Chapter 43
Scottie
WINE DADDY
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY
My dress is floor-length, fitted at the hips and waist before subtly flaring at my thighs.
I stare at my reflection, remembering how just a year ago I was preparing to marry Gavin, not knowing what the future held.
Not knowing we would end up here, celebrating our first anniversary with a real wedding.
We didn’t realize it at the time, but it was real then too. Now, we’re just doing it properly.
Elyse stands behind me, fastening my necklace. “Your boobs look amazing.” Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “Like, annoyingly perky. And it physically pains me that my brother is going to be staring at them all night.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Why do you think I picked this dress?”
She makes a face like she’s going to be sick. “Whatever. As long as I don’t need to hear about the details.”
She spins around to grab something, and my hand instinctively drifts to my stomach.
Smoothing over the swell that isn’t there yet.
I’m only ten weeks. We haven’t told anyone yet, keeping it our secret for just a little longer.
We’re planning to tell Lily after the wedding.
She’s mentioned wanting a sibling, so I hope it’s the good kind of surprise.
When Elyse turns back around, I drop my arms, pretending to fuss with the fabric.
“I’ll be right back,” she announces. “I’m going to check with the florist on your bouquet.”
A few moments after she leaves, there’s a knock, and then Lily bursts in, her freshly curled hair bouncing around her shoulders.
“What do you think?” she asks me, doing a twirl to show me her dress.
We went dress shopping a few weeks ago, just her and I, and she picked out the prettiest pink chiffon dress.
I bend down to meet her at eye-level. “I think you’re going to be the most beautiful flower girl that’s ever existed.”
She beams, then glances down, her fingers fidgeting with her skirt. “What’s wrong? Are you nervous about walking down the aisle?”
She shakes her head. “No. I was wondering if I could ask you something.”
Her voice is faint, soft as a whisper, and my heart seizes. I take a strand of hair that’s escaped from her bow and tuck it behind her ear. “You can ask me anything. Always.”
She looks up, her blue eyes meeting mine. “After you and Dad get married, you’ll be my stepmom, right?”
I nod, wondering where she’s going with this. We never told her about our first wedding, assuming she wouldn’t quite understand. “Yes, but nothing is changing. It’ll be just like how things are now, except I won’t be Dad’s girlfriend, I’ll be his wife.”
“What about me?”
“What do you mean?”
“If Dad is going to call you his wife, what do I call you?”
Oh. I see.
I wondered if we might have this conversation. I even brought it up to Shannon and Wayne, worried they might be offended if Lily one day wanted to call me Mom. Thankfully, they were very supportive of it, just like they have been for everything. They’re basically saints.
I rest both of my hands on her shoulders, to keep myself steady more so than her. “Lily, you can call me whatever you want. If you want to keep calling me Scottie, that’s great. But if you want to call me something else, like Mom…” My voice wavers. “I would love that.”
Her chin drops, gaze on the floor. “Even though you’re not my real mom?”
I think I might cry. Between the wedding and my pregnancy hormones I’m way too emotionally fragile this conversation.
I take a deep breath and try to grab a handle on my emotions.
“You know, a mom is so much more than who you’re born from.
A mom is someone who loves you. Who takes care of.
Who shows up.” My voice shakes, tears stinging behind my eyes.
“And you know what? I love you so much and I’m always going to be here, to take care of you to be there when you need me.
If you want to call me Mom, I would love that. ”
Her lip trembles. “I…I think I would like to try it.”
“Okay.” I smile, gently holding her cheeks in my hands. “And that doesn’t mean we won’t still talk about your birth mom, okay? She’s part of you, and she always will be. You have a very big heart and lots of people can fit in there.”
She nods, and then her little arms wrap around my neck.
“I love you, Lily,” I tell her, holding her tight.
“I love you too,” she whispers into my shoulder, “…Mom.”
The word breaks me open. I laugh and cry at the same time, holding her tight until Elyse’s voice calls from outside that it’s time.
The ceremony is set on the dock that stretches into Wallula Lake.
