Page 112 of Penalty Shots

He wraps an arm around me, and I rest my head on his chest as we watch our family exchange gifts under the twinkling lights of Aunt Ginny's tree.

Epilogue

Keelan | Three Years Later

"Hey! Who said this is where your shoes go!" I say, tripping over yet another pair of chucks left at the bottom of the stairs.

"Sorry, Dad!" One of the twins, I'm sure it was Alex, runs up the stairs, brushing past me.

"You okay?" Rina says, setting her laptop on the kitchen island and watching me.

"Yeah, we just need a sign on the steps that saysWild Shoes. Trip Hazard Ahead. That way, I can't get sued for anyone that might fall down those stairs."

She chuckles to herself and wraps her arms around my waist.

"Which is why you are not allowed to go up there," I say, placing a hand on her growing belly.

"Hey, Dad!" That one is Ivan. I'm almost sure of it.

"Yeah, Ivan?"

"Have you seen my shoes?"

I was right.

Rina holds back a laugh. "You totally guessed that, didn't you?"

I smile at her. "As a matter of fact, I have," I say, bending down to pick up one of the pairs of shoes.

Ivan appears at the top of the steps, dark curls falling onto his face. He races down the stairs and reaches for the shoes.

I pull them away. "Why do you need them?"

He huffs. "Tio said he's coming by with something really cool."

I look at Rina. "What is it?'

She shrugs. "Izzy called saying they were coming by with something for us."

I give my excited soon-to-be five-year-old son his shoes. "Okay, okay."

The twins were three when we adopted them. Rina and I knew the second we laid eyes on them they were going to be our kids. One was quiet and reserved, and the other was wild and excitable.

I instantly loved them both.

And just as luck would have it, we established our little family, and not even a year later, we found out Rina was pregnant. We were happy. But given our experience, we took each day as it came, grateful that we would forever be happy with our little family as it was.

But as the months passed and Rina grew, so did our love for the little girl growing inside her. Now, she's due next week. And even if she were to have the baby tomorrow, it would be okay.

The boys are looking forward to their Christmas baby, as they call her, and I wake up every day relieved that this is our life. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

There's a honk in the driveway, and Alex screams from the top of the stairs, "It's them! Oh my god, it's them."

I go to the front, and there, right in our roundabout driveway, is a party bus. Another two of them are parked behind it.

"Whaaaaat?" I say.

The doors open, and Ryker, Izzy, and Stella all come out of the first bus, followed by a bunch of the other teammates and their families.