More of Us ( A Love You More Rock Star Romance #3) - Laura Pavlov Page 0,105
His mouth crashed into mine, and I tangled my fingers in his hair. I had everything I ever wanted, and I was looking forward to the future.
And starting our new life together.
And doing it all with Cruz Winslow.
Epilogue
Ten years later
Cruz
It was Halloween, and my girls were in the bathroom getting ready. Yeah, my wife was that mom. The kind of mom we all wished for. She’d been working on Winnie’s butterfly costume for weeks. Our little girl had a thing for butterflies, and Jade stayed up late last night to finish constructing the wings.
“Daddy, Daddy, look at me,” Winnie said, running toward me down the hall flapping her orange and black wings like she was about to take flight. “I’m a real butterfly.”
Winnie just might be the most curious three-year-old on the planet. The girl never stopped asking questions and repeating things we said. She was smart like her mama. Jade and I read to her all the time and took her to museums and on nature hikes—always pointing things out.
Winona Jaqueline Winslow was the light of our lives.
Jade and I got married while she was in her second year of med school. We had a small ceremony on Little Gasparilla Island and flew our closest friends and family out to celebrate with us. Jade had matched for her residency program at the University of Chicago, which brought us back home. After a clerkship in pediatric neurology, my wife had discovered her calling. We found out she was pregnant with Winnie during her third year of residency. I’d landed a teaching gig at the same university, where I now taught both art history and musical composition. Between my mom who now lived in the city full-time and Jade’s father and his wife Sara, everyone stepped up to help out with Winnie.
“I didn’t even know it was you. I thought a real butterfly had flown in the house,” I said, bending down to meet my baby girl’s jade green gaze. Light brown curls trailed down her back, and her tiny little hand reached up and cupped my cheek.
“It’s me, Daddy. It’s Winnie,” she said, her eyes searching mine to make sure I understood.
“Mama says that butterflies start out as canter-pills before they shed their skin. Did you know that, Daddy?” she asked, and I swear to Christ my chest exploded every time this little girl looked at me like that. Her brows cinched just like her mother’s always did, as she concentrated on what she was saying.
“Yep, they’re caterpillars first. They shed their skin and turn into beautiful butterflies.”
“When I was a baby, did I shed my skin before I turned into a big girl?” She scrunched her little nose, as she thought this over, before pinching the skin on her forearm. “No, Daddy. This is the same skin as I always had. I remember it.”
“Because you were born a beautiful butterfly, Winnie. You never had to shed your skin,” I said, pushing to stand when the doorbell rang.
“’Cause I’m your special girl, right Daddy?”
“You know it,” I said, opening the door of our Evanston home.
“Where is she?” Jade’s father, Jack and his wife Sara hurried inside, anxious to see Winnie all dressed up.
Halloween wasn’t what it used to be for Jack and Jade, not since Winnie had come into the world. It was no longer a day of mourning, but a day of celebration and fun. Winnie ran to the door, flapping her wings. Her tulle skirt fluttering all around her.
“Grampy, Grammie, don’t be scared. It’s me, Winnie, in here. Mama made me a butterfly costume,” she said, and Jack scooped her into his arms.
“Prettiest butterfly I’ve ever seen,” he said.
“Did Mama do your face makeup too?” Sara asked, admiring Jade’s handiwork of orange and yellow face paint on Winnie’s chubby little cheeks.
“Hey,” Jade said, her round belly entering the room ahead of her. She was eight and a half months pregnant with baby number two. We had another little girl on the way, and we