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Epilogue

And they lived happily ever after... except for Greyson.

CECILIA

~ Ten Months Later / November ~

Dante stayed in the hospital for a total of fifty-four days. Even though I was discharged after three days, I got to stay by his side every step of the way. After three weeks, he was allowed to stay in the private room I was given for NICU parents around the clock in a little bassinet.

He stopped needing the ventilator after four days, and only had a nasal cannula for one week. Although he’s a premature baby, it didn’t take him long to catch up in weight and height.

Silas found it hard going back to hockey knowing we were still in the hospital. Away games were the hardest for him. Honestly, the whole process was hard for both of us.

I hated not having my baby with me in my room for the first weeks. I found myself spending all my time in the NICU, and only left to take a shower, eat, and sleep. I cried so many times during those fifty-four days.

It was all emotionally draining, but I had amazing support from my friends and family. As well as all the nurses and doctors at the hospital. Whenever Silas was away at games, we would video call with our son whenever he could.

And when Silas was home, he’d stay in our hospital room with me. I’d sometimes wake up during the night to find him gone. Then I’d wander over to the NICU and see him cuddling up with our boy .

Aubrey ended up staying in our home for those fifty-four days. Since no one was there and we needed someone to watch over Milo, she offered right away. I have a feeling she’s really over living with Greyson.

She’s also used my new car to get around since the other was totaled in the crash. Silas was too impatient to wait for the insurance, so he bought an identical brand new one the next day.

Dante is now ten months old. Every month, we have a tiny celebration for our little warrior.

Morgan, Aubrey, and I are currently in the kitchen preparing food and desserts.

While Silas, Clay, Greyson, Gabe, and Noah play video games in the living room quietly, since Dante is upstairs in his room taking a nap with Milo before dinner.

The minute we brought our baby home, Milo found a new best friend and rarely ever sleeps with us anymore. He’s always with Dante. No matter where I put him down, Milo is there.

“Where’s Em? She’s not coming?” Morgan asks from the other side of the kitchen island.

“Nope, she hasn’t been returning my calls or answering my texts...” Emma and I had a falling out after I gave birth to Dante. I tried to keep in touch, but it now makes three months that she’s stopped responding.

She ended up quitting her job at Wilson Events and is now doing nothing with her life except for serving her piece of shit boyfriend.

I hate that man with everything I have in me.

But not as much as Silas does. That day at the hospital changed things between Emma and I, and Silas was ready to murder Tommy.

They had come to visit us and see our baby. Everything seemed fine until Tommy made a not-so-subtle flirtatious comment to me, stating that if every woman looked as sexy as me after giving birth, he’d gladly be knocking everyone up.

Silas lost it the minute the words left his mouth.

Picked him up by the collar, threatened him, then threw him out of the room.

Emma defended him, obviously, saying it was a joke, and left with him.

Since then, she’s been cold every time I try to tell her that he’s no good for her. And now she’s just gone silent.

Morgan gives me a worried look and I shrug. There’s not much we can do if she won’t listen to us. Aubrey, being the ever-loving peacemaker, changes the subject quickly.

“You know, I’m still mad at you for what you pulled at your gender reveal party,” Brey says in a hushed voice.

I look up from the tomatoes I’m dicing with a frown. “What did I do?”

Her eyes dart to the boys quickly, then back down to the brownie mixture she’s making.

I never lost my brownie craving after giving birth.

“Forcing me onto Shane! It was so awkward. I had no idea what to say to him. Then when he asked about the things I baked, I went on to name every ingredient in them like an idiot!” She frowns and shakes her head.

“By the time I was done, he looked like he didn’t understand a word I had just said.

It was so embarrassing. I can’t even see him anymore without losing my cool and stuttering like someone who’s never talked to the opposite sex before.

” She huffs when she’s done, like it was physically draining to say all of that.

Morgan and I look at each other, then both throw our heads back and laugh. Aubrey tells us repeatedly to be quiet while looking back at the boys in the other room, who are now staring at us with narrowed eyes.

