The Epilogue

"I don't think there are two people who are more in love than my parents. Growing up, I thought it was gross, kind of annoying, but I guess as I get older, I understand. I hope I can find someone who loves me even half as much as those two love each other."

- Grayson Djarin, age 19, sixty years post Collapse

__________

Six Years Later

Daisy stared out the big window above the sink in their kitchen to watch the rolling tide- crests of white kissing the sandy shore, then retreating back into the big blue ocean that spanned as far as her eyes could see.

It wasn't as dreamy as the view from their summer home in Maui, but it took the edge off of her desire to be close to the water, especially now that she could not fly for the next couple months.

She leaned over to load a bowl into the dishwasher, keeping one hand on the edge of the counter to help keep her balance before she felt two large arms wrap around her middle and tug her back upright.

"What did I tell you about housework right now, sweet girl?" Din's voice rumbled into her ear, his warm breath tickling the side of her neck, his wide, solid form engulfing her from behind.

"I'm sorry, it's just a couple dishes, they were just sitting there, and I haven't done anything in weeks, you can't possibly be expected to cook and clean and take care of Grayson and-"

Din interrupted Daisy by crooning into the side of her neck, rubbing his face against the gland there while his big hands roamed over her swelling belly.

A whimper churned out of her throat on its own as she melted into his chest, her eyes fluttering closed, her hands- still wet from doing the dishes- gently grasped the thick, hairy expanse of his forearms.

"Go sit down," he ordered in a sultry hum, his prominent nose brushing the edge of her jaw, his mustache tickling the sensitive skin below it. "Dinner's almost ready and you're doing enough work growing this little girl," Din said, his hands still caressing her belly.

"Fine," Daisy exhaled, letting Din gently nudge her toward the living room, where she sat down with a huff on the couch. She hadn't anticipated how taxing it would be on her body to carry and birth Din's children, Din who was her mate, but Din who was also more than twice her size. Their first child had weighed over nine pounds at birth. The labor had taken almost twenty-one hours and in the few years after he was born, Daisy didn't know if she could handle doing that a second time.

But here she was, seven-months pregnant with their second child, stomach as round as a bowling ball and so blissed out she almost couldn't remember how grueling Grayson's birth had been.

Their little girl- Layla, they had decided after weeks of perusing those big baby name books- gave a firm kick just as Grayson burst into the room, stampeding toward the couch- his little socked feet thudding against the hardwood- and jumping onto it right next to Daisy.

He looked so much like Din, the same nose, the same smile, the same dimple, the same tumbling brown hair, but his eyes were all Daisy- dark blue, the same color as the deep water in the middle of the ocean.

"Daddy said we could go to the park after dinner," Grayson stammered, bouncing a bit as he spoke, the corners of his lips painted a light brown that looked and smelled suspiciously like chocolate.

"Din, did you give him candy before dinner?" Daisy sent down the bond as she nodded in earnest at her five-year-old.

"Why would you ask that?"

"His mouth is covered in it."

A laugh rumbled down their bond, an audible chuckle echoing from the kitchen simultaneously.

"Did he?" Daisy proclaimed, reaching over to ruffle her son's hair. "Did daddy also give you dessert before dinner?"

Grayson's chocolate covered lips twisted into a sly smile. "No!" he shouted, pushing himself from the couch and racing into the kitchen.

"I thought you said it was a secret," his little voice tried to whisper, but the sound of it drifted into the living room, and Daisy couldn't help but grin in response.

"It is a secret, buddy, but mommy is psychic, I told you that."

"Like a witch!" Grayson shouted.

Din chuckled, "A very good, very pretty witch, yes."

They all sat down for dinner- steak and potatoes and green beans that Grayson tried to hide in his napkin. Din refused Daisy's help again and loaded the dishwasher with their dirty plates and silverware himself while their son raced around the house with one of his toy planes- of which he had many.

Din drove them all to the playground off Kezar Drive in Golden Gate Park after dinner, just before the sun started making its descent, leaving the air crisp and the sky a muted array of orange and pink. They sat on a bench together, one of Din's arms around Daisy's shoulder, his other hand resting protectively on his mate's belly while their son went down the same slide twenty-five times with his toy plane grasped firmly in his little hand, sound effects echoing out of his mouth.

"You're going to have to teach him how to fly, you know that right?" Daisy asked with a small smile as she turned to look up at Din.

