Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
He whispered in mine. “I think I’m even luckier because I fit inside your ass.”
I punched him lightly on the arm. “You’re so nasty. I love it, though.”
“You didn’t read the card,” he said.
I opened it. It had a picture of an old couple kissing by a Christmas tree. It was one of those blank cards where you could write your own note inside.
Greta,
This Christmas will be the best of my life.
Because of you…I:
Am grateful.
Am happy.
Am fulfilled.
Am at peace.
Am excited for the future.
Am in love.
Because of you this Christmas…I:
Am Merry.
Am Merry.
It didn’t register at first until I saw him getting down on one knee and reaching into his pocket.
Am Merry=Marry Me.
“I didn’t know what love felt like until you, Greta, not just giving it but receiving it. I love you so much. Please say you’ll marry me.”
I covered my face in shock. “I will. Yes. Yes!”
Everyone in the room clapped. Sully must have been in on it because a bottle of champagne popped in the air.
When Elec placed the ring on my finger, I gasped. “Elec, this is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, but there is no way you could afford it.”
The diamond was at least two carats and channel set with small stones all around the white gold or platinum band.
He stood up and pressed his nose to mine. “This ring is the one that Patrick gave Pilar all those years ago. Money was no object to him. Mami stopped wearing it after Patrick died but didn’t want to part with it. She held onto it all these years. I hadn’t ever seen it before, but she showed it to me just before I moved here. I immediately asked if I could have it, knowing I wanted to give it to you someday. She gave it to me, but I insist on paying her back eventually. This ring once represented a lot of pain for my family, but I don’t look at it that way now. If it weren’t for all of that, there’d be no us, and I couldn’t imagine that. This ring is an indestructible piece of light among all the darkness that was my past. It reminds me of your love for me. It is the ring for you.”
***
A year later, on New Years Eve, Elec and I had a private ceremony officiated by a justice of the peace. I wore my hair up. He was happy about that.
A big wedding wasn’t necessary; we just wanted to make it official. We chose New Years Eve as a way of sticking it to fate.
After a nice dinner alone at Charlie’s Pub following the wedding, we joined the crowd in Times Square.
When the ball dropped, Elec lifted me into a passionate kiss that more than made up for our lost opportunity here five years ago.
When he put me down, I whispered into his ear and gave him the surprise of his life.
Later that night, he’d put his head on my tummy, and cleverly joked in typical Elec fashion about how we belonged in a reality TV show: he’d now officially become his brother’s bastard child who impregnated his stepsister.
EPILOGUE
The Final Chapter: True Romance
“Are you baby O’Rourke’s father?”
An unfamiliar twinge developed in my heart upon the nurse’s use of that term. “Yes. That’s me. I’m the father.”
The father.
My whole life had seemingly been defined by being the antithesis of father. I was the son: bastard son, bad son, estranged son. But now, I was the father. It was my turn to be…the father.
“Can I check your identification please?”
I lifted my arm and showed her the plastic bracelet locked around my wrist. I wanted to wear it forever. Gangrene may not have even been a good enough reason to cut that thing off.
“Follow me,” she said.
I’d missed the birth. I’d been visiting Mami in California when Greta called me to say her water broke. She was only thirty-four weeks along, so I thought it was safe to take a quick trip out there before my time became more limited than ever.
I immediately packed up and started driving to the airport once I realized she was likely in labor.
The next thing I knew, Sully was calling me to say Greta had been taken in for an emergency c-section. I panicked because I wasn’t even on the plane yet. I knew I wouldn’t make it in time. The worst kind of helpless feeling came over me. I prayed probably for the first time ever. It’s funny how you can spend your entire life wondering if there’s a God until suddenly in a time of crisis, you’re begging Him for help as if you’d never doubted He existed.
Sully sent me a text shortly before I boarded. It was a picture of my son.
My son.
I remember I’d been walking out of the bathroom and just froze, staring at my phone in awe. I looked around me as if everyone should have known that this was the most monumental moment in the history of the universe. The message said the baby was taken to the NICU but was fine. Greta was fine. They were fine.