Chapter 23 Kisses and Forever Wishes, It Happened to Us (It Happened #5)

Chapter 23 Kisses and Forever Wishes

KISSES AND FOREVER WISHES

Penny & Archer

Penny

Valentine’s Day in Las Vegas

Penny Fair: Mother to-be, Best Girlfriend Ever—According to Archer

Career: architect

Bank Account: Archer says love makes compound interest grow.

Heart: Overflowing—beating for one man and the little Bean we made.

Were the tears on my cheeks from hormones or happiness? I couldn’t tell.

“You’re crying before the ceremony has even begun,” Archer leaned closer to whisper. It couldn’t be helped. I pulled a tissue from my red satin purse and dabbed.

Brier and Westley had pulled off the impossible—a Vegas wedding that felt like a dream instead of a drunken dare. This wasn’t any wedding chapel on the strip affair. No Elvis impersonators would be making their way into this building, gracing wedding guests with Love Me Tender.

Brier and Westley did up the entire glam affair right. They’d rented a rooftop terrace of a grand home that glowed with fairy lights, desert stars overhead, and a view of Vegas in the distance, all for their intimate wedding of family and close friends.

The music started, and Goldie trotted down the aisle in a fresh floral collar of red and pink flowers, proudly carrying the red satin pillow on her back.

She stole every heart, including the officiant’s, who, from what I understood, was a new friend of Brier’s from the local canine club of dog lovers.

Aunt Brier had moved here after New Year’s Day, and had no problem finding new friends and blending into Westley’s world.

I missed her back in New York, though. Archer promised we could visit Brier and Westley anytime I needed a hug from her.

He might be sorry, not anticipating how often that would be needed.

I perched next to him on a seat at the end of an aisle, one hand resting on my slightly rounded stomach. His arm curved protectively around my back.

He especially eyed my mother, who sat in the front row ahead of us.

We were all polite to each other, and I loved her, of course, but I knew Archer kept wary around her.

Given her allegiance to Brianne, he’d likely never trust her.

Oh, she was happy for Archer and me and about our baby on the way, but I’d learned to keep boundaries.

She and I would never have the tight relationship Brier and I possess.

How shocked we all were around New Year’s when Mom called with news that Brianne had taken off with some man she’d met at a Steele Valley Resort mixer.

Apparently, he was from Chicago, loaded, and they married immediately.

Strange. I felt bad for her kids, who now had to face being shuffled around between cities per a shared custody agreement with Ted.

I couldn’t dwell on her any longer though, what with the most handsome man beside me in a gorgeous Armani suit, and our own family to consider.

I’d moved in with him at the penthouse, and got to wake in his arms every day.

Every night we spent together. We became best friends, partners, lovers, his mentorship as I navigated my new position working with Maya, invaluable.

Soon, we’d be parents, too, thanks to our little Bean growing in my tummy.

With the wedding march playing, everyone stood. The beautiful bride waltzed down the aisle, shimmering, bedazzled, and smiling like a princess, on her way to her very own Prince Charming. I couldn’t be more happy for Aunt Brier.

When she and Westley said “I do,” the crowd cheered, but I caught Archer watching me instead of the couple. He melted me from the inside out with a searing kiss.

“I love you, Mama Bean.” He pressed a hand at my stomach. He’d taken to calling me the nickname when it suited.

“And I love you so much, Daddy Bean.” We were so cute together.

To think I had not been sure if the news of our baby would make him run far away from me.

From the start, he’d been the best, most supportive partner I could ever have asked for.

We both were ready to start a family, with a shared vision for our future.

Later, at the reception, I loved every bedazzled touch Brier had created. But the best was the simple matchbox with the saying “Perfect Match” that I tucked into my purse, a reminder of how one swipe on an app between Archer and me had led us on our journey together.

He guided me onto the dance floor. “One slow song?”

“Too bad you didn’t pack the zombie mask. That guy had hips that could rock.” I recalled the last time we danced, at the Zombie Ball, and how my insides had fluttered then as they did now.

His chuckle rumbled wildly against my ear. “I’m sure they have a costume shop here somewhere. We could make a stop on the way back to our suite. Have a little Zombie chase through the hotel. Wear it while I make love to you.”

“Deal.” We swayed beneath the fairy lights, his palm at the curve of my back.

The band played a slow jazz version of Love Me Tender—we couldn’t escape it being in Vegas—and I thought about every beat that had brought us here, from heart attack to forgiveness, and ultimately, the tiny miracle between us.

