by Lexi Wilson
“I feel like we were a puzzle that had to be put back together.”
“I feel like that too.”
“Do you feel like there is still one piece missing?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. Brett, I wanted to ask you...what I mean is, this isn’t a home without you. I want to wake up to you every day. I want to go to bed beside you every night. Will you move back home? It’s where you belong. It's where you have always belonged.”
I turned off the water and left the dishes in the sink and walked over to where Evie sat at the table and pulled her to her feet. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
“I miss you, Brett. I miss you with all of my heart. It’s not whole without you.”
“Evie,” I whispered. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Brett. I never stopped.”
“Me either.”
She looked at me with hooded eyes. “Please, Brett; take me to bed,” she begged.
I took her hand and led her towards the stairs, pausing in the doorway of the kitchen to the hall. She looked at me quizzically. “Brett? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is perfect, Evie,” I told her. I looked up, and her eyes followed, and she smiled softly as her eyes fell on the mistletoe that hung over her head. I tipped her face back and kissed her, long and slow, pouring years of my love for her into the kiss.
“I have loved you for more than half of my life, Evie and I will keep loving you until the day I die. There is no one else I would ever want to spend my life with, to share my family with. Every day is a blessing with you, with Hannah, and one day soon, this little ninja,” I said, touching her belly. “I love you, Evie, to the moon and back.” I got down on one knee, and she gasped as I pulled the ring box from my pocket. I flipped the box open, and tears started to run down Evie’s cheeks. “I want this life forever with you. We are a puzzle, and it only fits together with all its pieces. My puzzle is incomplete without you, without all of you. So, Evie Capal, will you marry me, again?”
Slowly Evie got down on her knees with me, and she took my face in her hands. She kissed me softly. “Yes, Brett, I will marry you. I love you.”
We were both crying by then, and my hand shook as I took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit, and I took that as a sign.
“It’s so beautiful,” she gushed, staring at the ring.
“It’s a family heirloom. I forgot all about it, but I was talking to my dad last week, and I told him I wanted to get new rings to propose to you and he reminded me he had it and we went and got it last week. I kind of wish I had had it when I proposed the first time, but I think this is better.”
“I do too.” She leaned in to kiss me again.
“Should we wake up Hannah and tell her?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Let’s tell her in the morning. Right now, I’d like to celebrate, just the two of us.”
I stood and helped Evie back to her feet. I pulled her in close and whispered in her ear. “With pleasure, soon to be Mrs. Capal again.”
In the morning, I awoke in my bed with Evie beside me, and I let out a sigh of contentment as she slept. She slowly started to stir awake, and I placed a soft kiss on her hair as she did.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning, handsome,” she smiled.
“Should we go wake up our daughter?”
“I can't believe she isn't already.”
“I’m going to make sure everything is ready downstairs; you go get her.” She nodded, and I climbed out of bed. Evie gave a little whistle as I pulled on some sweatpants. She hadn't gotten rid of my things, and I had found all of my old clothes exactly where I had left them all. I crossed back to her and leaned down to kiss her hard, leaving Evie breathless when I pulled away.
“I’ll see you downstairs,” I told her, tossing a wink over my shoulder as I left the room.
Several minutes later, Evie and Hannah joined me in the living room. Hannah oohed and ahhed over the pile of presents and squealed over each one she opened. After she had opened them all and sat amidst a pile of wrapping paper, I called her over to where I sat on the couch. She climbed onto my lap.
“Your mommy and I have one more present for you, Hannah Banana.”
“What is it?” she asked excitedly.
I looked at Evie and nodded. “Daddy is going to come home,” she told her. “He’s going to live here with us.”
“Every day?” she asked.
“Every day,” I confirmed. “And me and your mommy are going to get married again.” I took Evie’s hand in mine and squeezed.
“We're going to be a family again?” Hannah asked.
“We’re going to be a family forever,” I promised her. “We’re just whole again,” I said quietly as Hannah hugged me and Evie kissed my cheek. This was my family, my loves, and they were mine again forever.
Epilogue
Evie
It was late, and after an hour of steady crying, Seth was finally asleep in his crib. I tiptoed from his nursery and back to the bedroom where Brett was stretched out on the bed with his laptop.
“Is he asleep?” he asked, setting the computer aside.
“Finally. I thought he’d never tire out,” I replied.
“I don’t remember Hannah being this difficult.”
“They are two very different children, that is for sure,” I said as I laid down beside him. He lifted his arm so I could cuddle at his side and I laid my head on his chest.
Eight months had passed since Brett had proposed again and things could not have been better between us. Seth had been born in four months prior in early April, and we were discovering a whole new routine with taking care of two kids. Seth was a much fussier baby than Hannah had ever been, so it had been an adjustment to get used to his quirks versus what we had been used to with Hannah, but we were finding our way.
“I still think we need a bigger house though.”
“We have three bedrooms; why do we need a bigger house?”
