“How about pizza?” Smoke asked the group.
Taylor opened her mouth to protest, but Eagle wrapped an arm around her chest from behind. “Shhhh,” he said into her ear.
“But they had pizza yesterday,” she protested.
“They did. But Smoke said he and Molly would be happy to look after Kevin and Alessa and bring them home after everyone eats,” Eagle told her.
“You knew this when you suggested hamburgers?” she asked, trying to look mad.
Eagle nodded.
“And we aren’t going with them?” Taylor asked, turning in his arms.
Eagle grinned suggestively. “Nope.”
She opened her mouth to ask why, then closed it suddenly when it dawned on her what her husband had done. “Oh,” she said.
“Yup. Oh. You ready to go?”
“Definitely,” she said, snaking one hand down to his butt and squeezing.
“We’re out of here,” Eagle said suddenly, waving at their friends as he steered her toward the parking lot.
Laugher followed him, but he didn’t care. Smoke and the rest of their friends were giving them at least an hour or so to themselves. He planned to take advantage.
Taylor leaned close and sniffed him as they walked toward their car. “You stink,” she said.
“I do?”
“Yup. I think you need a shower.”
Eagle grinned. “Yeah? You gonna wash my back, flower?”
She smiled at him and hooked a finger in the belt loop at his back. “If you insist.”
“I insist,” Eagle said as he stopped at the passenger door of their car. He leaned down and kissed his wife, long and hard. He’d never get enough of her. No matter how old they got, he’d still want her as much as he did right this moment. She was his everything. He loved Kevin and Alessa, but he loved spending time alone with his wife too.
“Eagle,” Taylor said on a moan when he finally pulled back.
“Love you, flower. Now, get in the car so we can have our full hour before our hellions get home.”
She smiled up at him, and Eagle had never seen anything as beautiful in his entire life. He brushed her unruly curls back, away from her face, before reaching for the door handle. He kept his eyes on her gorgeous legs as she sat, then forced himself to shut the door.
As they drove home, Eagle caught a glimpse of the scar on his forehead in the rearview mirror. It reminded him once more of how lucky he was. How lucky they were.
Fifteen years later
Smoke stood against the wall with Bull, Eagle, and Gramps as they watched the frenzied activity currently happening in his living room. Tonight was prom night, and Kelsy, Alessa, and Kevin had all gathered at his house to take the obligatory before-prom pictures. Skylar, Taylor, Molly, and Cassidy—and the parents of the other children—were in their element, directing the ten boys and girls on where to stand and how to pose.
It was chaotic and loud . . . and Smoke wouldn’t have it any other way.
The last fifteen years had seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. When Kelsy had been born, he’d held her for hours, simply staring at his tiny daughter, so damn thankful he was there to hold her.
Being shot had scared him. Badly. He’d known his job could be dangerous, but he’d never really thought about dying. As he’d lain on the tarmac of that small airport all those years ago, he’d been terrified that he was about to leave Molly and his unborn daughter alone.
Quitting Silverstone hadn’t been a hard decision. Not at all. Not when he’d gazed down at Kelsy and seen how fragile and vulnerable she was. And Molly. Now, the thought of not having these last fifteen years with them was unbearable.
They’d laughed, cried, fought, made up, and lived their lives to the fullest. Kelsy was their only child, but sometimes it felt as if Kevin and Alessa were theirs too. They slept over at their house almost as much as they did their own. The children were three peas in a pod.
“Mom, enough!” Kevin told Taylor with a low growl that reminded Smoke of his father.
“Never,” Taylor fired back. “You’re gonna want these pictures later.”
It was somewhat amusing that Taylor was the one all fired up to take a gazillion pictures, considering she couldn’t recognize anyone in them, save for her son. But that didn’t keep her from documenting almost every second of her children’s lives.
“They look amazing,” Bull said from next to him.
Smoke nodded, but he wasn’t looking at the teens. He only had eyes for his wife. Molly had aged extremely well. He actually loved the small wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, because they meant she laughed and smiled all the time. He could still remember the moment he fell on top of her in that hole in Africa. She’d been disheveled and dirty as hell, but he’d been immediately struck by her composure. Her strength.
And she’d shown him that strength time and time again in the last fifteen years, but never more so than when she had been pregnant, and while he had still been recovering from his gunshot wounds.
“One more group picture!” Molly ordered the teenagers.
The group of friends all lined up in front of the fireplace and smiled for the cameras pointed their way. The five young men and five young women looked much older than their fifteen and sixteen years.
“We did good,” Eagle said quietly from Smoke’s other side.
Without looking away from the group, Smoke agreed. “We did.”
Then it was more controlled chaos as the kids all headed for the door and the huge limo that was waiting in the driveway. Smoke had insisted on renting the monstrosity for the kids because he didn’t want anyone making a dumb decision to drink and drive. He’d spoken to Kelsy about being smart when it came to drinking and drugs, but she was still a teenager. He didn’t want any impulsive decision she might make to ruin the rest of her life. The limo would stay the entire night and take all the kids home when the dance ended. It was a small price to pay for his peace of mind.
More pictures were taken of the group in front of the limo, and then suddenly they were gone. The other parents headed home, then it was just his friends and their wives.
“Prom was never like that when we were their age,” Cassidy said with a sigh.
Gramps chuckled and wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “You didn’t even go to prom,” he told her.
“Yeah, well, even if I had gone, it wouldn’t have been like that,” Cassidy retorted.
“I remember lots of hair spray and pictures, though,” Molly said.
“I can’t remember much about the dance, since my date spiked my punch and I was completely hammered throughout most of it,” Skylar said.
“I never went to prom either,” Taylor said with a shrug.
“You didn’t miss much,” Eagle reassured her. “Loud music, everyone attempting to dance but looking more like they were having convulsions on the dance floor. Bullshit prom king and queen ceremonies. The best part was after prom.”
Everyone laughed.
“You sure you’re okay with Kelsy crashing at your place tonight after the dance?” Smoke asked Eagle and Taylor.
“Of course,” Taylor said. “She and Alessa are gonna be pretty hyped up and will want to talk about everything that went on. I’ll bring her by after breakfast tomorrow.”