Wrapped Around Her Finger - Epilogue

8 years later

"Aaron Greyson Neil, do you take Elizabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health for as long as you both shall live?

"I do."

"Elizabeth Belle Larsen, do you take Greyson to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health for as long as you both shall live?

"I do."

"I still can't fucking believe this," I mutter under my breath. I couldn't believe it when they announced they were dating. I couldn't believe it when they announced they were expecting their first child. I couldn't believe it when they announced they were engaged.

We're sitting in a fancy garden in the middle of a ceremony and I still can't believe it.

"Oh hush," Lina whispers and elbows me. "You should be happy for them."

Easy for her to say. I haven't been able to wrap my head around the fact that Elizabeth is finally getting married. Let alone the fact that Elizabeth and I are now technically related. The two of them are standing up at the front below an arbor decorated with white roses. They look incredibly happy, smiling from ear to ear, holding onto each other’s hands tightly. Maybe it’s not so bad afterall.

It's started to sink in by the time the reception has rolled around. Everyone is happily socializing in the large ballroom. The back doors leading out to a large balcony are open, letting in the cool summer night air. I can see mom and dad with their group of friends out there. From what I can make out, it sounds like they're debating over which of them had the best wedding.

All the decorations are incredibly extravagant - as is expected for Elizabeth.

There are ice sculptures, tons of flowers, and even a bouncy house for all of the kids.

"I can't wait till I get married," Abigail gushes, her big blue eyes shimmer under all of the lights.

"Not till you're forty honey," I grunt disapprovingly. It was horrifying enough the first time she even brought home a boy.

Lina chuckles. She knows no guy will ever be good enough for my beloved daughter.

"Hey Pax, Lina! How are my favourite little goddaughters?" Ryan greets us cheerfully after making his way through the crowd, followed by Mitch. I have no idea how Mitch even got himself invited, he barely knows Liz or Aaron. I'm sure he smooth talked his way in. I swear it's that damn accent.

"They're great," Lina smiles, handing Ellie to Ryan. The baby babbles with a wide smile, showing off her bright hazel eyes. She giggles, tugging at Ryan's tie with her little hand. "They're growing up so fast though, they'll be eight months old next month!"

I shake my head, trying to calm down a grumpy Angie, patting her back. The babies are always so much calmer when Lina's holding them. "I can't wait for the day I change the last diaper. Having twins has been nuts," I groan. I can't help but smile at her though, when Angie looks up at me with her big emerald eyes.

Mitch gives me a pat on the back. “Never thought you’d be a family man Pax... four kids,” he laughs. “I don’t know how you do it mate.”

“Neither do I sometimes,” I grumble.

“Well I mean,” Lina grins slyly, “I wouldn’t be opposed to having another one.” It’s been incredible to watch her. She’s always loved kids, and has absolutely loved being a mom so much.

“Absolutely not,” I moan. “You said that last time and we ended up with two more.”

Ryan chuckles. “Speaking of which, where are the other two?”

“Greyson’s playing with his cousins," I say. I've been amazed at how well Greyson gets along with Vanessa, considering what Elizabeth and I were like for most of our childhoods. It’s probably because he gets his sweet and kind personality from Lina. “I think Abby’s with them too.”

Lina laughs. “Actually she isn’t.”

Lina:

The guys look over to where I’m pointing. Abigail is standing at the side of the room with a boy. Twirling her hair, giggling, playful touches to his shoulder. “Oh god,” Paxton groans, tiredly running his hand through his hair. “Take Angie.” He hands me our little baby and marches over to the unsuspecting duo.

“That poor boy is about to get it,” Mitch laughs.

“Hey you two,” Elizabeth’s voice calls as she and Aaron come up to us. Her white gown is covered with tiny diamonds, and there are so many intricate lace details. I can’t even begin to imagine how much this night cost them. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

“Hey Sis, Ryan,” Aaron grins at us. He looks incredibly happy, I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen him this happy where Elizabeth wasn’t involved.

I’m almost as surprised as Paxton about their whole relationship. No one knew that the two of them had kept in touch after the New Year’s party nearly a decade ago.

