Brother's Keeper (32 page)

“Will I go back tonight with them?”

“Not unless you want to. You can stay as long as you’d like.”

“Forever?”

“Forever.”

“I don’t want to go home yet.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. When do you need to be back?”

“I have an appointment with Anthony on Tuesday evening.”

“Then I’ll have you home by Tuesday afternoon. I don’t technically start work until next week, so that’s perfect really. We can spend a few days together—maybe explore the city or just stay in bed for a few days?” I pull her body from mine, smiling lasciviously at her before I continue. “Come with me.”

*

With that final direction, he pulls me up from his lap and leads me upstairs, grabbing my dress and underwear from the dryer as we go. He leads me to the master bath and starts the bath running. He lights the candles already on the bathroom counter and closes the door. We retreat to our favorite quiet place together, holding one another in the warmth. We have an hour until his family will arrive, and we take every last moment of that time.

As he zips me into my dress while I fix my hair in the bathroom mirror, he leans to my ear and speaks my most favorite words in the world. “I love you, Rowan.”

And I tell him the only thing in the world he needs to hear. “I love you too, Logan.”

We rush downstairs to meet his family and start the long hard chore of unpacking Logan’s new life—a life that most definitely includes me. Forever.

Epilogue

Five years later.

As I enter the studio, I see her helping a small girl of nine or ten find her position on the handrail. I know her body more intimately than any other person in the world, and the slight swell of her belly is likely imperceptible to anyone but us. She’s now made it past the first trimester, and come springtime we’ll be meeting our child for the first time.

Rowan immediately told Sara while I listened in on the other line. We swore her to secrecy, knowing it would be a minor miracle if she managed to keep her silence until we were ready to tell my parents. But she managed it, at least as far as Row and I know. Sara is now in medical school in Seattle and is kept busy by her education. She talks to Rowan every week, and we see her as often as her schedule will allow. I’m usually blown off as soon as Sara arrives, and I don’t get my hands on my wife until a few days later when she leaves again for Seattle. Sara has already started to buy everything baby and shows up with bags full of clothing and bedding and anything else she can get her hands on. It’s all fine and good as long as we have a girl, which Sara apparently believes we will, given the overabundance of pink.

We plan to tell my parents when they arrive in a few weeks to spend Christmas with us. Sara will, of course, be there as well, and I might have to tape her mouth shut until we can get the good news out.

When Rowan sees me enter the studio she smiles as she catches me watching her. I love her as much today as the first day I realized it so many years ago, and I know, without any doubt in my mind, she loves me as well. It took a long time for me to trust that she wouldn’t change her mind, but she convinced me … just as she’d promised she would. She chose me, and I understand now that there was never any concern she wouldn’t.

Her four years of college were a challenge for us both. She was always busy with practice and performances, and I was immersing myself in my new career. It was exhausting at times, but we were always there for each other to share the experience. We married the summer between her freshman and sophomore year, simply unable to stand living apart any longer. Sara was her maid of honor, and as my mother cried her ever eager-to-fall tears, my father beamed at us. They love her as much as I do. She’s been a part of this family since the day she showed up, dirty face, tangled mess of hair, and poorly clothed, with Sara one afternoon after school.

With our marriage and her moving in permanently came a considerable commute for her, but she wanted to stay in the house I’d bought to be close to her. She preferred to be in the home that became ours, and my bed, every night, suffering the long drive every morning.

When she graduated, she suggested it might be time to consider Colorado again. And we settled into a beautiful secluded cabin on a small lake just outside of Evergreen, a small mountain town outside of Denver, a few months later. She gave me back the dream I gave up for her. I stayed in public service in Denver’s DA’s office, and she opened a very successful little studio in Evergreen.

And now as she ushers the last of the kids from the studio to their waiting parents, I pull her into my arms and kiss her passionately, pushing her body up against the wall of mirrors and the railing that lines the wall. My hand finds the railing, and at its touch I’m taken back to the first time I made love to her here. I now have many memories of this railing, but that first time, only days after we bought the studio, is my favorite. She was nervous about opening, and I wanted nothing more than to take her mind off her worry. I made love to her, pounding into her from behind with the fabric of her leotard pulled to the side, exposing her vagina to me. Her eyes watched me in the mirror as I took her body vigorously. I had only just left the office, and my suit pants were around my ankles and my jacket tossed on the floor. We came together as her tension melted away. She has given me every last inch and every last entry of her body many times over, and I know I will never and could never tire of her. She is made for me, and I for her as well.

She told me once that when she was with me she felt like the beautiful woman she never thought she’d be. I can’t imagine what could ever make her think she wasn’t beautiful enough for anyone, least of all me. She’s the beautiful one. The most beautiful one in the world to me.

The End

About the Author

Elizabeth Finn is an Iowa native, where she lives with her husband and son. By day, Elizabeth is a Human Resources Specialist, but by night, she checks her professionalism at the door and immerses herself in the world of writing erotic romance. Look for more to come from Elizabeth Finn.