Chapter 31 Never
Never
“Hello?”
I sat up in bed and pulled my cell phone away from my face. Squinting to check the time as the bright screen cut through the darkness, I slammed it back to my ear.
“It’s time.”
“Aaron?” I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and leaned forward to turn on the bedside lamp.
“Shit, Bridge. It’s time.” His voice shook. “Are you coming? Please tell me you’re coming.”
I swung my legs out of bed, my bare feet hitting the wood floor. “Oh, you better believe I’m coming. Are you on your way to the hospital?”
“Yes. Contractions are four minutes apart.” A sharp, semi-hysterical laugh burst in my ear. “Nadine wanted to let me sleep as long as possible.”
I laughed as I padded to the dresser and pulled out clean clothes. “It’s good she keeps you on your toes.”
He growled. “You women are going to be the death of me. Tell me you’re on your way.”
“I’m on my way,” I replied simply.
“Is Jake home?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Bring my dad.”
A heavy silence hung between us. I looked at Kian who had sat up in bed with his eyes trained on my face, that gloriously messy bedhead begging for my fingers even now.
Steadfast.
Patient.
Ready and willing to be and give whatever we needed.
“Okay,” I replied softly. “I’ll bring your dad.”
“Thank you.”
I closed the call and watched Kian’s face as the words, and their meaning, penetrated. Saw the moment understanding dawned.
Raising a shaking hand to cover his eyes, he muttered a shaky, “Shit.”
“Eloquent,” I teased. “But succinct. Are you ready to go meet your grandbaby?”
We made it to the hospital in record time, the harsh glare of the overhead lights in the family waiting room a stark contrast to the moonlit night we left behind. But as first babies were wont to do, this one was taking its sweet time.
The constant jangle of beeping, intercom announcements, and chatter from the nurses added to our anxiety.
While Wren and I combatted it by talking quietly in the corner, Max sat staring at the floor with his elbows braced on his thighs, hands dangling between his spread knees. Kian, meanwhile, jiggled his leg so much I begged him to move down a seat to give me some peace.
Every hour on the hour, Kian stood up abruptly and completed several rounds of pacing the waiting room. Each time the wide white doors to labor and delivery opened, his attention swung around to see who came through.
This time, his attention was rewarded.
But Wren made it to Aaron’s side first. “Tell me,” she breathed.
He grinned down at his mother. “Nadine was incredible.” He shook his head. “I’m, I can’t even tell you how amazed I am at what she just did.” He rubbed a rough hand over his hair and barked out an incredulous laugh. “Shit, women are tough.”
Wren closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief.
Aaron continued. “We have a baby girl, six pounds, ten and a half ounces. Her name is Thalia.”
Wren covered her face with her hands as happy tears streamed from her eyes.
Aaron threw back his head and laughed as he drew her into his arms.
Grinning, Max extended his arm to shake hands, but Aaron tugged him into their tight little circle where they stood clinging to one another.
Kian watched, a look of such utter longing in his eyes, it physically hurt me. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed.
It was at that moment, Aaron looked up. Catching my eye, he beamed.
I laughed out loud.
“Okay,” he began. “Grandparents are allowed in.”
Kian edged back, taking me with him, as Wren and Max stepped forward.
It wasn’t until Aaron got to the door and opened it that he realized Kian hadn’t followed. Cocking his head to the side, he called softly, “Come on, Old Man.” Sliding his gaze to me, he added. “Bring Granny.”
I laughed and slanted him a warning glance that promised retribution, but nothing could penetrate the armor of peace and happiness he wore.
Not today.
Inside the room, already brightened by the addition of a huge bouquet of roses and a giant brown teddy bear, a beaming Nadine sat up in bed with a tiny bundle of pink nestled in her arms.
Wren and I nearly knocked Max out of the way plowing through to the miniscule sink to wash our hands before going anywhere near Nadine’s little sweetheart.
“Oh,” I breathed when we got to her bedside. “She’s beautiful.”
As small as she was, I could already tell she had Kian’s pretty mouth.
“Wren?” Nadine called. “Would you like to be the first to hold her?”
Watching my sweet friend take her first grandchild in her arms was a vignette of everything right and pure and good in this world.
After several moments, Nadine beckoned me over for my turn.
“Are you sure? She’s so small,” I protested.
“Already trying to get out of babysitting, Granny?” Aaron teased.
“Oh, Aaron.” I laughed. “You and I are going to have words after this, you little shit.”
“I’m counting on it,” he teased as Wren transferred Thalia into my arms.
“Oh, God,” I gasped, sinking into the nearest chair. “I need to sit. I wasn’t prepared. She’s so beautiful. I think I just fell in love.”
“I can see it now,” Nadine teased. “She’s going to be spoiled rotten.”
“Not rotten, no,” I countered. “But spoiled, definitely.”
“The nurse told us not to pass her around too much,” Aaron murmured a little while later as he gently took her from my arms. “And I want everyone to get a turn.”
Approaching Max, Aaron laid his daughter in his arms.
Max stared down at her, wonder stamped on his face. “Thank you, Aaron,” he breathed.
“You don’t get to keep her,” Aaron joked. “But she’s your granddaughter, too.”
After a few minutes, Aaron faced Kian. “Aren’t you going to wash your hands?”
Kian shook his head, stepping back. “It’s okay, I don’t want to…” His words petered off.
“Don’t want to what?” Aaron smirked.
“I don’t know,” Kian replied, sounding lost.
“Wash your hands, Old Man,” Aaron ordered.
‘Old man’ was what he’d taken to calling his father after hearing Kian address his grandfather.
When he popped into see me in my kitchen, it was ‘How’s the old man?’
Visiting the house, he greeted him with ‘How you doin’, Old Man?’
