Yours Forever
Bonus Chapter

Erica
Fifteen Years Later

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“What do you think of these?” I gestured to the gemstones behind the glass. “Do you like the round ones?” 

Yours Forever Gemstones had taken off all those years ago, and momentum never really slowed down. The younger generation didn’t want diamonds and rubies that had been mined from the ground. They wanted something more personal. And my company was there to make it happen.
It was a no-brainer to sell a majority of the company to outside investors five years ago. It was a tremendous pay-out, and allowed me to spend time with my family.

Which now included the twins, Kate and Chris.

“I don’t know,” Kate murmured while looking at the glass case. “Whatever you think, I guess.” 

“This is an important day,” I reminded her. “A girl only gets her first pair of diamond earrings once. My mom took me to get my first pair when I was sixteen, and I still treasure the memory. The same with her when she was a little girl.” 

“But I’m only fourteen,” Kate argued. 

I smiled. “Let’s just say I was too excited to wait. And you did say you wanted to get your ears pierced when Tammy did. So we might as well do it now!” 

Kate twisted her mouth in contemplation. “I guess I kind of like these.” She pointed.

“I love those too!” I said excitedly. “You have great taste, sweetie.” I waved to the saleswoman on the other side of the counter. “I think we’re going to get these.”

“Wonderful!” the woman said. “Are you familiar with our Yours Forever Gemstone policy?” 

I kept my smile modest. “I am familiar. We would like one diamond to be made from my DNA, and the other to be made from my husband’s.” 

“I think that’s silly,” Kate said.

“You’ll appreciate it more when you’re older,” I told her. “And if not? Then you’ll still have a nice pair of earrings. Honey? Come here, they need a sample of your hair.” 

Hunter and Chris were over in the corner with another saleswoman. Chris turned to me and said, “MOM! Look!” 

I almost busted out laughing. My son, who was the spitting image of his father, was decked out in at least a dozen gold chains. He stuck out his chest to display them proudly.

“You look like Mr. T,” I said with a laugh.

“Who’s Mr. T?” Chris asked. 

“Someone who would pity the fool who buys that much gold.” 

“But Kate is getting diamonds,” Chris whined. 

Hunter patted him on the back and winked at me. “We’ve got a birthday surprise for you, too.”

Chris’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“It’s at another store,” Hunter explained patiently. “We’re going there next.” 

We spent twenty minutes filling out paperwork for the diamonds. I could have gotten them at a discount by reaching out to my internal company contacts, but I enjoyed the experience of going into a physical store. Besides, it was fun to pretend like I was just another customer. It allowed me to make sure the salespeople at individual jewelry stores were promoting our brand correctly.

After that, we drove to the sporting goods store. “You know that new baseball glove you wanted?” Hunter said.

Chris gasped. “The black one with cherry-leather stitching? NO WAY!” 

We went into the store and picked out Chris’s new glove. We bought Kate a new glove for softball too, which unbalanced things between them—two gifts to one. So we bought Chris a new metal bat too.

Spoiler alert: having two kids was a never-ending battle to make sure things were fair. 

“Can we play in the pool?” Chris asked as we pulled into the garage. The same garage where Hunter and I had shared our first kiss all those years ago.

“Trey and Sally are coming over later,” Hunter replied. “You don’t want to wait until then?”

Those were Brad and Lizzy’s kids. They were a few years younger than the twins, but everyone got along well enough. 

“I want to show them my new glove when they come over,” Chris said. “So let’s play in the pool now.” 
“Go get changed,” I told them while taking bags out of the car’s trunk. “And grab the sunscreen! You don’t want to get burned like last time!” 

As soon as the kids ran inside, Hunter came around to the back of the car. I thought he was going to help me with the bags, but instead he whirled me around, pushed me onto the trunk, and kissed me fiercely. He liked to do that sometimes; reenacting our first kiss. It still took my breath away every time.

“This is the trunk,” I said, nuzzling my nose against his. “Not the hood.” 

“Details.” He kissed me again, smiled with warmth and love, and then took the bags inside.

We changed clothes and then met the twins outside. We applied sunscreen to them—seriously, they would burn to a crisp if we didn’t remind them about it!—and they jumped into the pool and started playing with the big pool noodles. Then I turned to Hunter and began rubbing lotion into his back.

I smiled at the memory of the first time I had put lotion on him. Brad had caught us. It felt so scandalous back then, merely touching my brother’s best friend. 

It was crazy how time could change things.

Hunter got my back next, which included covertly grabbing my ass when the kids weren’t looking. I shot him a warning glare, but that just made him grin even harder and give me a, “What?” expression. 

“Cannon ball!” Hunter ran to the edge of the pool, leaped into the air, and splashed between the twins. Chris laughed and Kate squealed about how her hair was wet.

“Have you ever played chicken?” Hunter asked them.

“No!” Chris said. “What’s that?”

My husband turned to look at me. “Come on, honey. Let’s show them how it’s done.”

“I don’t want to mess up my hair,” I said.

Hunter smiled wolfishly and climbed out of the pool. The water cascaded off his body as he stalked toward me.

“No!” I said, backing away from him.

He came on with growing momentum. “You can’t run! I’m faster than you!”

“No! Ahh!” I cried out as he grabbed me, threw me over his shoulder, and carried me back to the pool like a prize. I was totally powerless as he hurled me forward into the deep end of the pool with a huge splash. The last thing I heard was the laughter from my children, and then everything was muted by the cold silence of the pool.

When I came back up, I glared at Hunter and said, “We’re going to kick your butt.” 

“You’re on!” he replied. “Come on, Kate. Jump on up.” 

Kate got on Hunter’s shoulders while Chris climbed up onto mine. It was tough—Chris was starting his growth spurt, and nearly weighed as much as me now. We wouldn’t be able to do this in a few more years.

With a child on each shoulder, we approached each other in the pool. Hunter’s dark eyes sparkled with mischief, just as they had when he was a teenager. 

“Ready… GO!” 

The kids began beating on each other with the foam pool noodles. Kate and Chris squealed and screamed with delight as they play-fought in the water. 

Suddenly I felt something down between my legs. Hunter was raising one foot up to try to tickle me. I squeezed my thighs together and said, “No cheating!” 

“What?” Hunter said innocently. “All’s fair in love and war.”

“Which is this?” I asked. 

“Both!” 

His toe pushed farther, and it distracted me enough to lose my balance. Chris and I fell backwards into the pool, splashing in defeat.

I got up and lunged at Hunter. “That doesn’t count! You cheated!” 

Hunter lowered himself so Kate could exit his shoulders, then he said, “Do you guys think I cheated?”

“No!” Kate said at the same time Chris yelled, “Yes!” 

“Okay then… rematch!” 

Hunter grabbed me and we play-wrestled in the pool, splashing and shouting and enjoying a life that was happier than we ever could have imagined. 

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THE END