No Expectations

Epilogue

Stephen

The bedroom door burst open, bouncing off the dresser with a loud bang. My eyes shot open to the darkness of my bedroom as I heard a "Shit!" hissed from the doorway.

Rolling onto my back, I watched the dark figure stumble to the other side of the room, banging her toe in the process. "Fuck!" was another hiss before I finally chuckled. She gasped. "Stephen?"

Reaching up behind me, I turned on the lamp. The room lit up to reveal Mia's cute going out clothes. Her v-neck showed off the top of her perky breasts. Her shorts cut off a little too short for me to be comfortable, but I had smacked her ass earlier before she left. Her eyes glazed over a bit, exposing her level of drunkenness. "How was girls' night?"

Her face lit up as she jumped into the bed. She army crawled her way over to me before I grabbed her arms and pulled her the rest of the way. She kissed my lips then laid a bunch of little kisses all over my cheeks and nose. Drunk Mia was cute.

This wasn't the first time I'd been a witness, but tonight was the first time she was able to do it legally with her friends. She thought I'd get angry when she first told me she wanted it to be a 'girls only' thing, but I was fine with it. I wanted her to be happy with her new friends.

"I'm guessing it was good then?" I asked with a smile before she settled into the crook of my arm and started running her fingers across my chest.

She nodded. "Oh, my god, it was so much fun. We went to this club down on South Beach where Jamie bought me a fruit loop shot, and it was so good. We should go there. They had dancing, but Alex and I kinda stayed near the bar all night. I missed you like crazy."

I couldn't hide my smirk. "Well, I'm glad you had fun. Layla and I missed you like crazy too. She wanted to stay up late and wait for you, but she didn't last past ten-thirty."

She snorted. "What a little dork. She takes after her daddy."

"Not all of us can stay up all night reading Creepypasta and watching Netflix."

"Hey! I spend a lot of time studying too!"

I chuckled. "Right."

She smiled with her flushed cheeks and lazy eyes. I smiled back at her as we stared at each other. Over two years later, and I still never got tired of staring into her big beautiful brown eyes.

She officially moved in with me two months ago before her spring semester started. After finally nailing a paid internship at a local vet clinic, she saved some money and attempted to split everything. I still paid majority, of course, but I loved how independent she wanted to be. She could do anything she wanted on her own with the benefit of knowing I'd be there to catch her fall for as long as she wanted me.

She cupped my cheek before kissing me again. I held her body close to mine and kissed her with everything I had.

We laid there, making out for what seemed like a long time before there was a knock at the door. We pulled away, smirking at each other. "Come in!"

The door opened, and Layla stood in the doorway in her cute little pajamas. Dane came rushing into the room to jump onto the bed. Mia invited her to join. My nine-year-old smiled her cute little smile before she ran to the bed and jumped on. She climbed up between us, and Mia held her in her arms. "I thought you were sleeping, little girl."

Layla giggled. "No, Daddy fell asleep, so I went into my room and played a game."

"Your daddy's an old fart," Mia said with a smile which made Layla giggle even more. I crossed my arms and looked hurt. "Aw, we didn't mean it," she joked.

Clearing my throat, I tried to sound all business. "Alright, both of you need to go to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow."

Layla shook her head. "No way! Mia and I are gonna have a sleepover, so you get the couch."

Mia fake gasped. "Layla! Daddy's the best snuggler in the world, so he has to stay. We can't have a good sleepover without him."

Layla sighed. "I guess." She turned her attention to me. "But you're on thin ice, Daddy. No snoring or you're out."

Mia's eyebrows rose as she stifled a laugh. I cleared my throat. "Layla, honey, go to your room please."

She sighed, dramatic as ever. "Okay. Goodnight, Mia."

"Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you, and I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled. "I love you too."

Mia's eyes met mine, and we smiled at each other. The two most important women in my life had upgraded to three. I couldn't have asked for someone more right for me.

Once Layla left the room, Mia snuggled up to me, kissing my jaw. "And I love you, Mr. Jacobs, more than you'd ever know."

Running my fingers through her hair, I smiled. "I know, baby, and I love you too."

And I knew I always would. I'd give Mia anything as long as I could keep her heart. We didn't know where things would lead, but we just knew we wanted to be together. It felt right, and that had to be the end of it.