When he bent to kiss me, I forgot everyone else existed.

The rest of the reception unfolded among family and friends, watching Brier and Westley living up their big night, the culmination of their twenty-year friendship, now turned into forever.

Archer and I had danced around the idea of marriage, but we weren’t in a hurry.

Committed to growing our family, one hundred percent—passionate in bed, hell yes.

But we’d found love so early in our relationship, we enjoyed this time together dating and traveling while we could before the baby arrived.

I glanced over at Brier and Westley cutting their cake and knew, without a doubt, that’d be Archer and I one day soon.

Archer

Christmas - One Year Later

Archer Bellamy: Man of the Brownstone

Bank Account: Plenty. Blessed

Career: Semi-retired architect, full-time family man.

Heart: Strong, steady, and finally home.

Snow sifted over our brownstone, dusting the holly wreaths and the string lights I had insisted on hanging myself.

Inside, Christmas chaos reigned—Calhouns, Bellamys, Buchanans, Kingstons, and Wests, friends, and family, and the newest addition to our world: one Alexander Benjamin Bellamy, a.k.a. Bean.

We chose Alexander as that was Brooks’ middle name. He didn’t have to twist our arms to use his. We really did like the name.

Bean sat in the middle of the living room floor, chewing a velvet Christmas ribbon and giggling while Goldie kept dutiful watch.

Penny knelt beside him, cheeks lit so prettily from the fireplace glow.

Wrapping paper had somehow gotten in her hair, and she’d never looked more beautiful.

Maisy sat there too, with Everett toddling around.

The two Bellamy cousins, close enough in age that I hoped they’d grow up good friends, as Brooks and I were.

I set down my mug of cocoa—a doctor-approved occasional treat although there were times I missed a good espresso. I crossed the room to my lovely Penny and our little boy.

“He’s going to eat that bow,” I warned with a wink.

“He’s exploring textures,” Maisy explained in her very scientific way.

“Here, Bean, play with the building block instead.” I handed him a large-sized baby-approved block, and he took it.

“Architectural curiosity. Must be hereditary,” Penny teased.

I took a photo of them on the floor and it hit me how full my life was. How last year, I’d found Penny, fired her a lot, and then almost lost her between my heart attack and the space I needed to recover from it—and my past.

Now everything that mattered fit perfectly together under the roof of this beautiful brownstone mansion I had bought for us, big enough for our family to grow in.

I chose it because of the square footage, historical significance, and balustrades.

She chose it for the exclusive neighborhood and dentil moulding.

I had a crew here all year, remodeling it, modernizing it with everything Penny wanted, and they finished just in time before Christmas so we could move in.

That was about the only passion project I chased since leaving Bellamy Architects.

Unless you counted chasing my future wife around in a Zombie mask on occasion.

Yeah, time to make her my wife. I reached into my pocket, my heart pounding with exhilarating pressure—only this time it was joy, not panic. Not a reason to call 9-1-1.

“Penny.” I let the name flow from my lips, recalling the first time I saw her on that matchmaking app.

She looked up, grinning brighter than ever. “Hmm?”

I took a deep breath and sank to one knee beside the baby toys and our son. The entire party hushed, no one with a clue I’d planned to do this tonight.

“I’ve designed hotel towers and museums and mansions,” I started, voice catching. Not once when I practiced did it do that, but here in front of her, control of my emotions flew out the window. “Nothing has ever felt as solidly built as this. What we have. You and me, and baby Bean.”

Her eyes shimmered, already certain, knowing the question I was about to ask. I could be a jerk and ask something like, Can I get you a piece of pie? But I wouldn’t dare.

I held out the ring. “I was once a very broken man. But it turned out I had to go through that in order to find you, my perfect match. Your love fixed me and put me back together. So now, Penny Fair, be my forever. Build a family and a lifetime with me. Marry me.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Yes. Of course, I’ll marry you, my love. My Archer.”

Bean gurgled as I slid the platinum ring on her finger, like our tiny foreman approved the plan.

The room erupted in cheers. Brier and Westley whooped with their baby girl Aurora on Brier’s hip.

Brooks clapped. Rex, Richard, Keaton, and their wives and all the kids and all our friends shouted, Kiss her! Kiss her!

I drew her into my arms, claiming her warm red lips, confident that our future was built on a strong foundation—of love, trust, and happiness.

Thank you for reading It Happened to Us.

Chapter 23 Kisses and Forever Wishes

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