“The kids need a playroom. And we can make a whole new set of memories in a new place. And what if we decide to have another one?”
“Now you’re getting a little ahead of yourself. We still need to get married again first.”
“Are you excited for tomorrow?” Brett asked.
I smiled. “Mm-hmm.” We were getting married the next day, a wedding we had started planning the moment we got engaged again. As soon as I had gotten the okay from my doctor, I had started working on burning off the baby weight I had put on with Seth and I was back down to my normal size again.
“Sweet dreams, Evie,” Brett said as he kissed my hair. “Tomorrow we’ll be husband and wife again, and I can’t wait.”
“You can't wait because then you can start house hunting.”
He chuckled. “I’ve already been doing that. Just wait until you see your wedding present.”
I stood outside the doors to the chapel the following afternoon with my father, waiting for the moment I would walk down the aisle again to Brett.
“You look beautiful, honey,” my dad told me. “Your mom and I are so happy for you and Brett.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
We heard the music change, and he gave me a reassuring smile. “Are you ready?”
“I've never been readier for anything in my life.”
The church doors swung open, and I made my way down the aisle with my dad. Brett looked up at me with love shining in his eyes. The chiffon of my cream-colored dress swirled at my feet, and I held a bouquet of pale pink peonies in my hand. The only people in attendance were our parents, Matthew, Pastor Pat, and of course Hannah. I passed my little girl the bouquet to hold as my dad passed my hand to Brett.
“Hi,” he whispered. “You look beautiful.”
“So, do you.” The navy suit he had picked out was officially my favorite thing in his closet.
Pastor Pat began the ceremony,
and the words barely registered as I stared up at Brett. After everything we had gone through, that I put us through, that he put us through, to find ourselves here again almost felt surreal. But it was happening, finally. We would be whole again.
“The bride and groom have prepared their own vows today,” Pastor Pat said. “Brett,” he nodded.
Brett squeezed my hands and lifted them to his mouth, kissing the back of each of my hands. “Evie, we have a second chance at happiness. I come today with a promise to give you my love, my heart, and my hope for our future together. My love for you will always be endless and eternal. I promise to bring you joy every day and to learn to love you more each day, for all of the days of our lives. I love you, Evie.”
“And now Evie,” Pastor Pat said.
“Brett, I am so proud to marry you again. We will wipe clean the old canvases of our life and let God fill them anew with color, harmony, and beauty. Our love will be stronger and better than before. I give myself to you completely, and I will not forsake you or these vows that we made again. I will strive to show you my love for the rest of our lives. I will love you always for the rest of our lives. This is my promise to you.”
Pastor Pat smiled, and we handed him our new wedding bands, laying them on the bible. He said a prayer and Brett took mine and fitted it onto my finger.
“With this ring, I thee wed...again.”
I giggled as I slid his band onto his finger. “I love you,” I told him.
“May you always remain sweethearts and friends and may your marriage be full of kindness for many years to come that bring you happiness, for you share a forever love that is unbreakable and will always light your way home. You may kiss the bride,” Pastor Pat said to Brett.
He pulled me in close and then dipped me back and he kissed me as our family cheered.
“Mr. and Mrs. Brett Capal…again,” Pastor Pat laughed as Brett lifted our intertwined hands up in victory.
Because it was a victory, finding our way through the storm to our happily ever after.
And I wouldn't have changed a thing about it. For all the ups and downs we had gone through, we only came out of it stronger, with a renewed passion for each other and a better understanding of what love meant. We had each other, and we could get through anything as long as it was together.
The Wannabe Daddy
Chapter 1
Jaxon
I had always loved summertime in Vermont, especially in the small, sleepy town where I had resided in my whole life. I could understand the desire to travel, and I’d done my fair share every now and again. I was ex-military after all, so I’d seen a lot. However, I had a pull toward the town that I could not explain, and I knew that no matter what happened I would always keep coming back. It was home, and it was my favorite place in the world. I was one of the lucky ones, I knew that. I would hate to be the sort of person who felt the constant need to get away.
It had been a busy day, but that wasn’t all that unusual for me. We were just about to start our summer season of music school, and I couldn’t wait to start. I loved the after-school sessions the most, mostly because I got to do a lot more one-on-one sessions, and for the most part I got the opportunity to deal with some very talented kids. Some of them were there of their own accord, while others had come because of their parents. I couldn’t decide which ones I liked more. The ones who wanted to be there certainly made my job easier, but the others were more of a challenge, and if there’s one thing I liked more than anything else, it was a challenge. Sometimes the kids that I battled with the most at first ended up being the best ones.
