Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 129084 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129084 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
We seal our ceremony with a chaste kiss this time around.
She wipes her bottom lip as we laugh with our family, including Trudy and Lark’s dad, John, who I’ve seen grown closer more recently, and Leanna, who sits in the back row with a tissue in hand.
Cassandra holds Max’s hand while Halden stands on her other side. Max breaks free again, like the little escape artist he is these days, and comes running into my arms. I catch him, pushing him into the air like a bird with his arms as wings at his side. He closes his eyes, and I know at that moment, he’s flying.
I understand the feeling. Married to Liv, I understand more now than ever.
We were already a family of our own, our souls connected long before we realized, much less said vows. Bringing her hand to my mouth, I kiss the top of it just before we walk down the aisle as that same family accompanied by a new perspective—a deeper commitment that works for us on a new level. I wanted to be tied to her in as many ways as possible. This just makes our bond legal. Check.
Although it was mostly only family, small and intimate, we had a blast at the reception, and I collected two-hundred bucks on a bet my brothers made when I was twenty-one that I would never get married. Like how I won by bringing the first grandchild into the family, I kicked ass by marrying years before either of them.
My brothers hate to lose, so I’m curious what they’ll come up with next.
Since my mom offers to take Max for the night, once everyone leaves, I charm my bride upstairs to the bedroom, hold her in my arms, and dance to the music of nature. We’re slow and steady tonight, making love with our eyes as much as our bodies. “Like a thief in the night, you stole my heart when I wasn’t looking.”
Liv smiles, shattering the remainder of any preconceived notions I still carried around from the years prior—one that made me think I didn’t deserve her and another that had me questioning if I’d find her again. I found her . . . as she said, we found each other when we needed each other most.
We kiss until her lips are swollen and make love until our orgasms hit so hard that we need sleep and time to recover. Though it never takes long or much with her. Sometime in the night, she dipped beneath the covers and went down on me. I happily returned the favor, my wife always my favorite flavor, before holding her in my arms until we fell asleep.
When the sun started peeking in, I cracked open my eyes. The dread I felt the first time I woke up in this bed fortunately evades me this morning. Tucked in my arms with a purr of a soft snore is my girl. My girl, the woman who captivated me the moment we met, the mother of my child, now my wife, and my soulmate. This is what forever looks like and feels like. This is love in its purest form, which is how we created Max.
Yep, birth control couldn’t stop our love from expanding.
The theme is never wasting time, so we stand in a long line that doesn’t seem to budge the following Monday. I’m trying to entertain Max, but he’s almost two, so I’m beginning to lose this battle. He’s wiggling and antsy to run. Even his Aston Martin isn’t keeping him occupied this time. “You sure you want to do this today?” I ask, rocking him to see if it will settle him down.
“Positive. I want the paperwork filed and approved as soon as possible, especially before we travel anywhere.”
The wedding came fast and is now a memory of the past weekend. This is not how I imagined spending our honeymoon. “Speaking of travel . . . You sure you want to put off the honeymoon?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I don’t want this trial hanging over our heads. Is it wrong to wait until we can move on knowing the outcome?”
I agree with a lot of her thinking, but it also feels like we’re allowing them to control our situation. “I don’t want to live our lives according to what’s happening in theirs.”
She stands on her tiptoes to try to see ahead. She could just ask her husband since I’m towering over most of the people in line. Turning back to me, she places her hands on my chest. “We’re not going to, but there was no closure. I know him. My father will want that. He wants the last word, and we didn’t give it to him.”
“No, but I gave him the middle finger.” I pop a smirk, still feeling good about that decision.