Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
King
The drive home feels longer than ever when I have to spend it separately from Sawyer. I wish I could be with her right now, but we couldn’t leave my car or Aria’s. I know Sawyer wants to leave this place behind for good.
I don’t blame her. There’s not much left for her here, but back home, with us, there is.
I want a life with her and my girls. I want her to be my wife. I want her to be a mother for them. And maybe for us to have another kid one day, if that’s what she wants.
I want to give her everything.
I follow her the entire drive home, and we pull up to my house at exactly the same time, parking next to each other in the driveway.
I quickly get out of my truck, going to open her door and getting her bag out for her.
“Thank you.” She smiles up at me, and she seems lighter.
Like after everything that happened today, she’s free.
She’s got to be the strongest woman that I’ve ever met with how she’s handled herself, not just over the past few days but her whole life. She was faced with so many things that could easily break a person, but she never cowered. She fought for herself. For the life she now has.
That’s the type of strength I hope my girls will have one day. It’s why I knew she’d be perfect for them even when she wasn’t convinced.
She’s lived through the shittiest parts of life and still manages to put a smile on her face every day.
That’s the type of role model I want for Ellie and Willow.
If either of them is half the woman that she is one day, I’ll know that I did my job as a parent.
I hold her hand in mine as we walk up to the door, only letting go so that I can unlock it. I see my parents sitting on the couch with the girls as soon as I open the door. Willow’s head shoots up at the sound of the door, and she jumps off the couch. She runs toward us, and I open my arms to catch her like I normally would, but she ignores me, running straight past me into Sawyer’s arms.
Sawyer bends down, a loud laugh falling from her lips as she catches her, wrapping her tightly in her arms.
“Thank god you guys are home, it’s been forever.” Willow huffs, squeezing her tightly.
Sawyer looks up at me, pure happiness shining in her eyes. “I told you I’m the favorite,” she mouths up at me, and I chuckle.
“I missed you too, kiddo,” she says to Willow.
“Where’s my hug?” I ask, fake offended.
“Hey, Dad,” she says, letting go of Sawyer and coming to hug me.
I reach down, wrapping her in my arms and picking her up. She laughs, yelling at me to put her down, that she’s not a baby, and I eventually place her back on the ground.
Ellie comes up behind Willow, and I yank her into my arms, hugging her for a second before she pushes me off.
I watch as she walks up to Sawyer, wrapping her arms around her. Sawyer peers up at me as she hugs her back, her eyes welling with tears. She knows this is a big deal for Ellie, and I think it’s just as big of a deal for her.
“Are you okay?” Ellie whispers to her.
I told Sawyer that I told the girls about her mom, and that’s why I needed to go be with her.
“Yeah.” She nods, a genuine smile on her face. “How could I not be when I have you three?” She looks between me, Ellie, and Willow, and I smile down at her.
“Duh, we’re awesome,” Willow says, all of us breaking out into laughter.
My parents get up from the couch, saying hi to both of us, my mom pulling Sawyer into the kitchen to make sure that she’s really okay, I’m sure.
After everything calms down and we’re able to put our stuff down, we all sit around the couch while Willow tells us about the cool new pizza place my parents took them to for dinner last night. Apparently, they had the best chocolate cake she’s ever had and insists that me and Sawyer have to go back with her to try it.
About half an hour passes with us just sitting around and talking before my dad speaks up.
“We should probably head out soon,” he says.
“Oh yeah, we can get out of your hair. Give you guys some alone time,” my mom adds.
“Actually, why don’t you guys stay?” I ask. “I can call everyone else to come over too, we can order some of that pizza and chocolate cake that Willow loves.”
“A family night with everyone.” Sawyer smiles up at me.
“Exactly.” I nod.
“That sounds perfect.” She reaches over, squeezing my hand.
“Yay for cake,” Willow yells.
“I’ll go call,” I say, grabbing my phone and standing from the couch. I walk into the kitchen, doing as I said and calling everyone up and telling them to essentially get their asses over here.
