Deleted Scene: If Only You Knew

So I've thought long and hard about placing this deleted scene on the blog because it's the epilogue. It would give away the ending. But then I thought, duh, it's a romance novel and that means everyone already knows that they live happily ever after anyway. It's the number one rule of romance. And then I thought the epilogue just kind of gives readers a glimpse of the characters lives in the future. So that's okay, right? A lot of people hate these kinds of epilogues because they're sort of a staple in certain romance novels. You know the ones where you get to see the hero and the heroine a few years down the line and they are both gazing at their new child and still happily in love. You know you've read them, and so have I. I love them. But my little scene got cut from the novel. So I'm sharing it with you here...

Epilogue

The soft tapping on the door was annoying and Latonya just wanted whomever it was to go away. She refused to even open her eyes. Eighteen hours of labor would make any woman tired. She didn't want any more visitors, not tonight.
Aren't visiting hours over with? Come back later! Her brain screamed as the incessant tapping continued. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. "Go away," she moaned softly.
She just wanted to get rested so that she could take her baby girl home and be with her family. But to do that she needed to sleep and the soft yet persistent tapping on the door was preventing her from getting her much coveted rest.
"Go away," she mumbled, still not opening her eyes. It wasn't feeding time, because little Evie was sleeping peacefully in a bassinet in the corner.
The tapping persisted and Latonya figured it was best to just let the person in. She was too tired to keep telling them to go away. She opened her eyes and glanced over at Evie sleeping peacefully in the bassinet that the nurse left her in.
"Okay, come in already, good grief."
The door opened and two handsome men--one young and the other up in years but still full of spark--stood there with two gorgeous little boys, two elderly women and a younger woman. Somehow, her husband had managed to pull some stings and get their sons and the rest of the family in after visiting hours.
She smiled. Tired as she was, it made her heart burst just to look at the man she loved. And knowing that he knew how much she missed Carl and Terrence made her feel loved as well.
Her sister Cicely picked up Terrence and Carlton picked up little Carl. The entire family circled around her bed.
"Hey, family." She knew she must look haggard, but she felt a sudden burst of energy looking at her beautiful children.
"Hi, mommy, we come to see the baby, our new sister." Terrence spoke in a whisper, clearly trying to adhere to the proper tone of speech in a hospital.
"You came to see the new baby? What about me? Didn't anyone come to see me?" Latonya teased.
"We came to see you and our new sister." Little Carl smiled assuredly.
"How are you feeling, babe?" Carlton had been in the delivery room the entire time and he looked as tired as she felt. He should have been home resting but instead he brought her family to her.
She smiled lovingly at him. "I'm fine. Just a little tired that's all."
"Well, you should be tired after that intense labor. But she is precious and so worth it. Look at my niece." Cicely gazed at Evie in awe.
"My baby sister." Terrence staked his claim.
Some things must really be passed down in the genes, Latonya thought as she watched her son.
"She is precious. You finally got one that looks like you, child." Jillian teased.
Carlton shook his head in mock dismay. "Yeah, I'll have to get guard dogs and a gun once she becomes a teenager. Look at her, she's beautiful."
"I think she's waking up." Cicely said.
Little Evie let out a loud piercing scream and Gran picked her up from the bassinet. Gran cooed and cuddled her little namesake, Evelyn "Evie" Harrington, before handing her over to Latonya.
Latonya smiled down at her baby and then her family. Old man Harrington was beaming with pride as he looked at his first great-granddaughter. She had long since forgiven him for his role in the misunderstanding that almost tore her family apart. She had to forgive him in order to forgive Carlton and herself. If they had been open to trust the love between them, the old man wouldn't have been able to come between them. In some ways his deeds taught them a valuable lesson about the price of love.
"I never thought I'd see the day when this old cranky man was speechless," Jillian joked.
"I'm just amazed at how beautiful she is, and how lucky I am." The elder Harrington touched Latonya's arm as he spoke.
She looked at him and tried to find any of the hard feelings she had for him and found none. "We're all lucky, Grandfather, very lucky."
Carlton smiled at her and winked. "Listen I think my wife could use some rest. So can you all take my sons home. I’m going to hang out with my two girls a little while longer and make sure that they both get some rest." He handed little Carl to Grandfather and took little Evie from Latonya before situating himself in the comfortable rocking chair.
The family filed out as he held on to the baby, rocking her gently in his arms.
Latonya shook her head. "You're going to spoil her rotten aren't you?"
"Who me? Never." He lied.
Latonya shook her head and smiled. "Yeah, right."
"Get some rest, sweet heart. I have a feeling that this little new addition to our family is going to require us both to be well rested and on our toes." He said as he looked at his daughter in amazement.
And with that, she closed her eyes knowing that whatever the future brought, they'd all paid the price for their happiness and everything would be as it should be.

So that's it. What do you think? Do you think it would have added anything to the story to have this scene included. The hero, Carlton, got on a lot of readers nerves in certain parts of the novel. Do you think this last scene would have allowed him to redeem himself even more than he did at the end? And I'm not even going to ask if it redeems Grandfather. For some readers, Grandfather will never be redeemable. But does the scene at least give you more of a window into why Latonya was able to forgive? And perhaps how much she really values her family? Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by during deleted scene week.