Full Circle
Epilogue
By Erin
Two months later
I am humming happily as I unlock the front door of mine and Danny's new home. We finally decided the lighthouse wasn't the best place to raise a family and Danny went out and bought a beautiful home just outside the city limits. It's just close enough to be convenient and far away enough to feel very private.
"I had to get a house far away from everyone else." Danny had joked when we bought it. "I didn't want to risk you waking up the neighbors with all that screaming you do."
I had, of course, blushed furiously when I caught his meaning.
Danny is running "the business" now, but it's totally legit. Ever since word got out that Danny had sent both his mother and brother to jail, the other families have left him alone. A man that will put his own family away is a force to be reckoned with in their world, I guess.
Danny practically leaps out at me when I walk through the door. "Where have you been?" he demands. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago. I was worried sick."
I laugh and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry, Mom," I joke, "But I went to see your grandmother after I went to the doctor."
Placing an arm around my waist, Danny ushers me to the couch. "Why? What did you want to talk to my abuela about? Is everything ok?"
I laugh again. He can be worse than a mother sometimes.
"Everything is fine. There's just something....unexpected that I wanted to share with your grandmother."
There aren't enough words to express how much I love that old woman. So wise and so kind...I can see why Danny has always loved her so much. She was beside herself when she heard the news. "Such a blessing, mi nieta!" she had exclaimed. It never failed to move me that she called me her granddaughter.
"God has smiled on you and my Daniel."
"I hope he sees it that way, Abuela!" I had laughed.
Danny sits down beside me on the couch, concern lining his features. "What?" he asks impatiently.
Enjoying making him sweat and savoring the news I have to tell, I lean back and sigh, "Danny, be an angel and get me a glass of water."
His eyes spark with frustration, "Dammit, Michelle, what-"
"You know, it's not good for me to get dehydrated..." I say and before I can so much as blink, he's on his feet and in the kitchen.
When he returns with the glass of water, I have to fight giggles. You would think no woman ever had a baby before from the way he treats me.
"Ok, Michelle, your have your water, now what is it?"
I keep my eyes down and trace the rim of my water glass with my finger. "Well, Danny, you know how we were really excited about a baby"
"Yes. Michelle what did Dr. Burke say?"
"I'm getting to it!" I say and he sighs in frustration again.
"As I was saying," I continue throwing him a "look", "We were excited about a baby, but we really haven't given much thought to a larger family."
"A larger..." He looks confused, but then realization dawns and joy coupled with horror appears on his face.
"Twins?"
I laugh and take his hand. "No, silly, not twins."
He looks slightly relived and I know there's a wicked gleam in my eyes when I say, "Triplets."
Danny goes totally white." Tr-triplets?"
I let out a laugh of pure joy. "Uh-huh! Three beautiful Bauer/Santos babies."
"Three..." he murmurs, dazed as he sinks back against the couch. I scoot closer to him. Being nearly eight months pregnant, I don't want to risk crushing him by sitting in his lap.
"Well? Are you excited?"
He looks at me, still a little scared, but ridiculously happy too. "Excited, terrified, elated..."
I laugh again and lean forward to kiss him. The kiss of joy quickly heats up and we're both panting as we pull away.
"I love you," Danny whispers against my neck. "All four of you."
"Well, we four ladies love you too."
Danny goes to kiss me again, but suddenly pulls back.
"Four ladies?"
I giggle. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Our three beautiful Bauer/Santos babies just happen to all be girls. You're about to have not one, not two, but THREE daughters, Papa Santos."
"Three daughters?" The dazed look is returning.
"And there's another thing," I whisper as I nibble on his ear.
"What's that?" he asks, still sounding far off.
"According to Dr. Burke, they all look just like me."
Danny pulls away. "Is that a fact? They're all negative one month old and they already look like you?"
"Umm-hmmm....So what are you going to do when three guys just like you are on our doorstep, ready to whisk off our three angels?"
"Well, if our three daughters-" he still sounds horrified at the thought- "are all like you, I'm gonna put up a huge barbed wire fence around our house so no guys like me can even get close."
I smile and run my lips lightly over his. "And what if they happen to be in love with these boys?"
"Too damn bad."
I laugh. "We have our work cut out for us."
He kisses me deeply. "I'm looking forward to it. How about you?"
I catch a glimpse of our wedding photo. A year has gone by since that chilly February day and so much has happened to the nervous but smiling girl all in white. I look down at the mound that is my children and wonder what another year will bring.
"Oh yeah," I say as I lean into my husband's arms. "I can't wait."