Epilogue

After first meal, Big Foster slipped away from the table and went to look for his cousin. He banged on Trevor's door before pushing it open, not surprised to find his place empty.

Brielle's Home

Day 167 - 10:28 am

March was birthing a beautiful spring. The snowfall seemed to have tapered off completely and all of Kentucky was crossing their fingers that Little Miss Winter wasn't going to be fickle. Nobody wanted an encore like they had experienced the year before with snow returning for days out of nowhere.

Brielle stepped out onto her back porch to check on her rascals, who she had let go out to rip and run in the backyard. A figure was with them, squatting down and struggling to keep their balance. Letting her precious pups lick and jump all over them. For a moment she just stood there, her hand pressed against the hard bang of her heart. Then Trevor stood up and hurled the balls they were playing with across the open space, laughing at their mad scramble to get them.

Brielle's brain went on tilt concerning itself with everything all at once. She needed to get her coat. She hadn't bothered to brush her hair yet. She wanted to change out of her stretched-out, oversized sweater and the homely compression socks the doctor made her wear. But she couldn't move. She felt like if she looked away, he would disappear.

The thought that the key wouldn't work when he got to the gate had tortured him the whole way down the mountain. When he slipped it into the lock, he paused before attempting to turn it. The ease of its rotation released all of the tension in his jaw, lifting his cheeks in a jubilant smile - its disengaging and popping open, caused him to lean on the gate with a bowed head, allowing both relief and joy to course through his body.

After throwing the balls for the boys to chase again, he turned toward the house with his head down against the blustery wind. Watching him, Brielle opened the door to stand on the top step. The wind whipped her hair everywhere, molding her floppy sweater to her small but visibly swollen belly. Trevor didn't look up again until he had covered most of the distance to the house. Seeing Brielle standing there lit his face up until his eyes honed in on her changed shape, slowing his feet to a stop.

Brielle was too nervous to begin to analyze the look on his face. She lifted her hand almost timidly in a wave. Her movement kick-started his brain and he covered the rest of the ground between them without feeling his feet take the steps. He ran up the steep stairs to stand face-to-face with her as she backed into the warm enclosed porch. Yanking the hood of his coat off of his head and snatching his black cap off, he stared at her protruding stomach, unable to process what he was seeing.

"Hi."

Brielle's voice made its way through the buzzing in his ears. He tore his eyes away from her middle to go over the rest of her. She was beautiful. Her hair was shorter, and the light blue of her sweater complimented the paler tone of her winter skin. She looked healthy and even more thrilling was seeing the necklace that she wore. His silver loop lay in the middle of her chest just as it did months ago, his quiet claim. Stepping forward, he traced a gloved fingertip down her cheek. She held his wrist in both hands to keep him from pulling back, nuzzling her face against his hand, her legs weakened by the touch she had waited on for months. Trevor swallowed against the lump in his throat. Unease crept in on the edges of his happiness, and a tightening in his chest was beginning.

"Brielle? Darlin'?" He touched her hard stomach softly, laying his palm on it, unmoving. The fear of his next word squeezed his chest even more, only allowing him the shallowest of breaths. "Mine?"

Never in his life had Trevor been afraid of the word 'no'. But standing there, with the question in the air, he was terrified.

She covered her mouth with one hand, an uncontrollable giggle broke through the choking, hiccuping tears that muddied the answer she gave, "Ours."

With a quivering chin and eyes shining with tears, Trevor pulled her into a rough, fierce hug. "Ours," he breathed into her neck. She squeezed him tighter, nodding her head on his shoulder. They stood clinging to each other for some time, needing nothing else but to be in each other's personal space. Breathing slowly until the rhythm of their heartbeats began to synchronize.

When the dogs busted through their doggy door, Trevor and Brielle separated, both wiping their eyes. They circled them, inspecting their old friend's shoes and sniffing his pants until she snapped her fingers at them pointing into the house. When she turned her head back Trevor's way, he immediately cupped both sides of her face, drawing her into a long-overdue kiss; raw, demanding and possessive. She was quick to match his intensity, gripping him tighter, her hands in constant motion wanting to absorb as much of his presence as she could. Breaking apart, he pressed his forehead to hers, neither one able to silence the breathless chuckles that bubbled out of them. Between delighted smiles, their lips reunited again and again - transitioning slowly from the frenzy of smoldering collisions to the equally powerful tender, sensual grazes that had started all this in the first place. Brielle's hands traced over every inch of his face, his return still feeling like a dream she might wake up from. Trevor held her hips gently, flying high on the reality of finally being there and knowing that the hard bulge that was pressing into his stomach housed his child.

Tucking herself under his chin, she relaxed in the circle of his protective hug, "I missed you, Mr. Shay."

Mr. Shay. His smile couldn't have been any wider. His chuckle vibrated low against her cheek, "Darlin'…I missed you, too."

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-The End-

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A/N: Welp, y'all, what can I say?... One year, 85,000 words, 216 early morning and middle-of-the-night texts and emails to myself, plus hours of conversation with the one who critiques me and it's finally done! You know how sometimes there is a story that you have to write? Well, this was one of those for me, so I couldn't be happier or sadder than I am right now. Thank you all for taking the time out of your crazy days to read this story. I'm still gobsmacked I love that word over your willingness to stick with me. Thank you for every review, favorite and follow. I hope you grew to love Trevor and Brielle as much as I did.

I'll be back with Sally Ann and Hasil in a story called 'Fight For Your Life', so we can have a little more fun together ;-)

Big love to you, KP!