Saving Isadore [MxM] (An Alpha's Fight Book 1)

Epilogue Part 2

ISADORE • POV

... six years later...

I was running late to pick Zoya up from after school football club and stress, paired with the nauseating anxiety of knowing that Aaron was simultaneously being transported to hospital in his father's car, ready to give birth to our second child, was making me delirious with panic and I tapped my fingers rapidly on the steering wheel in front of me.

No matter how hard I willed the traffic to move faster, it wouldn't, and the bright blare of the red lights from the traffic signals through the rain was enhancing my frustration. The blinkers were clicking loudly, the rain was pelting on the windshield and the occasional honk of a horn or rev of an engine grated on my nerves, making my head pound.  

Mister Helpful Iggy, my service dog, as graciously re-named by Zoya, was peering at me over the shoulder of my seat, wet nose pressed insistently against my cheek. I could feel the Bernese Mountain Dog's judgmental stare, wondering why on earth I was ignoring his alert signals to get my butt on the floor so that he could sit on my chest and cuddle my anxiety away.

I reached back absently and patted his large, fluffy head.

"We don't have time," I whispered softly and he huffed, but dutifully lay his large head close and I leaned into him, his long, floofed, dark brown fur tickling my skin. The comforting, warm puffs of air he blew out of his nose hit my cheek.

Finally, the lights switched from red, to amber, to green and we were off again. I made it to Zoya's primary school ten minutes later - fifteen minutes late. I'd barely been parked for a second before the passenger side door was yanked open and there was my little girl, covered in mud and soaking wet from the rain.

Her wild curls had somehow escaped a long, bushy ponytail, giving her a carefree, chaotic appearance that had me smiling fondly despite the bad weather and my worry for Aaron. I loved picking her up after football, just so that I could see her in her adorable little blue and white striped kit, covered in mud, one sock up, one sock down, curls full of leaves and twigs.

"Daddy! You're late! I thought you forgot about me!" She huffed, hauling her oversized bag down by her feet... followed by a muddy ball... an empty water bottle... a pair of neon studded football boots smeared in blades of grass and what looked to be... a snail?

Zoya, five years old, going on thirteen, was the absolute clone of Aaron, in alpha female form. She had his dark, rich brown skin, his tight curls, his dark brown eyes and his bold, sassy personality through and through. My daughter gave me the side eye as she shut the door behind her, plopped down in her car seat, splattering mud and water everywhere, and pulled her seatbelt across her chest.

"You didn't forget about me, did you?" She asked quizzically, as if daring me to say yes. I quickly shook my head no, because how could I ever forget my darling daughter?!

"No, sweetheart, I didn't forget. I was running late because Papa is... well your little brother is coming and he needed to go to the hospital." Oh gosh, saying it out loud suddenly made it ten times more real and I was hit with a crashing wave of excitement, paired with unexplainable fear of the future and worry for Aaron's health.

Mister Helpful Iggy, tried climbing over the centre console to get to me, but was held back by the safety lead that attached him to the backseat.

"TUARI'S COMING?!" Zoya's excited screech made me flinch and she bounced in her carseat, clapping her hands together, as though she was trying to rival the gods of thunder, smacking her palms with excessive force. "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Onward Daddy! Start the car!"