𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 | 18+

E P I L O G U E

I lay calmly on the beach chair, soaking up the rays of golden sunlight, as Ezra plays in the pool with our children. Having three children and one on the way, it's rare to get a moment to lay down, so I have to take advantage of all the peace I can get.

"Mom!" Noah groans.

There it is.

I lift my sunglasses from my face, pushing myself up into a sitting position, as I try to figure out what the problem is this time.

He's trying to pry the pool noodle out of Adrielle's hands. Him and Adrielle are seven year old twins and they fight every single day over the smallest of things. I let out a sigh.

I can see Ezra in the corner of my eye gently treading our youngest daughter, Aurora, upon the surface of the water making her giggle. She's only eight months old, but they have the best of relationships. She's a daddy's girl, for sure.

"He took my noodle!" Elle shouts. Suddenly Noah's hands slip off the noodle and he falls to the ground. Adrielle lets out a scream as she starts beating him with the noodle. I immediately jump up and take it from her.

"Adrielle Romano, we do not beat our brothers with pool noodles." I tell her, even though I hate being strict with my children. She looks up at me with the softest of doe eyes, her demeanor changing in a matter of seconds. She's been able to get a lot of things with those manipulative eyes, so Ezra and I have to be careful not to sink into her trap.

She inherited Ezra's stormy grey eyes, my face structure, and a head of wild black curls most likely from Ezra. Meanwhile, Noah has my eyes paired with Ezra's lips, the rest of his face resembling a mixture of Ezra's and mine, and wavy brown hair. With Aurora, it's a bit difficult to tell who she looks like at such a young age, but Ezra insists that she looks like me.

"He was trying to take my noodle, Mama." She pouts.

"You can share." I respond. She rolls her eyes before jumping into the pool, followed shortly after by Noah. I chuckle and sit back down, holding onto my swollen belly.

I'm three and a half months pregnant and we recently found out that it's a boy, though we haven't picked a name yet. I'm so grateful for the family Ezra and I are raising. I wonder if life could get any better but, frankly, I don't think it can.

Ezra and I got married six months after he miraculously showed up at my apartment and, shortly after, started our own family. We've lived in his father's old mansion ever since the wedding eight years ago and it's very comfortable; the kids are homeschooled and the twins are already in training to become a part of Ezra's mafia. They don't know about that small detail, yet.

Ezra and I still have our matching tattoos, of course.

Not long after Ezra came home, he sat me down and explained to me what happened to my parents. It turns out that they had ties with Lorenzo, Ezra's brother's mafia clan. They hadn't paid Lorenzo back, which triggered him enough to get themselves both killed. I was very shocked to hear that.

Ezra hoists Aurora onto his hip as Adrielle and Noah swim up to him, racing to see who gets there first. Ezra walks over to the edge of the pool and smiles up at me. He hasn't changed a bit, he's still the same man I fell in love with almost ten years ago. I've loved watching him turn into a father. It's so sweet watching him care for our kids.

"Can you take her for a second, bellissima?" He asks.

"Sure." I get up and gently take Aurora from his arms, she immediately snakes her arms around my neck as I keep my arm underneath her.

"Thanks, love. Why don't you come in?" He asks, looking up at me. Noah swims up behind Ezra and climbs up onto his back, latching his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck.

"Come in, Mom!" Noah giggles. Ezra pouts his bottom lip out and I roll my eyes, chuckling.

"Fine." I smile.

"Yay!" Elle and Noah shout. I slowly walk into the water, adjusting to its cool temperature, as Aurora shrieks in excitement. Saying she loves the water would be an understatement. I grab her floaty and walk over to where Ezra is throwing our children into the water, laughing. They swim up to him, he takes them under the arms, sends them flying through the air until they splash into the water and does it over and over when they swim back up to him asking for him to do it again.

His muscles haven't faltered at all in the last decade, he takes good care of himself and even better care of his family. I can't help myself from staring at the loving man I'm lucky enough to call my husband.

"Okay, okay, last time." He tells them. They take turns being catapulted into the air one last time shrieking the whole way until they collide with the water. Ezra chuckles and turns towards me, his eyes full of admiration.

"My love." He smiles softly, running the pad of his thumb across my cheek, before leaning in to press a kiss to my lips, then one against my forehead.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me, sliding his hands down to my belly. The adoring look on his face as he looks down at our unborn baby is another reminder of what an amazing father he is.

"I'm fine." I tell him. His eyes snap up to meet mine.

"Fine?" He asks.

"I'm feeling great." I smile. He leans in and presses another kiss to my lips, then presses one against Aurora's head, who's playing with the string of my swim suit.

"We have arrived, motherfuckers!" Matteo shouts as he walks through the entrance to the pool with his hands in the air.

"Language, Matteo!" Anna seethes from behind him.

"Motherfuckers!" Noah and Elle scream in unison. Ezra and I let out a groan, preparing for the dreadful moment in which we'll have to explain to them what they can and can't say, hoping that they won't continue to say it for the fun of irritating us.

Matteo simply cackles, throwing his towel onto a beach chair. He immediately takes a running start before jumping into the pool. Ezra shields me as a huge splash comes our way. The kids scream and giggle. They love Matteo, he's like an uncle to them.

Anna chuckles at her husband's behavior, before sliding into the pool with us.

"Who wants to play Marco Polo!?" Matteo shouts.

"Me! Me!"

With Matteo and Ezra playing Marco Polo with the twins and Anna chatting with me about random things, I realize that I'm finally at peace with my life. Even with the hormones from my pregnancy, I've never been happier. Everything I've been through was worth it, if this was the reward from it all. I'm sure that my parents would be proud of me, just as Ezra's would be of him. I can't put into words how grateful I am with how my life turned out. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn close.

And I wouldn't change it for the world.

word count: 1178
☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎☂︎︎

Well...Ezra is officially complete. I cannot believe it. Thank you, again, to everyone who has supported my book and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you liked Ezra, you should read my other work, Falling For Lorenzo.

Stay safe<3
-S