Uncompromising (Age Gap, gxg)

Epilogue

Three years later...

I won't say that everything was perfect over the next three years, but they were still wonderful. Gracie and Jashanna graduated High School, and as much as they liked Florida State, they decided to stay close to home and go to USF in Tampa instead, where they were now in the midst of their sophomore year. We had them home at least one weekend a month, so it wasn't as hard to see them leave the nest. That helped Dani too, as she loved having her big sisters at home so she could be the little sister sometimes, instead of the big sister.

No, Zee and I didn't rush right into marriage. I mean, we'd raced through everything else, but once she moved into my room after the new year, we slowed down and just enjoyed life. We started that out with the trip to Norway for the Telenor project and had a nice mix of work and romance while there. I booked the hotel for an extra night, just so we could have a little time to explore the area as well. It was a great trip, both personally and for the company, and the project was off to a great start.

But from a work standpoint though, Zee had issues. Not in her performance, that was outstanding, but in the job requirements. I didn't want to play any favorites, so once the internship was up, she was assigned to a project that required some travel, and she lasted under six weeks. She finally broke down, telling me that she didn't like spending nights in different beds every week, because it reminded her too much of her days in high school where she never felt like she had a home and bounced from bed to bed. It didn't help that shortly before she told me that, I had a skin cancer scare where I had to have a little questionable mole on my back removed during what was supposed to be a routing dermatology check up. Zee was very upset that she couldn't be there for me instead of at a client site, and I couldn't blame her. I wish she'd been there too. It was a hard time, but the earlier issues with communication had taught us well, and we were open and honest about everything and we got through it.

So, instead of her dealing with that, we transitioned her into being my personal assistant. It worked out well, as Will deserved a promotion anyway, and I gave him the Office Manager position, since he was pretty much already doing that. After that, Zee was always with me, and it was much better for our relationship and her mental health. With her on the road for those six weeks, it reminded me too much of what Harlow went through, and what I had done at the beginning of my first marriage, so it was much better for us to spend more time together and share a bed every night than to just have calls and go to bed alone. She still did some coding to help out when projects needed a few extra hands, but only on remote projects.

It also made it easier to get married and start the sperm donor process. We didn't get married until the following year, when all the girls were on Christmas break, and we had Quinn and Harlow there with us. Dani was a wonderful flower girl, and the wedding was held outdoors on a nice Florida winter day before we headed off to a week in Costa Rica for our honeymoon. Once we were ready, we started trying for a baby, and Zee was able to make it work on the third try. Nine months later, we had little Lucien born.

Lucien was the sole male in the house, and we all adored him. Zee was a great mom too, just as I knew she would be, and Dani turned into a great big sister. Elizabeth, as you can imagine, spoiled the hell out of her little grandson, as she did all the kids, and he was already growing like a weed.

He wasn't growing as much as Swiftie and Karma had though, as our furry friends were now fully grown and still wonderful snugglers. But they also gravitated to Dani's room every night now, meaning Zee and I didn't have any good fur babies with us. So, we got two more. Once more we went to the foster agency and got a pair of siblings. Sticking with the same Swiftie naming convention, we got a pair of sisters that we named Willow and Betty. They were both great to cuddle with, and while there was a little hissing at first from the older kitties, they settled down and all got along after a few weeks.