‘Think you’ve got what it takes to beat me, Old Man?’ came out when they took their teasing to the basketball court, the soccer field, and the baseball diamond, discovering in each other a mutual love for sports.
And a competitive drive that was not always altogether healthy.
Kian huffed out a laugh as he washed and dried his hands before slowly approaching his son, a wary uncertainty of his welcome lingering still.
Aaron passed Thalia from Max’s arms into Kian’s hands.
Those large, calloused hands that only ever touched us with gentleness, cradled her tiny rump and supported her downy head as he held her in front of him and stared down at her precious face.
Kian’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat once, twice, three times, but no words came.
Aaron gently pushed her into Kian’s chest and secured her like the protective father I knew he would be and touched a finger to her downy cheek.
Then he swallowed, the sound audible in a room where you could hear a pin drop. “I see,” Aaron began. “I want you to know I see everything you’ve done to bring and keep your family together. I’m grateful,” he paused, his chin trembling, “for your example.”
Each word from Aaron’s mouth found its target.
And with no armour in the world that could withstand those kinds of blows, Kian tucked his chin to his chest.
And he cried.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
Two weeks later, Kian’s family returned to Sage Ridge, ready to officially welcome the newest members of the family into the fold.
All three of us: Thalia, Jake, and me.
Standing at the altar, a place I swore I’d never visit again, I faced the future promised in Kian’s soft hazel eyes with confidence as he took my hands in his.
His beautiful hands. Large and calloused, capable of building us a home and holding me together when I fell apart.
I spoke my vows in front of everyone we knew and loved with certainty, surer of this than I’d ever been of anything in my life.
But I wasn’t nearly ready for his.
Holding my left hand in his, he pushed the wedding band to my first knuckle, then raised his eyes to mine.
The rest of the world disappeared.
“I built you a house, but you gave me a home.
I offered my protection, but you gave me a safe place to heal.
I gave you my pain, you turned it into laughter.
I give you my heart, my calm, my strength, and my son. In exchange, I’ll revel in your chaos, hold you when you cry, worship your body, and thank God every single day for the peace you bring to my life.
I promise to always choose us.
And I’ll guard your heart with my life.”
With that, he slid the ring onto my finger and smiled down into my glossy eyes.
Without waiting for any kind of declaration from the pastor, he placed those big hands on my waist, pulled me close, then bent me over his arm and laid a kiss on me the likes of which that little church had never seen.
And would probably never see again.
When he finally let me up for air to the sound of our friends and family laughing and clapping in celebration, he led me over to the antique side table to sign the documents that legally bound us.
I signed with a flourish then passed the pen to him to scrawl his signature across the bottom of the page.
Standing, he cupped my face in his hands. “I promised you a wedding gift.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need anything else.”
“You might want this one,” he smirked. “Do you remember a few weeks back I went home to tie up some legal issues?”
I nodded.
Looking over my shoulder, he gave a nod and turned me around so my back pressed against his chest.
Isaiah walked over with his Aunt Morrigan. When they reached the table, Morrigan released Isaiah’s hand. “Go get her, buddy.”
I smiled as he handed me an envelope with a crayon drawing of our funny, little blended family on the front, all seven of us with Max and Wren up in the corner.
I laughed. He was still figuring out where everybody fit in the grand scheme of things. “It’s beautiful, Iceman. We’ll get it framed and hang it in the front hall.”
Dipping my knees, I moved to hug him but he backed out of the way.
Dancing from one foot to the other, the bowtie of his tiny tux peeking out of his pants pocket, he insisted, “There’s more! Inside! You have to open it!”
As I slipped my fingers under the flap and pulled out the papers inside, my laughter faded away. I scanned the page, then went back to the top and ensured it was exactly what I thought it was.
Turning to my husband, I covered my mouth with my hand. “Kian, are you sure?”
Snaking his hand around the back of my neck, he pulled me in and tipped my head back to meet his gaze.
Speaking low, only for me, he explained, “You sign this, and you have the same rights and responsibilities to Isaiah as I do. No one will ever be able to take him from you, and if something happens to me, no one will ever be able to take you from him.”
My eyes filled. “Are you sure?”
He smiled. “Positive.”
“Does Isaiah understand?” I whispered.
“Oh, yeah,” he answered, jerking his chin toward his son.
Spinning around, I opened my arms, and he flew into them.
He tolerated my embrace for a solid thirty seconds before drawing back slightly and, reminiscent of his dad, he cupped his tiny hands around my face. “Will you be my mom, Bridge? Ficially?”
“Oh, yeah,” I replied with a nod, his face a blur of tears. “But you’re going to have to eat spinach.”
He pressed his little mouth tight and narrowed his eyes. “We’ll talk.”
The next few hours passed in a whirl of family, photographs, food, and laughter.
Everyone we knew and loved showed up to celebrate with us at my first fully planned event at The Sage Ridge Resort, my own wedding.
Noelle claimed I was the worst bridezilla she’d ever encountered.
Instead of throwing my bouquet, I picked it apart and offered each of the precious women in my life a single stem, keeping exactly one for myself.
Kian declared in no uncertain terms he was keeping the garter, garnering a laugh as he surmised it was most certainly reusable.
When the time came for the last dance of the evening, he drew me into his arms.
Eyes twinkling, he smiled down at me. “Tell me, my Bridget, how are things looking here on the other side of never?”
I tipped my chin up and smiled back at him, my throat tight as I remembered how neatly I’d written him off.
And how, even so, there was never any question.
My voice husky, I gave him the truth. “They look like everything I never dared to dream.”
Closing his eyes, he pressed his forehead to mine.
“I won’t let you down.”
I tipped my chin up and pressed my lips to his and smiled.
“I know.”