CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

NOLAN POV

 – Christmas, 

One Year Later

I did it. I fucking did it. I found a woman who loved me for me. I raised my daughter who was strong and independent, but kind and generous, and she graduated college and started a job in her dream industry. A year ago, I’d never thought about love and I worried that April wasn’t going to make it through school.

      What a difference a year makes.

      A year after thinking I'd made the biggest mistake in my life by sleeping with my daughter's friend, I was back at the cabin, living a life I couldn't imagine I'd ever have, and certainly, one I didn't deserve.

  Gwen and I, along with our three-month-old triplet, were celebrating the holidays at the cabin, now as a family. Once Gwen moved in with me, my plan worked like a charm. The day after she graduated from college, I proposed to her and she said yes. I told her I’d give her the biggest wedding ever, but she said all she wanted were family and a minister. And of course, I gave it to her in mid-July.

      And then in early September, I watched with utter awe as Gwen delivered our sons into the world. How the fuck did I get so lucky?

      We arrived at the cabin two days early, partly to get ready for Christmas but also because it was an anniversary of sorts. While Gwen and I couldn’t pinpoint when our triplet would be conceived, we both agreed that our time at the cabin had been magic and we wanted to celebrate it.

  April will be driving up tomorrow on Christmas Eve. Once she arrived, I knew this was going to be the best Christmas I'd ever had. The only difficult part was April was still reeling over the loss of Cole. My worry about April and Cole back in March was justified. He came groveling back, and April forgave him. Maybe he tried to change, but it never stuck. In fact, it got worse. Cole was attracted by the lure of money and power, which put him in the path of dangerous people, and four weeks ago, it got him killed.

 Despite Gwen being April’s stepmother, they’ve maintained their friendship dynamic. I was grateful that April had someone to talk to through the last eight turbulent months. I hoped that Christmas with us all together would help April begin to heal from her loss.

When we arrived at the cabin, we settled in. I brought our bags up to our room and checked the nursery to make sure everything was okay for our sons. Once settled in, I pulled out the decorations. We went through them but didn’t put them up, instead waiting for when April arrived.

 Later in the evening, after our sons were put to bed, I put a fire in the fireplace and made hot chocolate, without the liquor since Gwen was nursing.

“Did you see how one of them almost rolled over tonight?” I asked Gwen as we sat on the floor by the fire. "They’re brilliant like you."

Gwen grinned up at me. "I wonder how long before they can beat you in Trivial Pursuit."

 I gave her a look but smiled because her knowledge and the way she put it all together, like an intricate puzzle, always amazed me.

 “Maybe they get it from you. You are smart. Plus, rolling over is a physical thing. That’s your area of expertise.”

  I knew she was talking about the gyms, but I much preferred the innuendo. “You think I’m an expert in physical things, eh?” I pushed her back and lay over her.

 “Oh, I know it. We didn’t just make one, or two babies… you put three in me!” She looped her arms around my neck.

      “You’re not bad yourself.” I slid my hands under her sweater, tugging it off her.

“Everything I know, I’ve learned from you.” Her hands tugged at my shirt until I pulled it off.

      “I must be a good teacher, then.”

      “The best. Or at least I think you are.”

      I frowned. “You think?”

      “Well, I was a virgin. You’re all I know.”

      I ground my dick against her. “I’m all you’ll ever know.”

      She smiled. “What more could I want?”

 Fuck, I hoped that I’d continue to make her happy. That I wouldn’t fuck up, because I didn’t want her to want anyone but me for as long as we lived.

 “You know, Gwen, whatever you want, I will give you. You have my heart.” I kissed her neck. “My body.” I kissed the other side of her neck. “My soul.” I looked down at her. “You have all of me.”

      “Then I have all I could ever want or need. Except maybe an orgasm. I do love it when you give me those.”

      I laughed. “You’re insatiable.”

      “Do you mind?”

      “Hell no.”

      I took her in my arms, and with my body, I showered her with love and affection, and of course, all the orgasms she wanted. And in return, she gave me life and love, and yes, orgasms.