Liam
Kate’s mother stood before them, her posture rigid but her eyes soft. “The ceremony was lovely.”
Laura’s gaze shifted to Sunny, studying her with an intensity that would have been uncomfortable if Sunny hadn’t met it with such grace.
The resemblance between Laura and Kate was subtle but unmistakable — the same determined set of the jaw, the same direct gaze.
Behind her stood Richard, Kate’s father, his hands clasped tightly behind his back, his expression unreadable.
“Hello Sunny,” Laura said finally. “Richard and I have heard so much about you from the girls.”
“It’s an honor to meet you,” Sunny replied, her voice gentle. “Maddie and Hailey talk about you all the time.”
An awkward silence fell between them. Liam could feel Sunny’s hand tighten around his, but her smile never faltered.
“I wasn’t sure we’d come,” Laura admitted, her voice catching slightly. “When Liam called last month…”
“It was difficult,” Richard spoke for the first time, stepping forward to stand beside his wife. “We thought it might feel like… betrayal.”
Liam swallowed hard. “I understand.”
“But then Maddie called us,” Laura continued. “Did you know? She called us all by herself. Said in her serious little voice, ‘Grandma, you and Grandpa need to come to Daddy’s wedding.’”
When I asked her why, she told us, ‘Because Sunny makes Daddy smile again, and she knows all about Mommy too. She doesn’t try to make us forget Mommy — she helps us remember her in happy ways.
’” Laura’s eyes glistened. “Then she said, ‘We’re making a new kind of family, and families should be together for important days. Mommy would want you to be there too.’ How could we say no to that? ”
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Richard said softly, his stern expression softening as he looked at Sunny. “We’ve watched how you’ve guided the girls through this. How patient you’ve been with them.”
“We resisted at first,” Laura admitted. “But seeing you today, the way you included Kate’s memory…
.” She paused, collecting herself. “Kate would have liked that. She never did anything halfway — loved fully, grieved deeply, celebrated joyfully. She wouldn’t have wanted any of you living in shadows. ”
Sunny blinked rapidly, fighting tears. “Thank you for saying that.”
Laura nodded, then reached into her purse and withdrew a small box. “I brought something for you. It belonged to Kate’s grandmother. Kate always said it should stay in the family.” She hesitated, then added softly, “You’re family now.”
Sunny accepted the box with trembling hands, opening it to reveal a delicate silver bracelet with a single charm — a small sun. Her eyes widened, lifting to meet Laura’s.
“The sun charm is new,” Laura explained. “I added it. Kate would have appreciated the… appropriateness.”
“It was Kate’s favorite piece,” Richard added, his voice gruff with emotion. “She wore it at her high school graduation, at our twenty-fifth anniversary. Said it made her feel connected to generations of strong women.”
“We had it cleaned and added the charm last week,” Laura said. “When we decided to come.”
Tears welled in Sunny’s eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
Richard cleared his throat. “You don’t need to say anything. Just… be patient with us. This is all new territory.”
“We’d like to be more present, if that’s all right,” Laura added. “For the girls, of course, but…” She glanced between Liam and Sunny. “For all of you.”
“We’d like that very much,” Sunny said, clasping the bracelet around her wrist where it caught the evening light. “The girls need their grandparents. And I… I’d like to know more about Kate, through your eyes.”
Something in Laura’s expression shifted then, a subtle softening. “I think she would have liked you,” she said quietly. “You have her warmth.”
“Take care of them,” Laura added, and Liam knew she meant not just the girls, but him as well.
“I will,” Sunny promised, and Laura seemed satisfied, rejoining her husband as they moved back toward their table.
Richard lingered a moment longer, turning to Liam. “You did good, son,” he said simply, patting Liam’s shoulder before following his wife.
Liam squeezed Sunny’s hand. “You okay?”
She nodded, wiping away a tear. “Better than okay. That was… that was everything, Liam.”
His response was cut short by the unexpected arrival of Gerald Parker, the team owner who had given Liam the ultimatum that had briefly torn them apart. Liam stiffened, instinctively moving closer to Sunny.
“Anderson,” Parker greeted him with a nod. “Mrs Anderson,” he added, with a nod to Sunny that contained more respect than Liam had expected.
“Parker. I don’t remember seeing your name on the guest list,” said Liam. There was a hint of humor in his delivery.
The older man had the grace to look uncomfortable. “I won’t stay long. Just wanted to offer my congratulations in person.” He cleared his throat. “And to let you know the board is considering expanding the coaching staff next season. They think your experience would be… valuable.”
Liam blinked, caught off guard. “Coaching?”
“Just something to think about.” Parker glanced at Sunny. “For when you’re ready to transition to the next phase of your career.”
As Gerald walked away, Liam felt an odd lightness settle over him.
For the first time, he was contemplating life after hockey not with dread, but with curiosity.
Possibilities stretched before him — coaching, more time with his family, supporting Sunny’s growing business — and none of them filled him with the panic that thoughts of retirement once had.
“You’d be an amazing coach,” Sunny said, watching his face. “The way you are with the girls and their friends… you have a gift for it.”
He squeezed her hand. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
The DJ announced their first dance, and Liam led Sunny to the small dance floor set up on the patio. As they began to sway to the music, he was reminded of another dance — in Saint Lucia, under the stars, when everything between them had seemed both impossibly complicated and breathtakingly simple.
“Sunny! Dad!” Hailey’s voice cut through the music as she bounded onto the dance floor. “It’s supposed to be a family dance!”
Liam laughed, lifting her into his arms “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.” Hailey nodded solemnly. “That’s what I told the DJ man.”