I finally settle down and clear my throat. “That was like a year ago! And I didn’t force you onto him. He was looking for an excuse to talk to you, so I just helped. Trust me, he’s as much a stuttering mess as you are. When are you guys going to do something about this attraction?”

“There’s nothing there. You’re all seeing things,” she says, not looking up at us but blushing madly.

“Oh, that’s bull and you know it.” Morgan points her finger at Aubrey from the chicken she’s stuffing. “Don’t think I didn’t see you two snuggling up at the hospital.”

“We weren’t snuggling! He was comforting me!” she whisper shouts in a very defensive way.

Morg and I instantly break out in a laugh once more.

The baby monitor on the kitchen island lights up and Dante’s cute little cry comes through, letting us know he’s done with his nap. I drop what I’m doing, wipe my hands on the cloth beside me, and head up to get my boy.

Dante’s bedroom is phenomenal. The work Morgan put into it is amazing and truly takes my breath away every time. It’s one hundred percent a hockey room. Every wall is painted blue, with two horizontal white lines and a red one in the middle running through each wall.

Jerseys from Clay, Greyson, Gabriel, and Noah are spaced out on one wall. And above his crib that looks like a miniature ice rink, is his father’s jersey. There’s a little reading bench in one corner that actually looks like the benches in the Griffins’ locker room.

On one wall, Morgan had someone she knew paint the Griffins’ logo on it.

It’s huge, almost taking up the whole space.

There are also two nightstands on either side of his crib that are made with hockey sticks.

And the lamps above them are pucks stacked together in an intricate way.

Everything was handmade and one of a kind.

Silas was truly jealous of the room when he saw it for the first time and refused to leave it.

I walk up to the crib where my little man stands with his arms stretched out toward me, waiting to get picked up, while Milo looks up from the floor right next to the crib. I bend to scratch his head, then straighten and reach in to grab Dante.

“Hey, baby. Did you have a good nap?”

“Mama.”

He started saying Mama and Dada last month, and of course, he said ‘Dada’ first. Silas was ecstatic, and I didn’t hear the end of it for a whole week.

Our boy now weighs twenty-five pounds and is thirty-four inches tall. He’s definitely going to be tall like his dad. And with the way he always goes for the pucks and hockey sticks out of all his toys, I think it’s safe to say that hockey is in his future as well.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you downstairs. Your aunts and uncles are waiting to see you.” I bring him over to the changing station to change his diaper and jammies, then take him down to say hello to everyone.

I don’t even make it down the last step before my son is ripped out of my arms, everyone rushing over to take him. Of course, Silas is the first.

“There’s my little man!” He throws him up in the air, nearly giving me a heart attack every time, then catches him and peppers him with thousands of kisses.

A few hours later, we’re just finishing off dessert when Greyson’s phone starts ringing. He looks at the number, then frowns but doesn’t pick it up.

“Who is it?” Aubrey asks from beside him while looking at the number on the screen.

“No idea, they’ll leave a message if it’s important,” he says with a shrug, letting it ring.

The call dies down but starts up again a second later with the same number. Aubrey takes her phone out, most likely searching up the number.

“Umm, Grey... I think you need to take that call,” she says with a horrified look in her eyes.

“Why?”

She turns to look at him, and instantly, worry fills his expression when he notices the look she carries. “Because that’s the number for Child Protective Services...”

The room goes deathly still, except for Dante’s babbling. Greyson turns white as a sheet, grabs his phone, and leaves the table, exiting the room with everyone staring at his retreating back .

“Why would they be calling him?” Silas asks no one in particular while he looks at the seat Greyson just vacated with a frown.

“I have no idea,” I tell him, then go back to wiping Dante’s face from the remnants of his brownie.

Silas’s hand comes out, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, then caresses my cheek with his thumb. When I look up into his breathtaking emerald eyes that shine brightly, all I see is love. Beautiful, pure, eternal love.

“You and me,” he whispers.

I bring my own hand up to his cheek, imitating his movement as I lean into his.

“You and me.”