Forever - Chapter 42
Friday
Matt
It’s a girl? I stared at her stomach. “We’re having a girl? When did you find out?”
Brooklyn opened her mouth and then closed it. “No. Yes. Maybe? I’m so sorry, I don’t know. I just…” her voice trailed off. “I feel like it might be.”
I smiled. She was so adorable.
“And if it is, I’d like her to have the option of wearing this dress. So please don’t rip it into pieces.”
“I’m not a wild animal. I was probably just going to pop a few buttons.” Although the tulle between her breasts was just begging for me to rip it with my teeth.
She raised her eyebrow at me.
“But I promise I won’t.” My eyes trailed down between her breasts to her stomach. “A girl.” I smiled. “I was thinking it was probably a boy. But I could picture us having a little girl. A little you . I want to fill our house with little Brooklyns.”
“I feel like if I smile any more my cheeks are going to freeze like this.”
I leaned down and kissed one of her cheeks. “I hope they do. I love it when you smile.”
Her smile just grew even more. “This is so much better than Black Friday 16 years ago. And now we can always remember this instead.”
I thought I wanted to completely erase that memory. Set the world right. But I was grateful for every moment we’d had rekindling our relationship. I was happy right here, in this moment. And so was Brooklyn. That’s all that really mattered.
Someone tapped their silverware against the side of their champagne flute. I turned to see Mr. Pruitt stand up. “A toast,” he said. “To the happy couple.”
The D.J. handed him the microphone.
“I didn’t know the father of the bride was going to make a toast!” Justin said from behind us. “Brooklyn, why didn’t you tell me?!”
Brooklyn laughed. “Justin, I didn’t even know he was coming. How could I have possibly told you he was making a toast?”
“You two need to go sit down! The toasts have been commandeered! This is an emergency!”
“Justin,” Brooklyn said and put her hands on his shoulders. “Kennedy and Mason’s toasts were planned for right now anyway. It’s fine. But because this seems like a big deal to you…I should probably warn you that Rob is planning a toast too.”
I laughed. Of course he was. Rob would never miss an opportunity to upstage my best man.
“Damn that hilarious hunk of man meat! Sit, sit,” he shooed us toward our table.
I put my hand on Brooklyn’s lower back and guided her to our table. The curtains on the windows had been opened, and the snow was falling harder now. I always loved when it snowed in New York. It was the only time the city ever felt quiet. I pulled Brooklyn’s chair out for her and we both sat down.
It felt so surreal to be seated here with Brooklyn, staring out at all our family and friends. I knew Brooklyn had already pinched me, but I kept thinking I was about to wake up.
“Angel,” Mr. Pruitt said and lifted his glass. “I know we’ve had our ups and downs.”
I stared at Brooklyn and then back at him. That was the understatement of the century.
“Even the name angel…” he shook his head. “But you are my angel. You saved my life.”
I clenched my hand into a fist under the table.
Brooklyn reached over and put her hand on top of my fist.
I turned to look at her.
“A new beginning, remember?” she whispered.
I unclenched my fist. My wife was the most understanding person in history. I took a deep, steadying breath.
“I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for you,” Mr. Pruitt said. “And for more than just the obvious reason. You gave me a new purpose, Brooklyn. You are so much like your mother. You reminded me of who I wanted to be. Who I still could be. For you.”
I stared at the tears welling in Brooklyn’s eyes.
“And Matthew.”
I turned to look at him.
“You weren’t my first choice, as you know. It’s no secret that I tried to push Brooklyn toward your brother back in high school.”
Asshole. We’d had a nice moment before the wedding. Why was he bringing that shit up?
Mason chuckled.
Mr. Pruitt shook his head. “Matthew, you were basically a gnat that wouldn’t go away.”
Someone’s fork clanged onto the floor and another person coughed.
“Dad,” Brooklyn said.
“I’ll get to the point,” Mr. Pruitt said. “It turns out you were the good kind of gnat.”
What the hell was a good gnat?
“And you surprised us all by taking over MAC International. A proper heir. And as it turns out…the right choice for my daughter.”
I looked at Mason. He wasn’t chuckling anymore. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at Mr. Pruitt. Bee whispered something in his ear and he smiled. I wondered if she’d told him he was allowed to punch him or something. I wasn’t completely opposed to that.
Justin slowly clapped and walked up to Mr. Pruitt. “Excellent speech, sir. Maybe the best man would like to pick it up from here…” He tried to reach for the microphone but Mr. Pruitt sidestepped him.