As I drove up to the school I spotted Eric walking by, and the moment he saw me he rushed over. Eric had been one of the more troubled kids I had worked with. His parents both worked late and they had sent him to various lessons after school to keep him busy. They figured it would do him good and that it was better than him just sitting at home and watching TV. Of course, watching TV at home was exactly what Eric had wanted to do, and because of this he resented being sent to lessons. What was worse was that he had no natural musical talent whatsoever, and he told me that he didn’t want to make a fool of himself. I assured him that he would never have to play for a crowd if he didn’t want to, and that there were no exams for him to take. His lessons were purely for his own benefit, and because of that I told him to just have fun with it. It took a while to convince him, but eventually he figured out that music wasn’t nearly as scary as he thought it was. He wanted to play the guitar because it was the ‘coolest’ out of all the instruments, so we focused only on the music he liked. In the end, we’d bonded over our love of Metallica, which was a band that nobody else in his age group liked. While everyone else was putting up posters of Justin Bieber, he was rocking it hard with the sort of music even my parents liked. I didn’t tell him that, though. I couldn’t have him thinking he was outdated. By the end of the year, Eric was a great guitar player, and even his personality seemed to have changed. He was no longer the angry kid who hated his parents and his life. Instead, he was introspective, creative, and a pleasure to be around.
“Hi, Mr. Leonard,” he said to me.
“Hey, Eric. Good to see you again. I didn’t know you had lessons again this year.”
He groaned. “I don’t. Unfortunately, I’m here for Spanish.”
“Spanish? I didn’t know your parents spoke Spanish.”
“They don’t. They just want me to learn it.” He shook his head. “Don’t even try to figure it out. I already told them I would prefer to learn French, especially since I’m hell-bent on moving to Canada one day, but they won’t hear of it. Anyway, I figured I wasn’t keen on music lessons and I ended up loving it, so I’ll give this a try too.”
“That’s a good attitude to have,” I said. I was impressed. This was definitely not the same Eric I had met a year ago. “Still playing guitar?” I asked.
He grinned. “Of course I am. Actually, I joined a band.”
“What? Are you serious? That’s great news.”
“Yeah. It’s more for fun, though. I don’t think we’re going to get gigs or anything. But we meet up every Sunday. My parents don’t mind either, because we meet at my place so they can at least see that I’m not lying about it. Anyway, I better go, Spanish is calling. Au revoir!”
I laughed. “That’s French!”
He chuckled. “I know.”
I laughed as he hurried off to class and made my way inside. I was a bit early, but I wanted to set up before the kids came in. My mother arrived moments later and gave me a big hug. My mother, Lisa Leonard, was a wonderful woman, and the two of us got on well despite seeing each other all the time. Just like I felt no need to get away from my hometown, I also knew my relationship with her was different. I loved my mother, and even though I was 30 years old I still looked up to her. It was my mother who had come up with the idea of starting the music school. She was a retired teacher, and she’d been devastated to learn that the school budget no longer had money for music classes. We’d always had a very musical family and we knew how important music was to the lives of some students. Together with Mindy Stokes, another retired teacher from the same school, we’d started the music school. Our aim was to help the kids from our small town as well as a few of the surrounding areas to keep music alive in their lives. It had been tough to get it started, but we were now growing more than we had hoped. We were, in fact, on the lookout for another piano teacher, but we had been unable to find one so far.
“Hi, Mom,” I said as soon as she walked in.
“Jaxon, you’re so early.”
“Of course. I wanted to get us all set up. So, you ready to start the summer program?” I asked.
“I’m excited. I think this is going to be a good term. I have a good feeling about it,” she said. When it came to the school, my mother was always positive about it, so I wasn’t surprised.
“Me too,” I said. “Hey, I just bumped into Eric.”
“You did? I
s he on the list for this year? I don’t remember seeing his name.”
“Nah, sadly not. But he said he’s still playing. He’s joined a band.”
“A band? And to think, once upon a time he didn’t want anything to do with music. You’re a good teacher, Jaxon.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“So, where was he off to, then?”
“Actually, he was on his way to Spanish lessons.”
My mom groaned. “That poor kid. His parents make him do too much. Well, for what it’s worth, he’s become very grounded. I swear I thought he was going to steal from us the first time he walked through those doors, but he turned out to be one of the good ones.’’
“Yeah, he’s great. I bet you he’ll do well at Spanish, too. He’s just that sort of kid, isn’t he?’’
“Yeah, he is. He’s going to go far in life. So, any luck finding a piano teacher?” she asked as she begun to set up. As she unpacked, I smiled at her. She was a tiny thing with long red hair and pale skin. The two of us made for an interesting sight, as I’d somehow ended up tall and more towards the larger side of things. Although, that was probably because I liked food almost as much as I liked music. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the way my mother acted, or because she was so tiny, but she looked about 10 years younger than she really was. She certainly didn’t look like she was my mother, that was for sure.
“Nope, I haven’t found anyone yet. I’m going to put up another advert this weekend. You’d think people would be lining up for jobs.”
“Not around here. You know what it’s like. It’s a small town and everyone is already so set in their ways. Pity you didn’t teach Eric the piano. Knowing that kid, he would’ve been able to teach one day. He picks things up so quickly.’’