Destined

Epilogue

Elena

Oisín was driving me insane. I couldn't breathe, walk, laugh, or even pee without him hovering over my shoulder to ensure I was all right. I was only seven weeks pregnant, yet Oisin made it seem like I was eight months and wobbling like a penguin. 

I didn't even get to that point yet. This man took his overprotectiveness up a thousand notches. His new hobby was reading all those new parent books and reciting every piece of information he learned back to me. 

If he wasn't clearing the fridge of cold cuts, he was trying his absolute hardest to stop smoking. He was terrified that something would happen to me, but there was nothing to be terrified of. My schedule consisted of waking up, baking, eating, and falling asleep.

I felt no frightening pregnancy symptoms, but I still couldn't convince Oisín to calm down. When I announced I was pregnant, it was beautiful, and the love and reaction felt like a scene out of those fairy tales. I cried. He cried. He hugged me. I cried harder. Then he picked me up and carried me around; insisting that I didn't need to walk, so I didn't strain myself. 

Everything, according to him, was straining my health. It was ridiculous. I mean, I love the attention, gifts, foot rubs, and back massages, but something had to give. I was going to suffocate him. Even now, during dinner, he refused to let me cut my steak because he was scared the knife would somehow slip out of my hand and I'd cut myself.

"Oisín," I grumbled. "Baby, I can cut my own steak."

Ignoring me, he cut it into tiny pieces and very carefully, very slowly put my plate in front of me and put the knife on the other side of my plate.

"All right. Dig in." He said, too sweetly.

"Don't ignore me," I muttered. Liam cleared his throat loudly, cutting off my rant, and I glared my eyes at him. "What?"

He discretely eyed Aofie sitting between my nonna and Fiona, and I sighed loudly. I didn't want to fight in front of her, but oh, tonight, he'd get it. We ate dinner tersely, or maybe I was the only one tense, but I'm sure the sounds of my fork and spoon scraping against my plates got the message across. 

I was not in the mood. I didn't want to be treated like something fragile. I was pregnant, not a box of glass. I could walk, run, laugh, and cut my own goddamn steak. I was the first to leave the table, the steak not seeming appetizing anymore, and walked upstairs to our bedroom.

I barely closed it when Oisín walked behind me and shut it quietly. I sat on the edge of the bed and bent down to undo my sneakers, only for him to come over to where I was and kneel before me. I wanted to fight him, smack some sense into him, but he had this look that made me pause. 

He undid my sneakers, removed my socks, and put them aside. He stood up, reached for my hand, and feeling confused about how the earlier fire vanished, I took it. He led me to the bathroom, and without a word, he stripped me of my clothes and then proceeded to take off his clothes.

He opened the shower door, turned it on, and then ushered me inside. The water hit us immediately, the warm pelts relaxing me, yet he didn't speak. He grabbed the shampoo and thoroughly washed my hair, and still oddly confused; I let him. He washed my hair, lathered it with conditioner, rinsed it again, and grabbed my body gel.

"Sit down." He rasped, his voice deep as he tilted his head. 

I sat on the tiled seat by the shampoo and conditioner and watched this powerful man kneel before me again. He grabbed my ankle and washed my feet while maintaining eye contact. 

"Do you know how much you mean to me?" He asked.

"Yes, I-"

"Whatever you're thinking, fucking triple it, Elena." He swore, cutting me off. "The day you were kidnapped, I don't think I was even breathing. I thought I'd fucking die if I never got you back. I breathe simply because you're breathing. Do you understand?" 

He finished my foot and went to the other one. 

"The first baby we lost...it broke our hearts. I hated that you went through it alone. I know I'm overbearing and suffocating you, but I refuse to leave you for a second. I'm fucking terrified of anything touching you and harming our child." He swallowed thickly, and my eyes brimmed with tears.

The fight in me was decimated, and the fire was fast extinguished. I cradled his jaw, and he leaned in to kiss the palm of it.

"I won't apologize for how I'm treating you or how overprotective I'm being. I refuse to apologize for protecting my family. I thought I had done a good job protecting you before... but I hadn't. I refuse to make the same mistake again. 

Get mad at me. It's okay. Yell at me. Hell, baby, hit me. I'll take your anger. I'll take all of it but know this won't change. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm only going to get worse as our child grows inside you. You aren't a piece of my heart. You are my entire fucking heart. I'd fucking die without you.

This world is cruel and harsh, and I can't promise you anything, but I can promise that I will be a fucking shield for you and our child. Nonfuckingnegotiable. Got it?"

I nodded, immediately hating how childish I'd been. Bending down, I kissed his forehead and closed my eyes as I lingered there momentarily. My body relaxed, and he washed and rinsed me one last time. 

After drying me with a towel and dressing me in one of his shirts, he brushed my hair and then carried me to our bed. He laid me down and hovered over me. He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips and sighed when he pulled away.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be."

"I was acting like a child. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for how you felt. How many times have I told you this?" 

He ran his fingers across my cheeks. He bent down lower until his body was nuzzled between my thighs. He ran his hands over my stomach and lifted it so he could kiss all over my stomach. 

"Baby Callahan." He whispered. "We love you so much. So much." He peppered kisses all over and then closed his eyes as he leaned his ear against it. "Do you think he or she could hear us?" 

"Yes."

I ran my fingers through his hair, and he hummed. "Boy or girl, I don't care what we have as long as we have a child together. That's all that I care about."

"I know, baby."

"You're not even born yet, and you already have your daid wrapped around your finger." Oisín joked, his fingers running over my non-existent bump. "God, I love you and your mother so much."

"We love you so much more."

We stayed like that, tangled up together, as he kissed my stomach and whispered sweet things. 

A/N: The End!!!!! This is a short and sweet Epilogue to tie up Destined. I will be writing (in the near future) an extended Epilogue from Oisins' POV, and it'll be longer and way cuter ofc. But for now, here's this. 

I hope you loved Destined. I hope you loved this story as much as I loved writing it. I love writing mafia, and I love writing man-obsessed MMC leads who would kill for their women. I mean, who doesn't LOVE reading those types of stories? Destined has a special place in my heart, and I would really love to hear your thoughts on it. 

If you've been here since the beginning, thank you. If you're passing by, thank you. If you're new, thank you. I appreciate you all so much. I'm thankful for every single reader, every vote, comment, and love you guys show me. I never in my life thought I'd ever be writing and sharing, but I'm so happy and thankful I put myself out there. 🤗🤗

The next story will be an enemies sort of ish-best friends-lovers. It's slowburn and full of angst, tension, heat, banter, and so much goddamn love you'll forget it was a slowburn, to begin with. 😉😉

Any information regarding my new story, including teasers and tropes, will be posted to my Instagram.

@  labellewriter

❤️Thank you❤️

With much love,

-Belle❤️