Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 23578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 94(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
I take another step deeper, feeling gratitude for my wonderful loving family.
And nothing—not even a burnt hamburger—can ruin it.
EPILOGUE
Lainey
Fourteen years later…
I’m trying not to laugh as I watch Julian getting frustrated. He’s attempting to conduct a fly fishing lesson on how to tie a hook to our four crazy cubs, but no one is listening. Angelica is on her phone, our twins, Michael and Liam, are wrestling in the water, and our youngest, Nathan, is pulling off his clothes, about to turn into his little grizzly bear.
“Don’t,” Julian warns as Nathan pulls off his pants. “You’re going to scare the fish away.”
“But this is boring,” Nathan whines. “Why can’t we catch the fish with our bears? It’s more fun that way.”
Julian looks at me and I shrug. “Don’t look at me,” I say, laughing. “This was your idea.”
We’re at his favorite spot on the river, where it goes around a bend and the sun hits the clear cold water just right so it sparkles like diamonds. It really is gorgeous, but the kids are in no mood for an old man’s sport. They have endless energy to burn.
Michael throws Liam down, but he pulls him down with him and they both crash into the water. They’re fighting over a fishing lure. I don’t know why. They all look the same to me.
“Can you guys—“ Julian shouts, but the boys go underwater before he can finish.
He looks at Angelica who is busy typing on her phone so fast her fingers are blurring. “Can you put that away?”
“Just a second,” she says, not looking up from her screen. “I’m just sending a text real quick.”
“You’ve been on it all day.”
No answer.
My man looks at me with exasperation in his eyes and I try not to laugh. “I think you’re doing great!”
Just as I finish saying it, Nathan’s grizzly bear bursts out of him.
“I said no!” Julian says, throwing his hands up. But it’s too late. Nathan’s little grizzly cub is leaping into the water, scaring all the fish away.
Liam tackles Michael and they crash into Angelica which causes her to drop her phone into the river.
Her face turns apocalyptic as she looks at her twin brothers. “You two are dead.”
“Wait!” Julian says, but it’s too late again. Angelica bursts into her grizzly bear. It roars out in fury, charging at the boys.
Both Liam and Michael let their grizzlies loose and then run away from their much bigger sister, splashing in the water.
Julian looks at our four children—all of them in their bear forms—splashing, fighting, and playing in the river, and he drops his head with a sigh.
I giggle as I walk over and rub his back. “I was super interested in your fly fishing lesson.”
He shakes his head playfully as he looks at me. “Yeah. Right.”
I can’t help but laugh. Our family is crazy and chaotic and unruly, but it’s ours and it’s perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.
The life I’ve built with this man still makes me pause in disbelief.
I can’t believe I got this lucky. I can’t believe this wonderful man is mine.
“Might as well join them,” Julian says as he pulls off his shirt.
I suck in a short breath when I catch a glimpse of his strong tattooed torso. This man still takes my breath away. I still find him so unbelievably hot.
He steps back and slides his pants down, and before I know it, he lets his bear loose.
“Hello,” I say as my big furry friend comes over to see me.
He sniffs my neck, making sure his mark is still there, and it makes me giggle.
“Can I have a ride?” I ask as I grab onto this thick fur.
He lowers his body and I pull myself up, sitting on his wide powerful shoulders.
Nothing beats riding a grizzly bear. It’s still the most surreal feeling ever.
He walks into the river with me on his back and the kids stop wrestling when they see us.
“Uh oh,” I say with a grin when they come rushing over to play. “Four against one, that hardly seems fair.”
I hold on tight as Julian wrestles with our kids and I get a front row seat to it all.
Like I said, our family is a little chaotic and crazy, but it’s mine.
And to me, it’s perfect.
The End