Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GAbrIEL
L ike I always did on mornings where the fog drifted in and a sense of reflection washed over me, I searched for that familiar ghost. It was odd to think that while I didn’t believe in ghosts, a part of my mind desperately craved it.
But Mal was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t need to watch over me as I made countless mistakes after mistakes. Because I was no longer drowning myself in pity or hiding from life. Instead, I watched as my niece ran around the backyard with my other nephews and nieces and looked down at the little girl in my arms.
“Your family is a little loud,” I teased. Maisie put her hands on my mouth, and I blew raspberries. “But you know, I still think you look like a princess in the dress.”
She smiled up at me, those dimples peeking out that reminded me of Mal.
This little girl was an Ashford and a Wilder through and through. It depended on the time of day for which family she really looked like. At least, that’s what people told me. I just saw my little Maisie.
“We should probably change her before she gets her smash cake,” Briar said with a laugh as she came forward. She slid underneath my free arm, and tickled Maisie’s belly over her poofy princess dress.
“You’re right. But seeing her with pink frosting all over that dress? It sounds like a good photo.”
“Then you get to wash that dress, Mister,” she warned, and I leaned forward and kissed my wife softly on the lips.
In the months since the kidnapping, things had gone full force. Rather than frozen in amber as we had been for nearly a year, Briar and I did the one thing that we had never been good at.
Talked to one another.
We had released a statement thanking the authorities and the public for searching for Maisie and doing all that they could. We even asked them to donate in Mal’s and Maisie’s names to local charities because people had wanted to do something. They had felt just as helpless as we had.
They had come out in full force, and the attention that we had tried to avoid came back in full force. But instead, it was no longer about the lovechild and secrets. Now it was about the family we had made, and the connections we wanted more than anything.
People knew who Briar was, and not just because of my name or Mal’s. But because of her talent. And soon we would be heading toward the Grammys where I was pretty sure that she was about to win at least two more. She would probably beat me in one of the categories, but I was ready to be a gracious loser. Mostly because afterwards she would take pity on me, and we’d have a great night.
We stood now on the land that I had bought near my brother’s property. It wasn’t huge, but it was private enough with security precautions that we felt safe. My family stood on our back lawn, laughing and talking with one another as we celebrated Maisie’s first birthday.
We still needed to finish decorating some of the rooms, and do a few updates for this older home, but it was nice to have projects in mind. A future where it didn’t seem so dim.
And in the next month, the new Wilder album would release, and the hype around it was already monumental to the point it was a little worrying. We were releasing in an off time for awards, and that was on purpose. We hadn’t wanted the extra pressure. Although, we could still be contenders for the following year.
But the album was finally what we needed it to be. Mal’s voice would be on some tracks, ones that we had made before everything had changed. And Kiera’s voice was on the others. Because somehow, we had found a way to meld our band into who we were now. We were still Wilder, but we were new, different.
And my band stood on our property, laughing and joking with their families and mine.
There were enough Ashfords and Wilders here that I was sure that they probably needed name tags for those who didn’t know them.
Callum, Briar’s older brother, was over on the other side of the yard surrounded by friends and speaking with Rory. The two of them had bonded when Callum and the other Ashfords had come rushing in to check on their sister. Although I wasn’t quite sure what was going on there.
Bodhi and Teagan were hanging out with the band, talking about Mal and sharing stories. And it was good to see so many of Briar’s family members here and not wanting to murder me.
I still had to grovel to them every once in a while, but I didn’t mind. I had done my groveling to Briar, and I would do it again every once in a while just to take it home.
Soon we would be working on the next phase of our lives; we were finally taking on an overseas tour. Briar and Maisie would be with me for part of it, but not all of it. And I knew the separation was going to be difficult. But we would find a way.
With the help of the three nannies that we rotated in and out who had had so many background checks that I was surprised they hadn’t balked. But all three of them wanted to erase Hilarie’s name from the memory of anything having to do with our family.
If I would’ve looked into the future that moment when I had walked away from the gravesite and thought that I hadn’t had a home, I would never have been able to imagine this moment. Standing on property that I owned, holding my little girl and the woman that I loved, and excited to see what happened next. We had a tour line up that people would kill for, Briar was making music she loved, and our family finally felt right.
We even had a cabin up in Ashford Creek so we could be near Briar’s family. I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to go, but we were going to do it for Mal. Because that’s where he had grown up, so Maisie needed to see parts of it.
Though there were histories there that I knew weren’t going to be easy.
“You’re lost in thought. Are you okay?”
I smiled down at my wife, as we had married in secret a month after the kidnapping. Our families had known about it, of course, and while Brooks had stood for me and Teagan for Briar, we hadn’t wanted anyone else there. Not that we didn’t love them. In fact, the Wilders were in the wedding business after all. But trying to find a way to make it happen without the noise of the rest of the world meant we had to keep it a secret.
Briar wore my wedding ring, and my name, and I wore hers.
We were all Wilder Ashfords. And my brothers gave me so much shit for having Ashford as a second name. But since Maisie had already been named that way, we followed suit.
I had a feeling Mal would be over the moon by that—and would continue to give me shit. “I was just thinking about how everything has changed.”
“Same here. Although if you do get overwhelmed again, let’s not pass out, shall we?”
I growled and kissed my wife hard on the lips. Maisie pushed me away from her and patted my mouth.
“Okay. A little possessive,” I said as I blew raspberries on her cheek. “And I only passed out once.”
“You almost passed out a second time at our wedding.”
I glared at her. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that ever again.”
“You asked. I did not agree.”
I pinched her side, and she laughed, and I knew that this was it. This is what I had wanted all this time. And I hadn’t realized it. No number of parties, going out late at night, and being with anyone at any time could stand close to where I was now.
I might still be a rockstar, a title that made me laugh. But somehow I’d become a family man—who still played at sold out stadiums. But my priorities had shifted.
Aurora tapped my shoulder, her sundress billowing around her.
I smiled down at my sister-in-law. “Is it cake time?”
“You know it. I made the cutest little smash cake for her, and two other cakes for the rest of the group.”
“You spoil us,” Briar whispered.
“I try. Come on, let’s go get this little girl covered in pink frosting.”
“Let’s change her dress!” Briar called out, and then we were all moving, and I pulled out my phone to record my daughter inhaling her cake. She shoved her face into the side, and I laughed, wondering how many photos and videos I was going to have of this kid before I needed to upgrade my phone.
“Mal, you would’ve loved this,” I whispered.
I didn’t see his ghost again. And that was fine with me. Because he was still here, in that little girl, and in the family that I knew still mourned. Just like I did.
As I watched my wife wipe cake from our daughter’s cheeks, I knew another song was in me. And then another, and then another. Because I would never stop what I did. Never again.
I wouldn’t go back to the man who hid in the shadows and tried to drown himself. I had everything to live for.
And the scariest thing was that I had had it in my hands all along. So I would never let them go.
I was a Wilder, an Ashford, a father, and a husband.
And for a man who hated titles, I wanted to latch on to every single one.
Because I was finally home. After all this time.