Strong For Too Long Trilogy ✔️

EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

FIVE MONTHS...

I had gotten big and by 'big', I mean I was practically waddling like a penguin now. Fern insisted he sleep downstairs of the mansion Aaron had apparently bought in secret and wanted to surprise me with all those months ago, because of my girls. Two daughters. When I found out, I went to Aaron, his skin always felt colder while he slept. Colder than the warmth a skin should hold. Branson and Madison, Reynolds, and Tobias were still under comatose...with my husband.

A large hand behind me has me jolting up, "Jeez, Fern." I curse out, close to dropping the pan of pancakes I'd only just poured.

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd need some help. You should be putting your feet up, Olive. Let me make breakfast." He murmurs behind me, I grumble under my breath.

"I'm fine." I mumble, flipping one pancake over. Warm fingers gently massage my lower back until I sigh in defeat and hand him the utensils. He slides in next to me, no shirt on as he covers a yawn and flips the pancake.

"How'd you sleep?" He asks me, leaning down to press a kiss against my belly. I always froze up when he did that. I imagined Aaron doing that, all the time. I was just over five months pregnant, the girls both kept me up last night.

"Kicking." I say.

He takes a long breath, turning to me and kneeling down, "Girls, we talked about this. No kicking while Mommy is trying to sleep." He whispers, hands around my belly. He talks to them often, claiming the godfather title easily. Pierce would always be the grandfather of the family now. Always.

I visited Harrison's grave sometimes, he didn't deserve what he got either. Driving now was interesting considering my belly could touch the wheel. He was next to Celeste, and my brother.

Fern places a kiss on my hairline, "Lie down on the lounger outside, it's still early morning, we can watch the sunrise, I'll bring the food out." He murmurs down to me, I nod as I move from his lingering warm hands straight to outside, where the doors had already been opened, a pool and a large field beyond me, with our own private lake not far from that. I take a slow seat down against the lounger, curling against the pillow, my eyes on the sunrise before I begin snuggling in, eyes closed.

A blanket is gently pulled over me, I snap my eyes open at the smell of bacon.

Fern smiles, "I knew you'd wake up at bacon." He laughs, gently.

I stare at the food in hunger, nodding and thanking him as I use the armrests just to wrestle myself into sitting up. He pulls his lounger closer, sipping on a cup of coffee, strictly black while I reach for the juice first, I roll my feet around under the blanket, cutting into the stack of pancakes after pouring maple syrup over them, he'd even cooked banana too.

"This is a 'special occasion' type of breakfast." I wonder aloud, looking over to him, his eyes are on the sunrise.

"I cook it every week." He says, looking over to me.

I raise an eyebrow, "Fern, you cook this when you have something to tell me. I was only cooking pancakes, you put berries on the plate, cooked banana and bacon, not that I am not grateful, I'm incredibly grateful, Fern...but what's going on? Have we heard news from Aaron? Can we visit him?" I ask him, piping up immediately.

He gives me a soft look, "Olive, we can visit him and the rest of them at Grayson's main hospital, but you still have three appointments today, plus we need to do a little more shopping, I still have the second crib to build and the shelving. We'll visit him tonight, hmm." He whispers to me, rubbing my shoulder. I nod to him, turning back to the food, just as the main touch screen phone rings inside, he sighs above me and presses a kiss to my temple.