Weston (Broken Falls #6)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Weston

I 'm trying to take in everything I've heard the doctors and nurses say, and one thing I know for certain is that Melanie hasn't been taking care of herself. I'm going to have to help with that. More than anything, this health scare with her has made me realize I want the marriage with her. It's not going to be easy, it never is, but for the past few weeks that she's been here, I've been more alive than I have been since she left.

It won't be easy not to tell my parents because they hate her after what she put me through. The guys also have some preconceived notions, but we'll all get through this together because we're family. She's getting dressed because they're about to discharge her, and I'm signing as her husband to make sure she's taken care of.

When we leave, I grab her hand and hold it. "Let them take you out in a wheelchair. I'll pull around and get you." She nods, but it's resigned, and I hate the resignation. She's a strong woman, always has been, and knowing that she's upset bothers me.

Within minutes, we're on our way home, and we're not talking to one another. The tension is thick in the truck. She turns to me. "Why don't you just yell at me, Wes? I made a stupid decision. I deserve it."

"Is that what your parents did?" I question. "Yell at you because you weren't perfect?"

Her eyes go down to her knees. "Yeah, that's exactly what they did. That's one of the reasons I left, because I couldn't handle you doing the same."

"I'm not the same as them," I say firmly. "No. I'm not. The only thing I've ever wanted to do is love you, and if you would have come to me with this, we would have figured it out, just like we're going to now. I'm in this now. You're not getting rid of me anymore. Not this easily."

"It may take us years to build back to where we were," I continue softly. "Then again, it may not. We're older. I'd like to think we're more mature, but what I do know is I want a life with you."

"I'm not going to promise that I won't ever make mistakes, Mel," I admit honestly, "because that's just not me. You know I speak a lot of times before I think, but there's nothing else this has shown me,I love you."

"I was terrified," she whispers.

"What about kids?" she questions slowly.

"We'll deal with that when we get there," I assure her gently. "I'm years from that. But if we can't have kids, then we can't have kids. I want you. You're my family. You got it? You're my family."

"You're the one who makes me happy," I confess earnestly. "I have barely been living the last eight years since you left. I've made it because I had to,I had to put one foot in front of the other and walk like a normal person.

I had to breathe," I continue softly, "but it felt like I was breathing through a swamp. I had to put on a smile, but I was smiling through excruciating pain."

"You've only been here a few weeks," I say with emotion in my voice, "but my whole perspective has changed. I'm walking faster; I'm breathing easier; I'm actually happy."

"I love you with all your flaws and with all the perfect things you do," I tell her sincerely. "I hope you love me too."

She unbuckles her seatbelt and launches herself over the center console, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I love you too," she sobs softly against my shoulder. "I've never stopped."

"I wanted to come back so many times," she continues tearfully, "but I was embarrassed because I left, and then I just didn't know how to explain it.

The longer I was gone," she admits quietly, "the harder it was, and the easier it was to make excuses for myself."

"I want this life with you," she says earnestly through tears. "It could be hard; it could be the best thing ever, but no matter what it is, I want to experience it with you."

We pull up to the house, and I put the truck in park. I shut it off, and we sit there for a few minutes. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out her wedding ring and motion for her to bring her hand to me. I slip the wedding and engagement ring onto her finger.Then I hand her mine and have her do the same for me. With emotion cutting my voice almost completely off, I whisper hoarsely, "Till death do us part."

She smiles through tears and whispers back, "Till death do us part".

Life as we know it is going to change, but fuck, I'm ready for it.