CHAPTER NINE #3
Jon hurries with her over to the other side of the room, lifting her up on the table so she’s ready to shine. He even fixes her tiara and tutu so she looks just right. He takes the flowers from Jane and hands a bunch to Bentley and Branson.
Jane gives me a wink, and right next to her, Logan gives me two thumbs up. Next to them are Mike and Tripp, my oldest friends in the world. I realize that in this moment, everyone who means the most to me is in this room, well, will be as soon as my woman walks through that door.
I hear a sound on the other side of the door, and knowing her, she just tried to push the door open.
A couple of seconds later, the door opens, and the woman who’s taken my heart walks in.
She won’t think she’s sexy, but I love seeing her in jeans and a sweater, comfortable and still the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.
She lifts her sunglasses up and rests them on top of her head.
I see the moment she figures out something is out of the ordinary.
I watch her scan the room, getting to her boys and Bailey standing next to me.
“What’s going on?” Rory starts playing the guitar, and Kimbra’s face changes in recognition after the first few bars.
Rory starts singing, and Bailey joins in.
After the first few lines, both boys and I join in.
I walk toward Kimbra, toward my forever.
I hear more people join in singing a slowed-down version of one of her favorite ABBA songs, “Take a Chance on Me . ” I reach her, and I can see her eyes are watering.
She whispers, “What’s going on?” I take her hand and squeeze it, pulling her toward the tables.
We walk up together, holding hands, and get to Bentley first. He hands his mom the first bunch of flowers.
“Take a chance on him, Mom. He’s the only one who’s ever sat and taught me things about machines.
His fries are pretty good, too.” I smile.
The kids decided on what to say all on their own and didn’t tell me beforehand.
Bentley starts singing again, and we take a couple of steps to where Bailey is standing on the table and singing her heart out.
She takes her tiara off her head and puts it on Kimbra’s head.
“Take a chance on him, Mommy. Let him make you a queen like he always makes me a princess. He even chases the monsters in the closet away.” Kimbra is smiling bigger than I’ve ever seen her, but with a steady stream of tears rolling down her cheeks.
I squeeze her hand as we move in front of Branson.
He hands the flowers to his mom and has his say, which, if I’m honest, I was most nervous about since he seemed to be the last to accept me.
“Take a chance on him, Mom. It’s the first time I can ever remember you smiling and laughing every day.
He’s not just giving us a dad who actually really cares.
He’s also giving us you back. He’s made us a family again.
” Well, shit. Color me surprised and touched.
Kimbra lets my hand go, pulls Branson in for a hug, and whispers something to him.
It gives me a moment to get down on my knee to ask the most important question I think I’ve ever asked.
I have a ring, but I don’t have it out, wanting her full attention to my question first. I watch as Branson turns Kimbra around, and our eyes connect.
I hold out my hand, and she immediately takes it.
I love seeing the smile that lights up her face.
“I love you. I love you with every single cell in my body. I love Branson, Bentley, and Bailey because they are a part of you. I love your intelligence and how much you truly care for your patients. I love that you can’t tell your left from your right when driving.
I love that you have an obsession with good purses, olives, and ABBA.
I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up with you every morning.
I want my future to be so intertwined with you that no one in generations to come can separate us.
Will you marry me and make me happier than I ever thought possible?
” Through her tears, she nods and pulls on my hand, helping me up.
As soon as I’m standing, she crashes into me, hugging me.
“That was the most thoughtful, sweet, and beautiful thing. Including the kids and your whole family…I know some people want the romance of twinkle lights and just two people, but this… shows me just how much you know me and how much you get me. Saying I love you isn’t enough…
the words are just words people say, but they’ve always been more from you.
I can’t wait to spend every tomorrow with you.
” I kiss her and know that all of this was worth waiting a lifetime for.
Kimbra
I can’t believe he did all this for me. He got my kids involved and managed to have them keep a secret.
He had them play ABBA, and what he said, I could tell, came straight from his heart.
I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but I’m just going to be forever grateful that the sexiest man I’ve ever met in real life, with amazing broad shoulders, a panty-melting smile, and a heart so big it brings tears to my eyes, has seen something in me.
I can’t wait to marry him. He breaks the kiss, but I’m not ready to just yet, so I kiss him back.
When he breaks the kiss this time, he puts his forehead to mine.
“You’re stuck with me now, Doc.” I don’t think my smile has left my face, and my tears haven’t stopped, either.
