the gratitude that I had for Leta Burns and her support of my relationship with her mother.
Now, Thomas was still being a douchebag, but he was supporting Leta one hundred percent with her counseling, so I couldn’t hate on him too much. He still hated that I was with his ex-wife, but he was just going to have to get over it.
Then there was Monroe and Leta meeting my parents and Gideon. Mom had planned a family dinner, and Nathan had been right. Upon introducing Monroe and Leta, Mom had gotten an instant granddaughter, and for an entire week afterwards, Gideon and Nathan had been sending texts, thanking me for taking the pressure off. Dad had even sent me a thank you text.
The funniest thing was when we had face-timed Nathan for introductions, and Monroe had gone all sports geek on us. Nathan had been impressed with her sports knowledge, but her love for the Dodgers not so much. And Leta hadn’t fangirled at all. She’d just been happy to meet my other brother.
Everything at the firehouse was going smoothly, too, if you didn’t count the fires. And I’d even put Monroe and Leta on my emergency contacts. All the guys had their phone numbers and vice versa. And Jake was still planning one hell of a wedding, though I’ve still to ask Monroe if she’ll marry me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry her because I did. But I wanted to do this at her pace. I didn’t have any bad experiences with marriage or divorce, so there was no reason for me to be scared to take the plunge, but that wasn’t the case with Monroe. Baby steps, here.
Besides, Jake was planning the wedding for April which was almost a year away. I was confident she’ll be ready to walk down the aisle again by then. And since Jake was doing all the planning, all Monroe would have to do is say yes.
Now I was carrying a basket full of surprises into her house. “Babe!” I hollered.
“In the kitchen!” she hollered back.
I walked in and she was just shutting the oven. “Dinner should be ready in-” A yelp stopped her. She whirled around and I placed the basket on the counter. “What the-”
“When I told you I had to run over to Leonard’s really quick, it was to pick up our kids,” I told her.
Her eyes widened. “Our kids?” She leaned over and peeked into the basket. “Oh, God.”
“They’re English Foxhounds, and they’re all male,” I told her. “Since you don’t plan on having any more children, this is what we get.”
Her big brown eyes were watery when she looked over at me. “You got me puppies?”
I nodded. “I know those gender reveals things are all the rage nowadays, but I don’t want to be labeled as crazy.” She choked out a laugh. “But I’ll be crazy if you want to present your kids to the world all in grand fashion and all.”
Monroe walked around the counter and wrapped me up in a hug. “You’re nuts,” she chuckled.
“You’re the one dating me, so what’s that say about you?”
She laughed, then pulled back and glance at the puppies. “You know, raising three kids is going to be tough.”
“I’m up for the challenge,” I assured her. “Besides, we have a teenage babysitter already available to us.”
“Good point,” she muttered before turning from me and digging in to play with the puppies. After a few seconds of loving on the dogs, she turned to me. “Quick question.”
“Yeah?” I plucked one of the puppies from the basket.
“Why did Jake send me a save-the-month of April invitation?”
I started laughing, and I couldn’t stop with how perfect my life was now that Monroe and Leta were in it.
The End.
About the Author
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M.E. Clayton works full-time and writes as a hobby. She is an avid reader and, with much self-doubt, but more positive feedback and encouragement from her friends and family, she took a chance at writing, and the Seven Deadly Sins Series was born. Writing is a hobby she is now very passionate about. When she’s not working, writing, or reading, she is spending time with her family or friends. If you care to learn more, you can read about her by visiting the following:
Smashwords Interview at:
https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton
Bookbub Author Page at:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-e-clayton
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/MEClayton
Other Books
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Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by M.E. Clayton:
The Seven Deadly Sins Series (In Order)
Catching Avery (Avery & Nicholas)
Chasing Quinn (Quinn & Chase)
Claiming Isabella (Isabella & Julian)
Conquering Kam (Kamala & Kane)
Capturing Happiness
The Enemy Duet (In Order)
In Enemy Territory (Fiona & Damien)
On Enemy Ground (Victoria & William)
The Buchanan Brothers Series (In Order)
If You Could Only See (Mason & Shane)
If You Could Only Imagine (Aiden & Denise)
If You Could Only Feel (Gabriel & Justice)
If You Could Only Believe (Michael & Sophia)
If You Could Only Dream
The How To: Modern-Day Woman’s Guide Series (In Order)
How to Stay Out of Prison (Lyrical & Nixon)
How to Keep Your Job(Alice & Lincoln)
How to Maintain Your Sanity (Rena & Jackson)
The Enemy Series (In Order)
Facing the Enemy (Ramsey & Emerson)
Engaging the Enemy (Roselyn & Liam)
Battling the Enemy (Deke & Delaney)
Provoking the Enemy (Ava & Ace)
Loving the Enemy
The Holy Trinity Series (In Order)
The Holy Ghost (Phoenix & Francesca)
The Son (Ciro & Roberta)
The Father (Luca & Remy)
The Redemption (Nico & Mia)
The Vatican (Francisco Phoenix Benetti & Luca Saveria Fiore)
The Eastwood Series (In Order)
Samson (Samson & Mackenzie)
Ford (Ford & Amelia)
Raiden (Raiden & Charlie)
Duke (Duke & Willow)
Alistair (Alistair & Rory)
The Pieces Series (In Order)
Our Broken Pieces (Mystic & Gage)
Our Cracked Pieces (Rowan & Lorcan)
Our Shattered Pieces (Molly & Grayson)
The Blackstone Prep Academy Duet (In Order)
Reflections (Grace & Styx)
Mirrors (London & Sterling)
The Problem Series (In Order)
The Problem with Fire (Sayer & Monroe)
The Problem with Sports (Nathan & Andrea)
The Problem with Dating (Gideon & Echo)
The Order of the Cronos (In Order)
Typhon (Crew & Rylee)
Cerberus (Ross & Sutton)
Basilisk (Saxton & Hastings)
Sphinx (Fox & Kincaid)
Siren (Kincaid & Fox)
Standalone
Unintentional
Purgatory, Inc.
My Big, Huge Mistake
An Unexpected Life
The Heavier the Chains…
Real Shadows
You Again
Contact Me
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I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job, and a family I love spending time with, at this time, I’m afraid it would be very hard for me to maintain a multitude of social media sites. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:
Favorite my Smashwords Author Page:
https://www.smashwords.com/interview/MonClayton
Like my Facebook Author Page:
https://facebook.com/claytonbooks
Follow my Bookbub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-e-clayton
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https://www.goodreads.com/MEClayton
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