Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
When Morgan saw us together, she told me she knew instantly he was the one.
“I’ve never seen you so happy,” she said, hugging me tight. “This is right. I feel it.”
As I made my way to the front door, I remembered I owed her a phone call. We were trying to—
My feet stopped moving. My heart began to race.
Through the screen door, I saw Austin standing on the front porch, wearing a black tuxedo and a grin.
I covered my mouth with my hands. “Oh my god.”
“Hi,” he said, holding up a ring box. “I’m here about a bride.”
“Oh my god.” Tears sprang to my eyes as a thousand butterflies took flight in my belly.
Next to me, the twins were giggling. “Go out there,” one of them said.
I pushed open the door and stepped out onto the porch. My legs trembled, and my head spun.
Austin—my gorgeous, strong, beloved Austin—went down on one knee and opened the little ring box. A diamond winked at me. “About a year ago, a woman showed up at my door wearing a wedding dress and sneakers,” he said. “She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, so I tried to make her go away, because I didn’t want to feel the things she made me feel. I didn’t like the idea that she might turn our lives upside down. I didn’t want anything to change.” His lips tipped up, and his dark eyes twinkled. “But she didn’t stay away.”
I shook my head, tears splashing down my cheeks. “She couldn’t.”
“I’ll be forever grateful that she came back. And I’d like her to stay forever.” He glanced through the screen door, where his children stood side by side, just as they had the first day we met. “Now?”
They nodded, their smiles mile-wide.
Austin focused on me again, melting my heart with his gaze. “Veronica Sutton, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I tried to shout it, but it came out like a squeak because my throat was so tight. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
The kids cheered as he slid the ring on my finger. He rose to his feet, and I threw my arms around him, crying tears of joy. The twins came out and we opened up our hug to include them. “You guys knew!” I accused, squeezing them tight. “That’s why you were giggling this morning!”
“They knew,” said Austin. “But they were sworn to secrecy.”
“We did a good job,” said Adelaide. “Mostly.”
“You did a perfect job,” I assured her. “This was the best surprise ever.”
“Can we be in the wedding?” Owen asked.
“Of course!” I said, filled with joy at the prospect of being able to plan a wedding to the man of my dreams. Absolutely everything was going to be different this time. It would be real.
“And can we call you Mom?” Adelaide asked shyly. “We want to. We think it’s cool to have two moms.”
Austin and I locked eyes—his were shining too.
“That would make me very happy,” I said, smiling through tears. “Sometimes I don’t know what I did to deserve you all.”
“You knocked on the right door,” said Owen.
I laughed and pulled them all in close once more. “I certainly did.”
THE END