Page 29 of Howl for Me (Moonlight Magic Studios #1)

Cassidy, Four Years Later

I sit in the driveway for a moment longer than usual. The engine’s off, my purse still in my lap, keys in hand. But I can’t move. Not yet.

I’m staring at our house. The one with the slightly crooked mailbox Johnny swore he’d fix three years ago. The one with a wind chime on the porch that only rings when the breeze is just right.

My home, with my husband and our sweet, messy-haired, car-obsessed baby boy.

I think back to a time when I was convinced I couldn’t have it all, when I believed that love and family were luxuries that came with chains.

That I had to choose. That wanting more was greedy.

But here I am four years later. I am the lead director at Moonlight Magic Studios and I get to come home to them.

My little family. To everything, I never thought I could have.

I finally step out of the car and head up the walk, the scent of honeysuckle blooming from the side yard.

The door creaks a little when I open it, and I’m greeted with…

Oblivion, the good kind. Johnny and Benjamin are sitting at the coffee table, hunched over a model car kit.

There are tiny plastic pieces scattered everywhere.

Stickers. Paint. Glue. Concentration is so fierce on both their faces that they don’t even notice me walk in.

A tiny part falls from Ben’s fingers and bounces to the floor. He stares at it for a second, then mutters, “Fuck.”

My eyes widen. Johnny snorts and I let out a laugh before I can stop myself. Benjamin’s head shoots up like a guilty puppy.

“Mommy!” he yells, scrambling up and sprinting over with sticky hands and wild curls bouncing.

Johnny follows a step behind, smiling like a man who got everything he never knew he needed. I scoop Ben into my arms and he hugs me as tight as his little arms can.

I laugh. “What did Mommy say about those naughty words, mister?”

“I sorry Mommy,” he says too sweetly

Johnny pulls us both in, kissing my forehead.

Ben wriggles free a second later, shouts, “Sorry Mommy!” and bolts back to the model like his life depends on finishing it before bedtime. Johnny watches him go, then turns back to me. This time, his kiss lands on my lips, soft and warm and familiar in a way that still makes my knees weak.

“I’m happy you’re home,” he says against my mouth.

I smile. “Me too.”

And I mean it with every part of me because I didn’t give anything up. And I wouldn’t change a single fucking thing.

“Auntie Lori’s here,” comes the familiar voice before I even turn around. My best friend strolls through the front door like she owns the place. Ben bolts toward her, throwing himself at her legs with a squeal of joy.

A knock echoes behind her, more of a formality than anything else, and then Reggie and Teddy step inside, already talking about what’s for dinner.

It’s Friday. That means dinner at our place. I look around one last time at how different my life has changed. I’m proud. So god damn proud.

The End