“I’m almost done,” Mr. Pruitt said. “Where was I? Ah, yes. Heirs. For the longest time, you were my only living heir, Brooklyn. And now I am so lucky to have a grandson, and another heir on the way. I can’t wait to get to know both of them.”
Well, that was sweet. But I didn’t love the way he kept referring to our kids as heirs. Calling them his grandchildren was preferable.
“Our family will persevere despite all the attempts at our lives. And hopefully those will stop now that I’ve stepped down from my…job.”
“Was he in the mafia or something?” I heard one of my friends from college try and fail to whisper.
I never took Mr. Pruitt for being bad at speeches. But this was not great. Or maybe it was exactly what he wanted it to be. He always had liked putting me down. He had a minute to wrap this up or I’d be the one hitting him instead of Mason.
“I am so thrilled that you came back to the city, Brooklyn. And that you found your way back to Matthew. Because I do see it now. He looks at you the way I used to look at your mother. And the way your mother used to look at me.” He cleared his throat.
Okay, that was actually kinda sweet.
“And now that he’s a grown up, I do believe he can protect you.”
I sighed. Another jab from the past. I didn’t remember Mr. Pruitt being so sassy.
“I didn’t have time to pick up a gift because I was informed fairly last minute of this wedding,” he said. “So as my gift to you, I’ll of course be paying for all this.” He gestured around the room.
“That’s really not necessary…” I started.
“I insist,” Mr. Pruitt said. “And I wish you both a lifetime of happiness. And here’s to many more heirs to come. Our legacy shall live on.”
Rob started clapping.
Daphne elbowed him in the side.
And I just laughed. We’d have time to work on the whole heir and legacy thing. Because my family was not going to be anything like his. “Thanks,” I said.
Brooklyn lifted her water glass. “Thanks, Dad.”
Her father finally sat back down.
“That was a lot,” Brooklyn whispered to me out of the corner of her mouth. “I’m so sorry.” But she actually looked…pleased. Brooklyn didn’t have a father growing up. She didn’t know what it was like to be embarrassed by him in public. And I think it tickled her.
“Well, he was right about a few things. I will protect you. We’re going to make lots of heirs for him. And I am the better Caldwell brother.”
Brooklyn laughed.
“Mhm,” Mason said and stood up from the table right next to ours. “I heard that.”
“I was just kidding,” I said.
“Sure you were.” He tapped on the microphone and lifted up his glass. “To my annoying little brother.”
Everyone laughed.
He smiled and turned toward me. “I don’t really mean that. Weirdly enough, we’ve always gotten along. All four of us.” He nodded at Rob and James. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not about to embarrass the shit out of you.”
Oh no, what are you about to say?
Brooklyn laughed.
Mason smiled at her. “There’s something you should know about the man you just married. He’s been head over heels in love with you since the moment you stepped foot in Empire High.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. And I wasn’t embarrassed.
“When we were teenagers, I used to joke around with him about it. But I’ve always respected him for knowing what he wanted.
And not settling for less. He wanted the kind of love my parents have for each other.
The kind of love we grew up around. And he found that with you.
I think he taught all of us that we could be happy if we found the right person. ”
James nodded. Rob too.
“And when we lost you?” Mason took a few seconds, and I knew he needed to try to steady his breathing. “Sis.”
Brooklyn sniffled beside me.
I put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight.
“Your disappearance brought the whole world down with you. Nothing was ever the same again. You broke my brother. Hell, you broke all of us.” He took a deep breath. “But when you came back? I see him again now. You gave me my brother back. The little lovesick puppy that he is.”
I laughed even though I was biting back tears myself.
“And Rob is probably going to kill me, but I think we all need to take a second to thank Tanner for getting the two of you back together. Because I’ve never met two such stubborn people in my life.
And without Tanner’s meddling, I don’t know if we’d be sitting here today, exactly 16 years after one of the worst days of our lives. ”
Rob groaned.
I nodded at Tanner. “Thank you, man.”
He smiled. “It was easy. All in a day’s work.”
I knew that wasn’t true. Mason was right. Brooklyn and I were both stubborn and we’d both held on to so much anger. Tanner had given us the push we needed to keep running into each other and sorting our shit out. We were here today because of him.
Mason cleared his throat. “I would also like to add that as your best friend and best man…”
Rob groaned again.
“Sorry, I have nothing to say about that really. Just wanted to rub it in Rob’s face.”
“This is such bullshit,” Rob said.
Mason ignored him. “So, sis.” He lifted his glass. “To the OG girl in the Untouchables.”