Once Upon A Rodeo

Epilouge

Six Years Later

The sun had just risen.

Sunlight began to creep through the quiet house, and for a short moment everything was silent. I slowly blinked the sleep out of my eyes, rolling over and snuggling closer to Brantley.

Sleepily, he tilted his head towards me and kissed my forehead.

Even after more than half a decade, he could still make my heart flutter with out even trying. With his free arm, he brushed the hair out of my eyes and whispered a groggy good morning to me.

"He's awake."

We heard a little pitter patter of feet before the door burst open, and a forty pound weight catapulted himself onto our bed. In a flurry of tiny arms and legs, Emmett navigated his way through a pile of sheets and blankets, crawling on top if his father.

"Santa came last night! Wake up, Mommy and Daddy! SANTA CAME LAST NIGHT!"

Brantley laughed, maneuvering his son off of him and sitting up.

"Hold on there, champ. Mom and I are going to have to get some coffee before we start in on that pile of presents."

"What do you think he got me?" Emmett asked, his eyes wide with wonder.

We had named our son after Brantley's father, who had been thrilled that he had a namesake. Emmett junior was intelligent, kind, and wonderfully intuitive - much like his father and grandfather.

"We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" I said. "Why don't you go downstairs, and we'll be down in a bit."

Emmett nodded enthusiastically, bouncing off of the bed and ricocheting out of the room as fast as he had come in. I got out of bed, pulling a silk robe around my pajamas and coming around the bed to kiss Brantley.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Brantley echoed back, kissing me on the forehead again. He pulled on a robe of his own over his flannel pajamas.

Downstairs, Emmett was about to bounce off of the walls as he waited to open the presents. Brantley and I went into the kitchen, where two full pots of coffee waited for us, one of them decaf.

I couldn't drink regular coffee - I was pregnant.

As I poured the creamer into my mug, Brantley wrapped his arms around me, resting his hands on my swollen belly. I was six months pregnant with a baby girl, due to born at the beginning of March.

The baby kicked while Brantley had his hands on my stomach, which was no surprise. She always knew when he was around.

Through out the past six years, we had a few downs and plenty more ups. Brantley's ranch was thriving, as well as my horse rehabilitation business. I couldn't do as much work now, but I had people to help me with that.

"We'd better get in there before Emmett explodes," I said, nodding to the living room. I sat in the recliner as Brantley sat on the floor, passing out presents.

My heart was filled with happiness as I watched my growing family.

Brantley was an incredible father, which didn't surprise me as he had been a wonderful husband before I'd gotten pregnant with Emmett. He was a little bit more nervous about having a baby girl, but I had no doubt that she would be well protected.

My husband and I exchanged gifts as well, and he got me a beautiful diamond bracelet with matching earrings, some clothes, a new saddle, and a new pair of boots. I'd found a Yeti cooler that he'd had his eyes on, a new wallet and money clip, several new pairs of jeans, and the comfy new recliner that I was sitting on.

Our living room was a flurry of cardboard boxes, plastic, and wrapping paper when the doorbell rung.

"Don't worry, babe, I got it," I said to Brantley, who was sitting cross legged on the floor with his son, helping him put together a new train set.

I waddled my way to the door, and opened it to find Charlotte and Emmett Sr.

"Merry Christmas!" I greeted, hugging each of my parents-in-law. When Emmett Jr heard his grandparents, he came running.

"Grandma! Grandpa! Look what Santa brought me!" He said, grabbing one of each of their hands and dragging them into the living room. Charlotte and Emmett Sr followed after him, laughing.

I returned to the living room, watching as he showed his grandparents the new toys Santa had brought him, and opening the presents that they had brought him as well.

We had made sure that we begun to teach Emmett that Christmas wasn't all about presents and material things. The night before Christmas Eve, we'd brought him to a homeless shelter a few towns over where we helped out at an event where we handed out Christmas presents to those who weren't as fortunate as we were.

We expected him not to understand, but he jumped right in and was happy to give some of his toys away to these kids. He even gave his favorite Spiderman toy to a boy that was his age.

He didn't fully understand the issue, because he was only four years old. But he got the basic lesson we were trying to teach him - that there were others that had less than us, and it was a good thing to help them out.

As the day went on, more of our friends and family started to show up at our house. We were having Christmas dinner at our place this year. My mother was even able to attend.

"Have you guys picked out a name yet?" Charlotte asked a little while later.

We were in the kitchen, preparing the dinner that we were cooking. I had already cooked the ham the night before, so all I had to do was pop it in the oven for a half hour or so and it would be done. I smiled at her as I chopped up vegetables.

"I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret. We're going to wait until she's born to reveal it," I said.

She acted like she was locking her lips up and throwing away the key.

"My lips are sealed," She promised.

"Evelyn," I said, continuing to chop vegetables. I looked up at her with a coy smile. "Evelyn Charlotte Nash."

She clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes watering. We both set the knives we were holding down and hugged each other. She rubbed my swollen belly.

Soon after, with the help of the family that had gathered, we set the table and began to eat our dinner. As everyone began to eat, I couldn't help but look around. My family was the best you could ask for. There wasn't anything more I could ask for.

Brantley covered his hand over mine, and smiled at me as he gave my had a gentle squeeze.

None of this would have happened if I hadn't thrown a dart on a map that happened to land on Hudson, Tennessee.

Author's Note: First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS!  I can't believe that this story is finished! :( I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for your support through the writing of the story. I'm going to miss the Nashes.

Please note that the first chapter of Finding Emerson is up! If you liked this story, you will really enjoy that one! And it might ease the sting of losing Kennedy and Brantley!  Please go check it out! It would mean a lot to me.