against my shoulder, laughing quietly, but with him so warm and all those lean, hard muscles against me, my hormones were dangerously close to taking over. I touched his cheek when he looked back up at me, forcing myself to focus. “What are you up to? Is it illegal? Is that why you won’t tell me?” Zach leaned back in his chair, blissfully ignoring my continued pleading for information. “It’s. A. Surprise.” “You’re evil, but just know that if this surprise in volves a horse, I’m saying no. I know the girls want a pony, but you can’t just give them everything they ask for as soon as they ask.” “Why not?” My eyes narrowed again. “So it does in volve a horse?” “It doesn’t.” He grinned. “It doesn’t in volve a boat either.” I frowned. “A boat?” “Yeah. Jennifer has a friend whose dad has a boat. She wanted to know if we could get one too, but I told her I already had one. A yacht, but that counts as a boat, right?” “Of course, you have a yacht. Who doesn’t?” I dropped my face into his shoulder and just breathed him in, still trying to comprehend that this was my life now, but ultimately, I didn’t care about ponies or yachts. I just wanted him—and for him to be honest with me. “What is it, Zach?”
He barked out a laugh so suddenly, I started. “You can’t take that tone with me, Adeline. Seriously, it’s not fair. This is nothing to get emotional about.” I lifted my head for the express purpose of giving him a blank look. “Right now, everything is something for me to get emotional about.” He let out a long, low groan and finally relented. “I’m planning a month-long trip to Europe for the four of us.” My eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious? Why?” “Jennifer wants to see castles and Lu wants to see, and I quote, the dead people under the cathedrals. I figured we could stay with Will and Eliza for part of it while we bop around.” “Bop around?” I r epeated. He grimaced. “I was trying to sound spontaneous and whimsical. That’s romantic, right?” “There’s nothing whimsical about going to live in your brother’s castle for a month while we hop around Europe. Also, spontaneous doesn’t usually come with an entire folder full of paperwork, but that might just be me.” I still wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly though, too many emotions sneaking up on me all at once. A year ago, I’d been drowning, alone, and struggling to ke ep it together enough to get through every day. Now, my daughters were happy, safe, and loved, and my husband was planning European vacations around crypts because our five-year-old preferred historical corpses over Disney princesses. “I have a surprise too,” I admitted softly against his shoulder. He pulled back slightly. “You do? What is it?” My pulse jumped suddenly. I’d been carrying the envelope around in my purse, trying to figure out the perfect moment to tell him, and this definitely felt like it. Slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out the black and white ultrasound pictures. His features lit up immediately, softening and brightening simultaneously. “Is that...” He knew I was pregnant. We’d found out the day after our fake wedding, but we’d been ke eping it quiet for the past few months. The girls didn’t know yet and neither did the family. It’d just been ours so far, a tiny little bubble of joy where only we knew, and selfishly, I’d loved it. Zach took the ultrasound photos carefully, like they might break if he moved too fast. “You already had the appointment?” “Yesterday.” He flicked his eyes up to mine, but he didn’t seem angry or annoyed. Just surprised. Reverent. Excited. “You didn’t tell me?” “I wanted it to be a surprise.” His gaze darted over the images again, and he smiled. “I wish I could make out anything on these, but it’s the most gorgeous gray blob I’ve ever seen.”
I nodded, but I also felt a tiny pinch low in my stomach, that old fear ugly and instinctive. I knew Zach wasn’t Louis, but Jennifer had been a disappointment and Lu had been a disaster, and I hated that some part of me was still bracing for rejection. Even now. Even with Zach. “We’re having another girl,” I murmured, my voice so quiet it was practically a whisper as I waited for disappointment or anger. For one horrible, split second, I even waited for that checked-out look Louis had gotten when he’d found out Lu was on the way. This awful, absent shimmer in his eyes as he’d nodded like that had been it—and it had. Instead, Zach’s entire face lit up again, pure joy streaking across his eyes. “Oh, thank God.” I blinked hard, shock making my heart trip and my face heat. “What?” He looked genuinely emotional as he looked up at me. “I already put her on the waitlist for Ellison.” I stared at him, completely and utterly dumbfounded. “You did what?” “Yeah, well, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Oh, and I put her on the waitlist at the ballet studio too. Do you know how much money I had to donate to get the older girls in there? It was basically bribery. At least this way, no one can say I bought this one’s way in there too.” I started laughing. “She hasn’t even been born yet.” He grinned. “That’s absolutely no reason for her not to start getting ahead.” “She’s the size of a peach.” “Maybe, but she’s a very important peach. The most important peach who has ever peached.” I laughed harder, tears suddenly burning behind my eyes as he pulled me against him again, kissing my forehead, my cheeks, and my mouth. I clung to him, unable to process how genuinely happy he was. “I’m serious,” he said softly between kisses. “Another girl sounds perfect.” The tears spilled over then, pure, overwhelming relief spiraling through me as I hugged him tightly and buried my face against his neck. It finally felt like everything was falling into place exactly like it should have from the beginning. Zach and I were finally getting our happily ever after, and it was so much happier than I’d ever thought the girls and I could be—and it was all because of him, this wonderful, incredible man who had never stopped loving me. *** Want more of Zach and Adelines story? Download this Extended Epilogue today!! Get your copy HERE!!