Maddie joined them more hesitantly, but when Sunny held out her hand, she took it, allowing herself to be drawn into their circle. The four of them moved together to the music, an imperfect but joyful dance that drew smiles from the watching guests.
The photographer captured the moment, and Liam made a mental note to place that photo next to the one of Kate with the girls that still held pride of place on the mantel.
As the song ended, Sunny prepared to toss her bouquet to the small cluster of eager women.
Her throw went wide, however, and the flowers landed squarely in Tyler’s unexpecting hands.
His startled expression drew laughs from everyone, lightening the mood and shifting the spotlight away from them for a moment.
“Found you!” Beth’s voice called from the patio. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time to cut the cake.”
They rejoined the reception, where they cut the cake together, fed each other small bites, and laughed at the girls’ impatience to get their own slices. As the evening progressed, Liam found himself standing slightly apart, watching his new family interact with their guests.
Sunny had already begun creating new traditions while preserving the important old ones.
She’d insisted on the string quartet because of Kate’s love for classical music.
She’d incorporated the maple leaf in her bouquet.
But she’d also added her own touches — the wildflowers, the simple elegance that was so distinctly her, the childish voices of her daycare children singing a song they’d practiced for weeks.
Liam thought about the adoption papers in his office drawer, his wedding gift to Sunny, offering to make their family legally complete whenever she felt ready.
They’d talk about it later, when the moment was right.
For now, it was enough to watch her with the girls, to see the love between them that had grown so naturally despite all the obstacles.
He found his gaze drawn to the mantel inside, visible through the French doors, where Kate’s photo still stood. We’re okay, he thought. All of us. Different, but whole again.
As the reception wound down and the last guests departed, Liam and Sunny put two exhausted but happy girls to bed together, listening to their sleepy recounting of favorite moments from the day.
Maddie, half-asleep already, murmured, “Good wedding, Dad.”
“The best,” he agreed, tucking the blanket around her.
They tiptoed out, closing the door softly behind them, and made their way to their bedroom. Someone — Beth, probably — had decorated it with candles and scattered rose petals across the bed. It was a bit of a cliché, but Liam found he didn’t mind.
Sunny stepped into his arms, her body fitting against his as perfectly as always. “So, Mr Anderson, we did it.”
“Mrs Anderson,” he replied, loving the sound of it. “We most certainly did.”
Their kiss deepened, hands moving with the familiarity of lovers who knew each other’s bodies well, but with the added intensity of their new commitment.
Liam unzipped her dress slowly, revealing inches of skin that he kissed as he went.
Sunny’s hands weren’t idle either, working at his shirt buttons with growing urgency.
They made love slowly at first, savoring each touch, each kiss. Then with increasing passion, whispering promises and endearments against heated skin. When they lay together afterward, breathing hard with hearts racing, Liam felt a sense of rightness that went bone-deep.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, running his fingers through her hair.
“Dangerous,” she teased, propping herself up on one elbow to look at him.
“About retirement.”
Her expression grew serious. “Really?”
He nodded. “Maybe after this season. Parker’s coaching offer got me thinking.” He hesitated. “I don’t want to miss anything else. The girls are growing so fast. And your business is taking off. I want to be part of all of it.”
Sunny’s smile was soft in the dim light. “I’d support whatever you decide, you know that. But I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love having you around more.”
“We could expand the daycare,” he suggested. “Maybe look for a bigger place eventually, with more outdoor space.”
“We could travel in the summers,” she added. “Show the girls the world.”
“Make more babies? Have a family extension,” he asked softly, watching her reaction carefully. They hadn’t discussed it much since the miscarriage — a wound that had healed but still ached when touched.
Sunny’s eyes widened, then softened. “I… I’d like that.”
Liam pulled her closer, marveling at how they were planning for a future again, something that had seemed impossible in the dark days after Kate’s death. They talked until Sunny’s responses grew sleepy, her body warm and relaxed against his as she drifted off.
He woke sometime in the early hours of the morning to find her gone, the sheets beside him cold. For a split second, old fears resurfaced — of abandonment, of loss — before he heard soft movements in the hallway.
Slipping out of bed, he found Sunny in the girls’ doorway, watching them sleep. She’d wrapped herself in his dress shirt, her hair loose around her shoulders, looking like she belonged exactly where she was.
“You okay?” he whispered, sliding his arms around her waist from behind.
She leaned back against him, never taking her eyes off the sleeping girls. “We did it,” she whispered. “We made a family out of our broken pieces.”
Liam rested his chin on top of her head, watching over all three of them, his heart full to bursting.
“Come back to bed,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.
As they slipped back under the covers together, Liam held her close, thinking about the journey that had brought them here and the one that stretched before them.
There would be challenges ahead — there always were — but for the first time in so long, he felt ready to face them.
Not alone, but with this remarkable woman by his side, with his daughters growing stronger every day, with a future full of possibilities he was finally ready to embrace.
His heart’s true second chance.
Sunny stirred against him, her voice thick with sleep. “What are you thinking about so hard? I can practically hear the wheels turning.”
“Just that I love you,” he said simply. “And that I’m not afraid anymore.”
She smiled, her eyes still closed. “Good. Because we’ve got a lifetime ahead of us.” Then, more hesitantly, “Liam? There’s something I’ve been waiting to tell you. I wanted to be sure before the wedding…”
Liam tensed slightly, an old reflex. “What is it?”
Sunny took his hand and placed it low on her still-flat stomach, her eyes opening to meet his in the darkness, filled with a mixture of joy and apprehension. “I think… I think we might have already started on that ‘family extension’ plan.”