Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 78(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 78(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
“Fine, but if I marry you, then you have to promise me, you don’t change. You will always be like this. The boy I love.”
Gina hadn’t remembered that moment until now.
They’d been out in the woods. It had been raining, and they both had fallen in the mud. Jared was soaked in it. The jeans he’d worn that day had been torn at the knees, with some blood peeking through because he’d cut himself. The shirt his father had given him had been way too big, and it hung from him, and the mud had made it even heavier.
She stared at him now, a little taken aback.
Jared, the boy, now the man, stood before her, dressed exactly as she remembered.
The world faded.
She held on to her father’s arm, but to Gina, it didn’t matter.
The only one she saw was Jared.
Phil stood behind him, and it was like a symbol to Gina. Phil and Jared had been kind of friends growing up, but in high school, their bond had gotten tighter while she’d been pushed away.
With him standing at Jared’s back, she knew their friendship would never change, but this was Jared’s way of saying he was back. He was all hers.
She stepped toward him, and her father placed her hand within his.
“You remembered,” he said.
Tears welled in her eyes once again. Stupid hormones were making it hard for her to keep her mascara from running.
“Of course, I remembered. Our memories don’t change, Jared.”
Phil stepped forward and waited for them to give him permission to start. Gina didn’t look away, not once. Nor did, Jared. They nodded their heads, and Phil started to marry them.
They had agreed not to do vows. When it came time to do them, they both said the same thing together.
“My vow is that I belong to you, in life and in death.”
Phil asked if anyone opposed their marriage, and he didn’t even finish telling Jared to kiss her.
She was pulled into Jared’s arms, and when his lips were on hers, she knew she hadn’t made a mistake.
This man was her soulmate.
Epilogue
Five months later
Jared held his wife’s hands as she pushed. Her water had broken a couple of hours ago, and he wanted to see his child so damn much, but he was also afraid. Gina had been in so much pain.
He felt so completely selfish.
The doctor kept telling her to push, and he wanted to pummel the fucking bastard for ordering his woman about. What kind of asshole did he think he was?
“You’re nearly there, Georgina,” the doctor said.
“Come on, baby, we’re nearly there.”
“We? We? I don’t see you doing this,” Gina said, crying out.
Jared kissed her sweaty forehead, not caring that she was in pain. They’d participated in all of the couples’ birthing groups, and they had met some couples who were on their third child, so this was to be … expected.
The dads had warned him that she would be a little bitchy, but to accept it. After seeing a very detailed video of what his woman was going through, Jared would take anything Gina had to offer.
“That’s it. That’s it.”
Gina collapsed against him, and then they heard it. The scream.
Jared couldn’t believe a sound could affect him so much.
She looked up at him with a smile. “I did it.”
“You did it.” He kissed her head.
“No, we did it.”
He chuckled, and then, as the nurse came to put their baby in her arms, Jared stared down into the scrunched-up face of his son.
He was a dad.
“Oh, my God,” Gina said.
“He is so…”
“Precious,” Gina said.
She grabbed his hand, and he locked his fingers with hers as they stared down at their little baby boy.
They had agreed to wait to find out the sex, but the doctor had let it slip and called him a little guy during one of the checkups. Jared didn’t care. Boy. Girl. A healthy baby was all that he wanted.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Gina said. “I’m your mommy, and this is your daddy.”
“Oh, Gina,” he said.
“I know.”
They didn’t need to talk.
In the five months they’d been married, it was like they had never been apart. The kids they’d been, they were back.
His soulmate was back with him.
As he wrapped his arms around her, Gina tilted her head back to look at him, and like so many times before, he knew she loved him. This moment would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
There were many moments Jared was going to treasure, and this was one of a million.
The End