by Fox, Ella
"Welcome to the world Lachlan," Garrett said through his tears. "We're so happy you're here."
Epilogue
Garrett— February 2009
I’d been ready to go for what felt like an eternity and my son looked like he was about to fall asleep from boredom. I couldn’t blame him—today was pretty much about the adults. He let out a breath of relief when the call came from the front gate to let us know the limo had arrived.
Laughing, I headed across the house to the game room. The arcade games, along with the pool and foosball tables, were currently being stored in our garage so that the room could be used as a beauty salon. Leaning against the arched entry to the room, I crossed my arms and smiled as I took in the scene in front of me. My wife, my mother, and Goldie were each standing in the middle of the room being fussed over by stylists as they put finishing touches on what had taken an entire day to achieve.
Honestly, they were all so beautiful it made no fucking sense to me that it took that long, but what did I know about Academy Award prep? My job had been to shower, put on a tuxedo, and let the hairstylist fuck with my hair for fifteen minutes. I definitely got the easier end of that bargain.
Standing straight, I walked into the room to the two pink directors’ chairs where my four-year-old twin daughters were seated. Even though the girls weren’t coming with us to the ceremony, the hair and makeup crew had taken the time to give them both up-dos and a light application of pink lipgloss.
“Has anyone seen my little girls?” I teased.
My girls laughed like I was the funniest guy on earth.
“It’s us, Daddy!” Hannah said through her giggles.
“That can’t be right,” I countered. “My girls are little, and you two look all grown up right now. This might be a case for Batman.”
“Momma, Daddy’s makin’ them dad jokes,” Brooke called out.
Looking up, I watched as my wife looked over her shoulder and met my eyes. My heart sped up as I smiled at her and then winked. More than ten years had passed since I’d first seen her, but the effect she had on me hadn’t changed a bit. I’d have thought it wasn’t possible to love her more than I did when I married her, but I was wrong. The life I had with her was everything to me, and I never lost sight of that.
“We’ll never get you to stop making your bad dad jokes, will we?” she called out cheerfully.
“Absolutely not,” I confirmed.
Laughing, I walked behind the chairs the girls were on, threw an arm around each of their shoulders, and dropped loud, smacking kisses on their cheeks. They giggled louder when my dad and Uncle Alan entered the room and made a beeline for them. If they thought my dad jokes were bad, the old guy jokes were worse—even though the kids loved them.
Lachlan and my mom’s assistant, Astrid, entered the room a few minutes later. Astrid was busy taking photos to commemorate the occasion, so I waved her over to take a few of us. Lachlan good-naturedly told his sisters they looked pretty as he joined the group to pose.
When the women were finished being poked and prodded, they joined us for a series of family shots before we left for the award ceremony. Wrapping my arm around my wife's waist, I settled my hand on her growing belly. In about two weeks, we’d be welcoming another boy. No one else knew yet but we planned to name him Gabriel, after my father.
After all the photos were taken, the kids ran for their Aunt Tia and Uncle Nolan, who were over with their daughter, Gwendolyn. Normally, Uncle Harry and his wife Alissa would’ve joined them with their two children, but not tonight. Harry had transitioned from the role of assistant to producer and for the first time, a movie we’d produced was up for best picture. I’d already told him that if we won he was going to do all the talking. I pretended not to notice the way he paled when I said that.
The sound of children’s laughter carried out the door after us as Shae and I made our way to our limo. It was late in the pregnancy so she was a little slower than usual, which made us both laugh. After I bundled up the train of her plum colored gown and helped her into the limo, I walked around and got in the other side.
“Ready to go win an award?” she teased.
I laughed as I reached out and took her hand in mine. “I’ve got you and a house full of kids I adore. Win or lose that statue, I’m already the luckiest asshole alive. Anything else is a bonus.”
She smiled and squeezed my hand. “That right there is just one of the eight million reasons I love you.”
I wiggled my brows as I leaned toward her. “Let’s make out on the way to the theater. That’ll give you eight million and one reasons to love me.”
“Give it your best shot,” she giggled.
I did—and I always would.
The End
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End of book thoughts
I had no idea that going down this rabbit hole to write this story would be as painful and emotionally draining as it was.
I hope you were surprised by what happened. I played it very close to the vest and did my best in book one not to leave an obvious trail that would clue you in to the fact that their story intertwined with September 11th.
Many months ago I revealed to my friend Rochelle Paige that that was where I was going. I asked if she saw it coming and she said no. I hope you didn’t see it either.
In real life, for the average American, September 11, 2001 came without warning. I felt that should be the case here.
I’d long planned to weave the events of September 11th into one of my books. This September will mark eighteen years since the horrible day that changed America forever, the day two thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven lives were lost. (The official tally is 2,996, which includes the hijackers. I refuse to include them because in my opinion they don’t deserve to be counted as a loss)
Pretty much anyone who was older than about ten on 9/11/01 can tell you—usually with great clarity—where they were that day. I’m no different. At the time, one of my dear friends was living in the Greenwich Village area of NYC. When I couldn’t get ahold of him by phone, I emailed him. I didn’t expect it would be delivered since the cell service was down, but it got there. His response at around ten am that day letting me know that he was stunned that my email delivered but happy to tell me he was okay was a Godsend. That was the day I fell in love with technology.
All these years later that series of events made it into a book when Shaelyn wrote Garrett that email from her BlackBerry. If you were dubious when that email got to Garrett, now you know that it really was possible.
Writing Shaelyn and Garrett’s story was the most difficult thing I’ve written to date. I wanted there to be beauty even in the darkest moments, and I needed Shaelyn to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes, and to own her happiness. I believe I accomplished both.
Their love withstood through the worst thing a parent can experience.
The research I did on the experience of parents whose children were born asleep broke my heart. I shed a tear—or ten—every time I read about those beautiful angel babies. I really hope that the love and compassion I feel for anyone who has suffered that kind of loss was apparent in this story.
I hope you enjoyed taking this journey with me. I loved these characters and am sad to let them go. It’s time, though. After writing Disrupt, On The Way Down, and On The Way Back—all in a row, with each story dealing with tragic loss— I’m ready for something lighter. I hope you are, too.
I can’t wait to announce my next project. Right now, it’s a closely guarded secret but I believe details will be coming toward the end of June. Keep an eye out for that!
With love,
Ella
Also by Ella Fox
The Enamorado (In Love) Series
I Don’t
I Want
I Need
Novellas
Sin’s Temptation
Sweet Like Candy
Amber’s Allu
re
Out of Formation
Until Mallory
Until Twyla
The Hart Family Series
Broken Hart
Shattered Hart
Loving Hart
Unbroken Hart
Missing Hart
Finding Hart
The Renegade Saints (Rockstar Romance) Series
Picture Perfect
Twist of Fate
Between Us
Something to Believe In
Standalone Books
Consequences of Deception
All That’s Left to Hold Onto
Strictly Temporary
Disrupt
About the Author
Ella Fox is the USA Today Bestselling Author of Consequences of Deception, The Hart Family series & many other sexy and exciting books.
Ella is an avid reader, lover of music and all around goofball. She grew up loving to read. That's not surprising considering the fact that her mom is USA Today Bestselling Author Suzanne Halliday!