“You’re the one that’s stuck, Mathis. Stuck with me and stuck with all of us.
” I can tell he smiles at that. “I will be happy for the rest of my life then. I’ve waited for this, and even though I didn’t know, I think the gods knew it was you who was meant to come into my life and give me everything I was too afraid to wish for.
I love you, Kimbra, and I can’t wait to marry you.
” Damn it, the tears keep coming. “I love you, and I can’t wait to call you my husband. ”
Our moment is interrupted by everyone coming to congratulate us.
Both Jane and Logan give me a hug and welcome me to the family.
Bentley’s busy jumping up and down, “I’m gonna have cousins now!
” Branson rolls his eyes at him but can’t keep a smile off his face, which tells me he’s really just as excited.
Bailey comes up to us, and I see her tug on Ben’s flannel.
He looks down, and she holds her hands up in the universal sign for “pick me up.” Sucker he is, he picks her up.
I watch as she pats his beard-covered cheek and chews on her finger for a second before she takes it out and asks him a question.
“‘Cause you’re marrying Mommy, you’re going to be family and live wit’ us foreber, right?
” Ben smiles at her and nods. “Yeah, I am.” He doesn’t say anything else, as we both can tell she’s got more to say.
“Since you’re gonna marry Mommy, you're gonna be our dad too, but since we have Dad and we call him Dad, I think you need a different name.” She puts her little hands on each side of his face, cupping it.
“I think your name should be Daddy.” I thought my tears were done for the day.
Ben looks over at me with glassy eyes, silently asking if I’m okay with it.
I give him a smile and a nod. He looks back at Bailey, and with a tremble to his voice that I’ve never heard before, he tells her, “I’d be honored for you to call me Daddy if you want.
” I hear sniffling next to me and I look over.
Jane’s next to me with tears in her eyes.
“Thank you. Thank you for giving him this. He’s been a great uncle, and he’s been happy, but this—” She points to Bailey still in Ben’s arms as he talks to Bentley.
“This is what his soul’s desired for so long, and I’m so happy he’s found you.
You and your kids just became part of this big family, and there’s no turning back now.
” What she doesn’t get is that I’ve always wanted a family like this.
A family that accepts us for us and embraces our individualities.
They love without judgment, and that’s something I’ve wanted since I was a little girl.
Anna walks up to me and embraces me in a big hug.
“I know what you’re feeling, and it’s going to keep hitting you for a while.
As someone who came from a very small family and a fucked up one at that, it’s hard to grasp just how hard this family loves.
They love without question, they don’t judge, and they’re there for anything you might need.
They’re going to be there for every game, recital, and awards ceremony, and for any emergency trip, they’ll come along or hold down the fort, whatever is necessary.
If you were hoping for a solitary life with Ben—” The damn tears are still falling.
“No, I didn’t have much of a family growing up, and since the kids were born, it’s only been them.
This is…Ben, the family, all of it. It’s more than I could’ve ever hoped for.
” Anna lets me go and looks at me with more knowledge and wisdom than I could ever hope to have.
“You’re gonna have a day. It could be next week, or it could be next year, but it will happen.
You’re going to have a day where all the kids and Ben are driving you absolutely batty, and you need just two hours of silence for yourself.
You call or send me, Linnea, or Jane a text, and within minutes, you’ll have your house to yourself.
We love our men and our kids to the ends of the earth, but there are moments where you just need a few minutes.
That’s what we’re there for. We get our men to contact yours, and magically, they all go to the hardware store.
Sometimes ‘they’ decide to go have breakfast at the diner together.
I can’t tell you the number of times Linnea and I have done that for each other over the years, and most of the time, our guys don’t even realize what’s happening.
” That I can believe, and it has me laughing.
“I can believe that. You and Linnea run this family. It may go unsaid, but we all know it.” Anna nods and leads me over to a table where a bottle of wine and glasses sit.
“I knew you were smart, but I’m very happy to see just how observant you are.
We can always use that in this family because our men aren’t.
Hell, I get asked to look for something daily that I only have to move one thing to find.
Having raised two boys and a girl just like you’re doing, I know you know all too well what I’m talking about.
Buckle up, darlin’, ‘cause the teenage years only get more challenging.” I know she’s right, but I also know that thanks to Ben and his- our family, I won’t be facing those years alone.
That right there is one of the biggest gifts I could’ve ever been given. Seriously, he is my unicorn.