Page 101 of Asher

Which was why I asked, “Why didn’t y’all try harder?”

And yes, that night, I slept on the fucking couch.

My daughter walked out of my house snickering.

But thankfully, my woman didn’t sleep that well if I wasn’t in bed next to her.

And yes, to show how very sorry I was, I gave her a back massage and a foot massage.

She was asleep for all of three hours when she woke me up.

And two hours later, she was hooked up to monitors.

My woman told every single person we encountered, “When you're ready to pop, but the babies are being stubborn, get a back and foot massage from your man. It works wonders.”

Epilogue

Chloe

Our twin daughters were now six months old, and I loved them to pieces.

Staring at them made the whole birth experience that much better.

Sure, it was painful, but they were worth it.

It was worth it even more to stand here leaning against the doorway to their nursery while my husband sang our song to our daughters.

Juniper Marie Hendrix weighed five pounds and nine ounces.

Melodie Julia Hendrix weighed five pounds and seven ounces.

They both had my dark hair, my eyes, and my nose, and they were mini replicas of me.

And my husband boasted about that every chance he had.

He also cursed them for all they were worth any time someone told him he needed to buy more shotguns.

***

One of the things about Asher’s house I had changed... that was making the nook that overlooked the driveway into a reading corner.

And yes, I got my purple wingback chair to read in and still laughed at the memory of the first time Stella had laid her eyes on it.

In addition to that little reading corner, on the end table, were two candlestick holders. One of them was the very same one I had used to hit Marco with.

Asher told me that in case there was ever a fire, the candlestick holder better be one of the things we saved.

Also, I had found Asher’s stash of all theReese CupsI had given him. We had tossed the chocolate and peanut butter concoction and saved the wrappers.

They were now all together in a memory box hanging in the hallway that led to our bedroom.

Five Years Later

“Is your man card going to be revoked?” I teased.

He looked down at me, then at our two girls, and shook his head, “Nah, the only way my man card gets revoked is if I don’t sit there and watch the whole movie with a smile on my face.”

And that was how Asher, the president of Zagan MC, the club that dominated the entire state of Mississippi, got looks as he led our twin daughters through the theater and to the room that was playing Barbie.