Page 82 of Six Wishes

EPILOGUE - ONE MORE

Three years after that

Van

“I’m home!” I holler as soon as I walk inside the house. “Where are my girls at?”

The last three years have been incredible, to say the least. Six months after she told me she was pregnant, Chloe gave birth to a bouncy baby girl. I always knew I wanted kids, especially with Chloe, but the joy that baby Annie brought into my life is something I never imagined.

Shortly after that, we moved back to Lake County, Illinois. My contract with the Sliders was up. Physically, I felt fine, although, I did get a twinge in my knee every so often. I decided to retire gracefully and didn’t even attempt to negotiate a renewal. Wyatt worked his magic, and I got a pretty awesome exit deal. He also got me more sponsors, and, needless to say, we are doing well.

I always wanted to open a skating rink in Lake Hills, and with Wyatt’s help, as well as all the contacts I made throughout my career, my dream became a reality. That’s where I go every day to oversee the day-to-day operations, and I also coach a junior hockey league on the side.

“Daddy,” two-year-old Annie Montgomery Boyd wobbles down the hallway, then runs the last few steps until she reaches me.

“Who is this?” I grab her and throw her in the air couple of times, loving the way her baby squeals fill the house. “I won’t stop until you tell me who you are.”

“I Annie,” she finally says through fits of laughter.

“Annie what?”

“I Annie Bod.” She hasn’t quite got the hang of saying Boyd yet, but she always makes my heart happy when she tries.

“And how old are you, Annie Boyd?”

“I two,” she puts two fingers up when I stop bouncing her toward the ceiling. I kiss her soft hair and take a moment to cuddle her before she begs to be put down. Because the girl is always on the move.

My eyes catch the sight of Chloe as she is leaning against a wall, arms crossed, smiling at the two of us.

“There’s my other girl,” I whisper into Annie’s ear and she starts looking around.

“Momma,” she points at Chloe, then, quite predictably so, starts kicking her little feet to be put down.

I reach Chloe and grab her in a hot kiss that can’t last long. We need to move along and follow our toddler to make sure she doesn’t get herself into any trouble. Although, she is pretty good for the most part.

“You look like a genie,” I pull at her high ponytail, then run my hand down her back, stopping at the stretch of bare skin she has showing. These crop tops are the shit. Her bottom half is dressed in some loose pants that lay low on her hips.

“Yeah?” she grins back. “Do you have any wishes I could grant you?”

I’m pretty sure we had a similar conversation few years back. There was talk of genies and wishes.

“Hey, I think you owe me six wishes,” I now pull on the elastic of her pants. When I let go, it snaps against her skin, and she yelps while also making a lame attempt to slap my hands away.

“I’ve been granting you way more than six wishes over the years, Van,” she deadpans, then takes off in a light run. I have no choice but to follow her. Pretty soon, Annie gets in on the chase, and we’re all just running around. Thank God we have a big house and lots of room for this type of activities.

“Momma, I hungry,” Annie gets us back to reality. Chloe swoops her up, then gets her settled in her booster chair at the table, plenty of snacks in front of her.

“I love you,” I hug Chloe from behind as we just stand here watching our daughter arranging the snacks in front of her in the way that she likes. She wants everything in a certain way, and it’s easy to see that she got that from me.

“I went to the doctor today,” Chloe says, seemingly out of nowhere, leaning back against me and clasping my hands that I have crossed at her waist.

“Oh?” I am distracted by how Annie’s face lights up with joy when she’s got everything organized. I wonder if I was like that as a kid. According to my mother, I was, just not as cute.

“Yeah, your mom came and sat with Annie while I was out,” Chloe continues, and my eyebrows go up in surprise at the mention of my mom since I was just thinking of her myself.

“Nana,” Annie calls out loudly, inserting herself into our conversation.

“Yes, baby, Nana was here,” Chloe agrees, then throws her head back against my shoulder, and we continue to watch her eat.