"We'll see if this fixation lasts," Din said, his warm gaze drifting back and forth, from Daisy to their son.

"I have a feeling it will."

"Hmm," Din hummed, leaning over to rest his head on the top of hers, "why's that?"

"Because he's obsessed with you."

Din huffed out a laugh, but his heart felt almost too heavy with affection, like it couldn't possibly hold the weight of it.

It was dark by the time they got home and Din got Grayson settled into bed. Daisy was sprawled out on the couch when he emerged from their son's room, dressed in a pink, silk nightgown that clung to her curves, that draped over her pregnant belly in a manner that made heat swirl in Din's pelvis.

"How are my girls?" Din purred down their bond, getting on his knees in front of the couch and caressing her bump with his hands, burying his face in her soft, golden hair. It was customary for them to speak mind-to-mind after Grayson went to bed, to avoid their voices waking him up.

"Sleepy, sore, and starving," Daisy hummed into his head, resting one of her hands on the broad expanse of his right shoulder.

Din chuckled, softly aloud and also down their bond.

"What can I do, baby?"

"Snacks and feet," Daisy pleaded, wiggling her toes to emphasize her request.

Din stood up, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he did, heading into the kitchen and opening the pantry.

"We have potato chips, a bag of stale marshmallows, apples, pretzels-"

"Pretzels!" Daisy interrupted, "and bring the peanut butter too."

Din grabbed both, giving them to Daisy before sitting on the couch next to her, lifting her legs into his lap, taking her right foot and beginning to massage its soft little arch with his thumbs.

She dug into the pretzels, using them more as a receptacle for the peanut butter than as a snack themselves, a little moan echoing out of her lips as Din's strong thumbs worked to rub the soreness from her feet.

"Better?" he inquired, his gaze bouncing over her, from her pretty face, down to her swollen belly, back up to her breasts- nipples peaked against that soft fabric- then down her bare legs. She had always been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, but Daisy pregnant was Din's kryptonite. She was ethereal, irresistible when she was carrying their children.

Daisy nodded urgently; her eyes fluttering closed as his thumbs dug into an especially sore spot near her heel.

"That feels so good, Din," she mewled into his head, and he groaned at the sound of it, shifting in his seat to try to cope with the way his cock jolted against the seam of his jeans.

"If you keep making those sounds, I'm going to have to carry you to bed," he grunted down their bond.

"Not yet, you haven't done my other foot."

"I wish I could fuck another baby into you right now."

"Din, I'm literally pregnant."

"Exactly."

She flashed him a soft smile, picking her foot up from his hands and pushing the arch of it into his stubbly cheek.

He chuckled, wrapping his hand around the delicate structure of her ankle, pressing a kiss to one of her toes before moving it back into his lap and beginning to work on the other one.

Daisy fell asleep while he was massaging her feet, her hand halfway inside the bag of pretzels, her plump lips parted, letting out soft little snores. Din let out a slow exhale, carefully moving her legs back onto the couch, standing up so he could remove her hand from the pretzels. He lifted her up after that, crooning and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead when she stirred in his arms.

He got Daisy into bed, then stripped down to his boxers and got in with her, curling himself around her, one of his arms around her swollen belly, the other under her neck.

Daisy was fast asleep, but their daughter was not, her tiny foot kicked Din's palm just as soon as he settled into bed. He chuckled, his heart squeezing in his chest as he rubbed Daisy's belly, the silk of her nightgown so soft against his palm.

"Settle down, little girl, you're gonna wake your mommy up," he whispered to her bump and his daughter kicked even harder, like that was her plan all along.

The grin on Din's face was crushing, making his cheeks sore as he tugged Daisy closer to him, burying his face in her golden hair, caressing her belly with his palm while their daughter continued to kick and jostle inside of her.

He never could have imagined before Daisy, before this life they had built for themselves, that anything could have made him feel so full. Back when he was a kid, when he was in the army, when he was a lonely man in an apartment full of unmated alphas, he used to beg the universe for some reprieve, for something large enough, something seismic enough to alter the world, to rip apart this disgusting place that had given him nothing but pain.

The world was still intact, no disaster had wiped the evil from this place, no war had reclaimed those lost, the forgotten society he had been born into. But his world was different now, was whole, was rebuilt around this woman, their children.

And as Din laid there, with his mate in his arms, and his daughter kicking his palm, and his son sleeping in the room down the hall, he knew- with a kind of solacing finality- that he had been made for this.

For her.