When we decided to have a real wedding, it only made sense to come back to the scene of the crime—to the place that started everything—and finally do it right.
Elyse stands beside me as matron of honor; Ethan’s at Gavin’s side as best man. Our families fill the folding chairs set up along the shoreline—his parents and siblings on one side, my parents, with Wayne and Shannon seated proudly beside them.
We even invited Carl and Maggie, who were a little confused about why we were getting married when, technically, we already were.
It felt wrong to keep up the lie, so we told them everything.
They thought it was hilarious. Turns out Gavin really did hear them wrong.
They’d only been trying to motivate their kids to settle down, saying neither would inherit the house unless they were married with families.
The open house was just their way of calling their bluff. So instead, they sold the house to us.
I like to think Gavin heard what he wanted to—that somewhere deep down, he was just waiting for an excuse to make a move. Maybe we’ll never know for sure. But it got us here, to this moment.
And at the end of the dock, waiting for me, is Gavin.
He’s in a forest-green suit that makes his eyes look brighter, his hair tied back the way I love, a small smile curving his mouth as if he still can’t believe this is real.
The moment out eyes meet, I’m hit with a rush of warmth. The man who came to my rescue at one of my lowest points, he not only saved my life, but he made it better than I could have ever imagined.
We exchange vows we wrote ourselves this time—nothing like the stiff, scripted ones from the courthouse. They’re simple and honest, a little messy, a little funny, and completely us.
When the officiant finally says, “You may kiss your wife,” Gavin grins against my lips. “I already do,” he whispers, and the kiss that follows is nothing like our first one—no pretending, no secrets. Just us, finally choosing each other in the open.
Lily cheers the loudest, tossing petals into the lake as the sun dips low, scattering light across the rippling surface.
During the reception, Gavin’s hand keeps finding its way to my stomach, brushing over the fabric of my dress.
I’m not even sure he realizes he’s doing it.
“Stop it,” I whisper, swatting at him with a grin. “You’re going to give us away.”
He smirks, completely unbothered. “I’m not doing anything.”
But then his gaze flicks to my stomach again, and now I’m certain he’s doing it on purpose.
We weren’t trying, but we weren’t exactly preventing either.
And now that it’s happened, he’s been thrilled—like he can’t stop checking to make sure it’s still real. Having missed out on the pregnancy with Lily, it’s uncharted territory for both of us.
I take a sip of sparkling water from my champagne flute while Gavin pours himself a glass of the real stuff.
It just so happens to be the one he made with me in mind.
He lifts his glass toward mine. “Cheers, Mrs. Ledger.”
We clink, and I smile into my glass before taking a sip.
When I look back at him, he’s grimacing.
I laugh. “What’s wrong?”
He swallows, coughing once. “The ride from Red Mountain must’ve been too bumpy. It’s flat. Dull. We can’t serve that to people.”
I shake my head, still laughing. “Relax, wine daddy. It’s fine.”
But he’s already frowning down at his glass, pulling out his phone. “I’m going to have Ethan swap the cases out—unless the whole lot’s showing bottle shock.”
He’s muttering to himself now, something about temperature changes and CO? loss, and I can’t help but smile. He’s really hot when he goes off on these sciencey tangents—even when I have no idea what the hell he’s talking about half the time.
Seeing the confusion on my face, he continues. “It just means the wine isn’t ready yet,” he says. “Got too shaken up on the drive, so it needs a little time find itself and settle down.”
I set my glass down, then take his and do the same before climbing into his lap. He pulls me close, his hand automatically finding my stomach—because the man just can’t help himself—and we both sigh, sinking into each other.
The reception continues around us. Toasts are made, cake is cut, music drifts across the lake. It’s all beautiful—truly a dream come true.
But as I sit there with Gavin’s arm wrapped around me, I realize it’s just one day. What I’m looking forward to is every day after this one.
Because the road to us was definitely bumpy—shaken up, a little backward—but in the end, we just needed time to become the people we are today.
The End