Normally, I’d be exhausted after a day like today. I’d want to just spend the night with my girls, all three of them, and crawl into bed. But I think Sawyer needs this. To be surrounded by all the people who love her. To show her that she’s got a real family here with us.
Everyone starts showing up within the next half an hour. Kade and Logan get here first, Lo immediately running up to Sawyer to talk to her and make sure that she’s okay. If anyone’s dealt with loss, it’s Logan, so I know she understands what Sawyer’s going through on some level.
Gabby understands too, so I’m sure she’ll do the exact same as soon as she gets here.
“The party’s here,” Asher yells, about ten minutes later, when he and Demi walk in. The two of them are carrying half a dozen pizzas, garlic rolls, and cake that I asked them to pick up for everyone.
“Cake!” Willow yells, practically tackling Demi to get it from her.
“Hey, you better split it with me,” Demi jokes, following Asher to put everything down in the kitchen.
Kyson and Gabby show up a couple minutes later, Theo and Aria trailing behind them. About half an hour later, Skye, Trix, and Gabe show up too.
Ellie plugs her phone into the speaker next to the TV, playing music, and everyone helps themselves to food and drinks.
“Don’t Stop Believing” plays through the speaker at one point, and Demi squeals, grabbing Asher and Logan and forcing them to help her put on their own concert. Sawyer wastes no time, grabbing Aria and joining them as they dance around our living room, singing loudly and, well, awfully.
She even grabs my mom and a very uninterested Ellie, forcing her to dance with them. Willow needs no convincing at all, jumping right in.
Kade laughs at the helpless look on Logan’s face from the corner, while Theo yells, “Encore!” and Kyson and Gabby look like they’re trying to hold back tears of laughter.
The house is filled with overwhelming love and happiness, and I think being surrounded by everyone, it may be the happiest I’ve ever felt too.
Sawyer makes her way around talking to everyone, but my eyes don’t leave her the entire night. It’s been like this since the first time I saw her. It’s like the second she splashed that drink on me all those months ago, she woke me up, and it didn’t end there.
She forced herself into my life. She made herself seen, and I couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t stop wanting her.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always thought my life was full. I’ve been happy. I had an amazing family, a great business, it never felt like anything was missing until I met her.
Sawyer Davis was my missing piece.
As the hours pass, everyone slowly starts leaving until it’s just the four of us left. It’s a school night, but I let Ellie and Willow stay up anyway, all of us getting comfortable and putting on a movie to watch together on the couch.
We make it about a half hour into the movie before Willow falls asleep on my lap and Ellie sneakily slides her AirPods in when she thinks no one is looking, lying back on the couch and closing her eyes.
“Thank you for today,” Sawyer whispers when she’s sure no one else is listening. “I needed it. You know, I don’t think I ever even realized how much I needed all of this. All of you.”
“I never realized how much I needed you either.” I look down at my girls. “How much we needed you.” I brush a fallen piece of hair behind her ear, and she leans into my touch. “You complete us, Sawyer.”
“My life always felt like it was missing that real family-like feeling. I have Aria, of course, but I never thought I’d have this. A real family. A real home .” A single tear falls from the corner of her eyes. “I’ve never been sure about what I wanted out of life, and sure, there’s still a lot of uncertainty, but if there’s one thing that I am sure of, it’s the three of you. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.” She looks up at me. “I love you, Damien King.”
“I love you more.” I lean my forehead against hers. “I’ve never been surer either,” I say, a small, happy chuckle falling from my lips as a thought runs through my head.
“What?” she asks.
“I was just thinking about how I’m gonna marry you one day,” I say, not hiding it. “Not yet. I have to convince you to move in with me first, but one day, you’ll be my wife, Sawyer Davis.”
“And my mom,” Willow mumbles in her sleep.
I peek over at Ellie, who doesn’t say anything but has a telling smile on her face, letting me know that she’s listening too.
A beaming smile covers Sawyer’s face as she looks down at Ellie and Willow, both of whom still have their eyes closed, and then back to me, a look of determination in her eyes.
“Is it too early to say I do?”