46. You Kind Of Just Stole My Thunder
You Kind Of Just Stole My Thunder
Missy
Twelve Months Later
‘You okay, Miss?’ Leo asks as my eyes fall closed, and I nod, yes, then open them to see the love surrounding me. Doug and Cara are in the armchair in the corner, his hand resting easily on her round belly. Zoe’s in a chair to my left, one hand on my ankle, one on her own baby bump. Bree is next to her twin while Leo leans over me. And then there’s Nick. My Nick. The man who refuses to be called my hero even though that’s exactly what he is. I didn’t need a hero, and I didn’t need to be saved, but he did it anyway. Not from Bax, Nick was right. I saved myself from Bax, and I won. But Nick, my beautiful man, saved me from myself.
He stepped in and showed me how to trust — how to love. He shares the load before I even realize it’s getting too heavy .
I didn’t know it could feel like this — loving someone the way I love him. I thought it would mean giving a part of me up, making myself smaller somehow. I had no idea someone would love me in a way that makes me feel like I can shine — like I can do anything. I never dreamed in a million years that a man would step in and be the father Jonah deserves. I thought I’d never trust a man in his life. Now, watching them together is my greatest joy.
‘You’ve got this, honey,’ he says softly, raising my hand up to kiss my wrist as the incessant buzzing of the tattoo machine drones on.
‘And we’ve got you,’ Bree adds, and I close my eyes again, forcing the tears collected to run down the sides of my face.
They are my family, my village. They were there before they knew the details of my relationship with Bax. They were there for the fallout. They were there when I stood up in a courtroom and told a room full of strangers how he beat, raped, and humiliated me time and time again. They held me up when a judge sent him away for just three short years and made it very clear he would never get anywhere near me and Jonah ever again, as if Nick hadn’t already made that clear enough. They were there when I got the call to say he had pissed off the wrong person and was gone, beaten and stabbed in his cell. I cried — emotions that confused me but not those around me. I wasn’t crying for Bax. I was crying for his parents, for Jonah, who would never get the opportunity to know his dad if he ever decided he wanted to. I was crying for me, for the years I spent in fear of this man and the release of knowing for sure that he would never hurt me again. Now, here they all are — my family — surrounding me with love while Leo turns the scars of my abuse into something beautiful.
I’m okay.
A year of love and therapy, a year of a happy, secure relationship, and a year of being a successful business owner all have me feeling calm and confident on a daily basis. I trust it all now. I trust that I’m safe to love, safe to live, and that trust comes back when I walk into my apartment to find Nick and Jonah in my kitchen preparing dinner together, or I hear them laughing and playing together while I take some time to just sit, read, let myself relax.
He hasn’t officially moved in, but he’s always at my place. He has clothes that he brings over but never seems to take back: toiletries, a toothbrush, and the healthy snack bars that he doesn’t have to ask Jonah and me not to eat because they are disgusting .
Really, the only time he goes back to his place is to work out, so he basically just has a really nice, really private gym across the hall.
‘You’re doing great, honey.’ His voice pulls my attention, and I find his smiling eyes. ‘It looks beautiful already.’
I let Leo design my tattoo. It’s what he does best, after all, and what he came up with was perfect. Wildflowers, bees, and butterflies. A beautiful bright wash of color on my skin in place of scars I spent so long being ashamed of. He warned me that some of the scarring was rough and wouldn’t tattoo well, so he’d have to work around that, but I don’t mind. I thought hiding them would make me forget, but I don’t want to forget, not anymore. I want to remember what I went through and what I made it through because look at me now.
I focus on Nick, watching him as his gaze drifts between my eyes, my tattoo, and Leo, all while he holds my hand in his, anchoring me with his calm, loving energy.
‘Move in with us,’ I say without meaning to and the collective gasps around the room as Nick focuses on me reminds me that we’re not alone. ‘You basically live there anyway,’ I smile, ‘let’s make it official.’
With a wide smile, he nods, then leans in to kiss me, whispering, ‘You kind of just stole my thunder.’ Confused, I watch him as he pulls the small box from his pocket, and Leo pulls back, putting down the machine. I hear Zoe and Cara start to cry, and Bree’s low, ‘ Jesus,’ and I laugh.
‘I was thinking we could make this all the way official,’ Nick says, and I giggle, not intending to, but just taking in everything around me: my unfinished tattoo, me flat on my back while my boyfriend leans over me, Leo just as close as he is and surrounded by our friends, two of them heavily pregnant and sobbing. ‘I was hoping to wait until your tattoo was finished and we were alone but fuck it, you feel like marrying me, Miss?’
I nod, yes, my own tears coming now, despite my laughter.
‘You’re damn right I do.’
The End