“The ceremony was amazing,” I grin. I expected as much, considering it’s Elizabeth. Instead of regular little wedding favours, everyone got gift baskets filled with extravagant personalized gifts. Aaron called me a couple times to whine about how intense Elizabeth had been getting over wedding planning.

“Hi honey!” Mom and George come up to the newlyweds, giving them hugs. “Where’s Danny?”

Aaron chuckles. “Last I saw, he and Christy were making sure the triplets weren’t trying to jump into the chocolate fountain.”

We laugh. Christy convinced Danny to have just one more, and they suddenly ended up with four kids. Our next generation somehow already has three times as many kids.

“Oh Lina, we got you a gift,” George gives me a kind smile and hands me a small blue gift bag. “In preparation for the fall.”

I take a heavy object wrapped in grey tissue paper out of the bag. It’s a mug in the style of Michael Scott’s “World’s Best Boss” mug. Except this one says “World’s Best Principal.”

“Aww,” I gush and give them a hug. “Thanks a lot you guys.”

Mom gives me a proud smile. “Principal Neil sure has a nice ring to it. I’m so happy for you Lina, all your hard work paid off!”

"Thanks mom, I'm really excited," I smile.

Mitch casually drapes his arm over my shoulder. “Looking forward to having you back at Hansen Prep love,” he grins mischievously. “It’s Richard’s last year before retiring, I’m glad you’ll be there to help me create some fun for him.”

-----

I step out of the bathroom, freshly showered and in my pajamas. Getting dressed up for weddings is fun and all, but I also love my comfy clothing. I stretch and yawn, glancing at the clock - it's nearly eleven. Liz and Aaron insisted everyone stay to watch their fireworks, which were admittedly amazing. The bedroom is empty though. I walk down the hall, looking for Pax.

Greyson’s room is empty, so is the twin’s. I hear quiet giggling and murmurs coming from Abby's room. Tiptoeing down the hall, I peek inside and my heart melts at what I see.

The five of them are all up in Abby’s loft, cuddled up under a fluffy blanket on the sofa. It’s warm and cozy, the main lights are off and the star shaped string lights hung in the loft are on. Abby has the twins in her lap, while Pax has his arm around Greyson, keeping him tucked closely against his side. Pax is reading to them from Abby’s old favourite book she’s had since she was little, Alice in Wonderland.

I try to climb up the stairs quietly, but the third step that’s always squeaked after Greyson managed to jam a toy car in between the wooden panels attracts their attention. Pax looks up from the book and smiles. “Hey honey, come join us.”

“Hi Mommy!” Greyson calls. “Daddy was reading us a bedtime story.”

I sit next to them, taking Ellie and putting her on my lap as Pax continues. Alice in Wonderland has always just seemed like a story about a girl on a crazy drug trip to me. Not something I should mention to our kids though. By the time he’s finished reading, all of the kids have dozed off. We move slowly and carefully to avoid waking them up. I take the twins while Pax picks up Greyson, and he drapes a blanket over Abby.

Paxton smiles, looking at all of them endearingly. It’s hard to believe that I once thought I’d never see him give anyone that look besides Abby - let alone towards three more.

We tuck Greyson into his race car shaped bed, turning on his car shaped night light. The twins go into their matching white wooden cribs, we turn on the butterfly mobiles that play soft music hanging above them.

Pax drapes his arm around me as we head down the hall back to our room. “You're going to have a hard time not spoiling all of them," I chuckle.

He raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

"I can see the way you look at them,” I laugh. "Just like you did with Abby, and still do." He's the tough CEO of a huge company, but still struggles to say no to a toddler who wants extra dessert. It's adorable really.

"Hey, I can't help that I'm the fun parent," he teases.

I roll my eyes and nudge him playfully as I shut the door behind us. "I was a teacher for eight years, half my job was saying no to kids."

We snuggle into bed, I rest my cheek against his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me. I enjoy the satisfying silence for a moment, a rare luxury these days.

"You're right though," he murmurs, tiredly running his hand through his hair. "To think I originally didn't even want kids. Look at me now."

"Two of them can't even talk yet, but they all have you wrapped around their little fingers," I laugh softly.

He pauses for a moment, staring up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face. "You know what... I'm ok with that," he grins.