EPILOGUE

Full Circle

"Damn it," Kayla grumbled as she noted the time.

Brett was expecting her back at the apartment by now. If she didn't get moving, she didn't doubt her sister would start ringing her cell phone. Beside her, Frank had begun to stir. She hadn't wanted to wake him, but he was a light sleeper. They had come from an exhausting party thrown in their honor by some of Frank's colleagues, but managed to return to make love one last time before Kayla had to leave. Although she had been living with Frank several months, Brett insisted that she come back to the apartment and spend one last night with her before the wedding tomorrow.

In the months prior, they had begun slowly building a new relationship and life together. There was virtually nothing they didn't know about each other now. She didn't hesitate when he asked her to move in. She had hesitated even less than that when he proposed again. And tomorrow was the big day. And she had to move her ass or she would wind up breaking her promise to Brett.

Just before she slid out of bed, Frank took hold of her arm. "Where are you going," he asked sleepily.

"I promised Brett we'd have a slumber party tonight. I'm running late."

He leaned over her and kissed her lips very gently. "Do you think she would mind if you showed up even later," he asked with a wicked grin on his lips.

"She might," she said with a smile. As if on cue, Kayla's cell phone began to ring. Frank moved away and propped up on his elbow while she grabbed her phone. "Hi, Brett. I'm on my way, I promise," she said into the phone. "Ten minutes tops." She hung up and laid the phone back down onto the bedside table. Her lover was watching her, his dark eyes consuming her so very thoroughly. "Don't look at me like that, Frank," Kayla admonished playfully. "I really have to go."

"Okay," he said reluctantly.

She left the bed, approached the closet, and pulled out a tee-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. She knew his eyes were on her as she began to dress. Here lately, it had begun to be something of a tedious venture. Kayla made a face when she worked the zipper on her jeans. Ugh. They almost didn't fit anymore. She was relieved that their wedding wasn't going to be a huge, honking formal affair. If so, she probably wouldn't fit into a wedding dress, either. She bit her lip and turned toward the bed. As she had known, Frank was watching her with great interest. She vaguely wondered if he suspected anything. Kayla hadn't wanted to tell him until they were alone inside their wedding night suite, but he was gazing at her steadily. What the hell.

Kayla approached the bed and crawled onto it, settling herself on her knees. His steady gaze quickly became a questioning one.

"I thought you were in a hurry to leave," he said with a smile.

"I am, but there's something I'd like to ask you," she said.

He reached out to her and took her hand. "The answer is no," he said. "I'm not postponing the wedding. I don't think I can wait another eight years to make you my wife."

She laughed and nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. "You're still an incredible jerk, Frank Donovan. I don't want to postpone the wedding. You're stuck with me now."

He leaned up and kissed her lips briefly. "I'm completely okay with that." He came back down to his elbow again. "What is it that you want to ask?"

"How do you feel about having a baby," she asked tentatively.

He didn't understand why she had suddenly picked right now to have a discussion about children. For a moment, he was completely oblivious to the true meaning of her question. "Kayla, that's somewhat of a deep topic to touch upon when you're just about out the door. What..." His words dried up after a moment as hers penetrated his thick skull. What had Brett called him? A big dope? Was that it? "A baby? You're having a baby?"

She shrugged. "I'd like to think of it as us having a baby. It certainly didn't happen without your help."

"Kayla, I don't...I don't know what to say," he said slowly, shock evident in his voice. "It's incredible. Amazing."

"I know," she said with a smile. "But are you happy?"

He smiled and reached for her. "Utterly ecstatic."

Finis...