Page 134

Mom called that night, making sure my first day home had gone smoothly, asking yet again if she should fly across the country to care for me.
“I understand your concern, Mom,” I assured her, “and I don’t want to upset you, but I don’t need you hovering over me. I’m going to be fine.”
“I-I just want to see my son,” she whispered, her tone flooding with tears.
I clicked over to FaceTime, giving her what she wanted. “There,” I stated when her face came into view. “See? I’m fine. A little pale still, tired, but the doctor said I’ve got plenty of years ahead of me. Other than gallstones causing pancreatitis, I’m healthy as an ox.”
Mom huffed a heavy sigh. “If you need me—anything—you make sure that second son of ours calls me.”
“He will,” I said, snickering and eyeing Rhett who still rubbed my feet.
“Hi, Mrs. Blackwood,” Sky said, leaning down to get her face onscreen.
“Mom,” my mother corrected her.
They’d met on FaceTime during one of the hospital visits, and Mom had smiled nonstop at Skylar’s nervous chatter and expressive face.
Dad had pretty much done the same and offered us the best of luck for our future.
Yeah, he still wanted those grandsons, and with how on board Rhett had become, I didn’t doubt we would be successful in fulfilling my dreams.
“I gotta go, Mom,” I stated abruptly, cutting her off mid-sentence while climbing from the couch. “Call you in a few days.” I hung up, tossed my cell onto the couch, and grabbed Sky’s hand.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a soft giggle, scampering after my quick steps toward the stairs. “To bed.”
“I thought we were waiting until later—and you don’t seem sleepy anymore.”
“Because I’m not.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Rhett—you coming, or what?”
“Only if it’s in your ass like Sky said she wanted!” he hollered back.
“Yes, please!” Sky squeaked as we hurried up the stairs.
His footsteps thundered behind us, and we fell to the bed in a tangle of body parts, hungry mouths, and grasping hands.
Yeah, Rhett and I had every intention of giving Sky what she desired, but she proved too much of a temptation.
When the three of us came together in a soul-satisfying symphony of moans and curses?
I decided as long as I had my lover and my angel for life, I would be content if that was all fate gifted us.
48
Epilogue
Rhett - A Few Months Later
I stood across from Skylar, listening as she solemnly swore before the small group of friends around us and the Justice of the Peace to love us until death.
We’d sent an invitation to my dad, but he’d declined without offering an excuse. It had been the first time I’d reached out to him since Mom’s death. He hadn’t done so at all, but that fact didn’t hurt me. Ash’s parents—and Sky’s as well—had accepted me as their own. They were the only family I needed.
Ash and I had discussed marriage a few times over our years together, but neither of us had felt the need for a piece of paper to declare us legal partners. We belonged to each other, and nothing and no one would ever change that.
Thankfulness for never taking that step swept through me as my two lovers exchanged vows as she and I had done.
Sky would have my name, and thanks to the state of California recognizing multiple-partner civil unions, so would Ashton—and the baby we hoped would one day grow in her womb. A few months had passed without success, but Ash had his sperm count tested, and everything appeared good and in working order, so we continued to keep our fingers crossed.
But even if we never conceived, even if Missing Link failed in providing us with children, she’d given us the angel Ash had desired to bring sunshine into our lives, the woman I needed on a daily basis.