by Ashley Munoz
If I could have yelled through the kitchen that I didn’t want to be in here and I would have much rather been watching the game that was on, I would have, but Faith needed me close, so I stayed.
“Thank you, Julia. I am doing well. The best, actually,” I replied, taking another bite of my apple. Faith patted Trevor’s head, playing with his ears.
“Do you mind giving us some privacy?” Julia asked kindly, folding her hands in front of her.
“No, he stays,” Faith said quickly. I flicked my gaze to Julia’s thinned lips and the back of my wife’s head. She put her hand out behind her, summoning me to get closer.
I loved my wife, but she was being clingy as fuck right now, and while I loved that about her literally everywhere else we went, her parents’ house wasn’t the place I wanted to show PDA or be her security blanket. Even so, I wasn’t about to give my bride the Be brave and do this alone speech.
I interlocked my fingers with Faith’s, pulling up a chair to sit next to her, then settled our linked fingers in my lap while I pulled my cell out. I’d give Julia the illusion that they were alone by pretending to check out of their conversation.
“So…” Julia cleared her throat, spreading her hands out in front of her, careful not to touch the black and white sonogram picture mere inches from her fingertips.
Faith’s eyes flitted down to the picture that sat between them, like she wanted to yank the image back toward her side of the table.
“So…” Faith drew the word out, huffing out a breath.
Holy shit, this was going to take all day at this rate.
“You’re pregnant?” Julia asked, her voice rising.
Faith straightened her spine, tilting her chin up. “And married.”
Shit.
I eyed my wife, silently begging her not to rub salt in the wound. We hadn’t invited Julia to the wedding, although it had been small enough that there wasn’t much to miss. Just Gemma, Seth, Tom, Jessie, my dad, and a few other people attended our tiny backyard wedding.
Clark, however, was one of the people who’d made the guest list. He’d been relentless with pursuing his daughter’s forgiveness, taking her out to coffee at least twice a week. He’d eventually worn her down, but Julia hadn’t made the same effort.
Things between them were still icy. It wasn’t until Clark and I double-teamed Faith, asking her to do this now that we were expecting a child. Enough was enough.
“Congratulations, sweetheart,” Julia softly replied, flicking her eyes from her daughter’s down to the table. There was no mistaking the pitch and shudder that ran through her as she said it. It must have killed her to miss her only daughter’s wedding…although, she had been present for at least one of Faith’s weddings, a fact I tried to ignore more often than I cared to admit. But this, the pregnancy, was like a stick of dynamite to all that shit that was in the past. It was new for both of us, something neither of us had ever walked out, so we were blissfully embracing it.
“Thank you.” Faith’s tone was curt.
I squeezed her fingers to get her talking, and she let out a sigh then relented.
“Mama, I want you to be in this baby’s life. We want you to be there.” Faith leaned forward, sliding the picture toward her mother.
Faith was twelve weeks along, so there wasn’t much on the image, just some white swirls and tiny shadows of limbs and where a head would be.
“I would like that very much.” Julia let out a small sob, putting a quick hand to her chest while she stared down at the picture of my kid.
And just like that, the invisible wall was down. Faith started sniffling, and tears were streaming down her face as she released my hand. She stood at the same time Julia did.
They both stared at each other for a moment, Trevor adjusting to his new place on the floor.
Then, like magnets, they drifted closer until they were hugging, crying, and sobbing. It was a lot…but even I had to admit it warmed my heart a bit.
Faith had her own reasons to be angry with her parents, but when I’d told her I had found a way to forgive her father, to move on for the sake of our family, the sake of our child, it had made her finally see reason.
Julia was going on and on about how she had just been waiting for Faith to thaw a bit before she attempted to talk to her, saying she’d known what she did was wrong, but she’d also known Faith was so upset there would be no getting through to her.
She wasn’t wrong. Faith was stubborn, and once she set her heart on something, there was no changing her mind. That said, this baby changed everything for us, although, I guess it had all changed when we’d given up on fighting each other.
I watched as my wife hugged her mother and smiled, ready for happiness, ready to embrace the future, whatever it held.
Faith
My little reunion with my mother was emotional, more so because of my hormones, but also because it was long overdue. Honestly, I had missed my mother fiercely, and I think Jace knew that, especially when I cried uncontrollably at our first doctor’s appointment. I couldn’t tell him why I was so emotional, but he could tell my tears weren’t happy ones.
They were because I wanted to run into my mama’s arms and tell her I was going to be a mother. I wanted her smile, her arms; I wanted her to be my mother. In order to have those things, it required me to talk to her.
After our hug-fest in the kitchen, we sat and actually talked, and I explained my issues with her. What she saw as letting me fight my own battles, I saw as her being distant and cold. It broke her heart, and she cried, begged for my forgiveness, and told me things would be different going forward.
I softened and decided to believe her. Ever since, we’d met at least once a week to talk, to shop, to laugh and gossip. She finally abandoned her two-truffle rule and just lived in the moment, talking, laughing, and loving.
It was a nice reprieve for Jessie, too, whom we included in our trips and dates as often as we could. Jessie had hugged me recently with tears in her eyes, thanking me for fixing it all. I’d laughed and cried because hormones, but I had ensured she knew it wasn’t me who fixed anything.
“No, it was. Faith, you could have run, could have left again. You could have run away from Jace when he pushed you away, but you stayed. You fixed it. You fixed everything,” she had sworn, hugging me fiercely. When she put it like that, there was a tiny part of me that allowed myself to agree.
I had grown. I had fixed some things that needed fixing.
I couldn’t even grasp that this was our life now.
After Jace married me, we traveled for our honeymoon. We started in Mexico, went to Brazil, and then headed to Europe. We still had a million and one places we planned to visit, but after a few weeks, Jace pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead and said he wanted me in our bed, at home, starting our life together.
As the weeks passed, the press lost interest. Tom wasn’t hired to help, but he often stopped by to check in, which moved my heart. He relayed once, privately, that Bryan had sought help, honest help with his anger and drinking issues, and he’d done it without the press knowing, which made me think he meant what he’d said. He was truly sorry. It was good to hear that he was taming his demons and finding peace.
Our house, the one Jace had built, was completely finished now, landscaped and complete with security, something to put us both at ease now that our baby was coming. I still spent most of my days at the interior design company I was interning at, learning everything I could and putting the knowledge toward the classes I was taking online.
It was a struggle to keep up with the companies I had inherited, so I sweetly asked my best friend if she was any good at business law, and if she could please find me someone to run the businesses without bankrupting them or running them into the ground. She squealed, threw her arms around me, and said she’d give me two years, then she was going back to civil cases and working pro bono.
I decided I’d take what I could get; besides, my husband owned and operated a c
ompany, so I was sure he could help me with a few of them.
I gave the keys to my apartment to Jessie. I’d purchased it and I told her she could pay rent if she wanted, or she could go to college and just focus on her studies. She cried and decided to continue with her studies, entering a veterinary program.
Jace allowed me to buy his father a nice house by the river where he could fish, and he even agreed to retire.
Things in our life were perfect, but I had one last thing to do to show my husband how much our future meant to me. With a rather big bump protruding from my belly, I tugged Jace’s hand as we waddled along the turf.
“Look,” I said, tilting my head toward the weeping willow and the massive headstone underneath it.
Jace stopped mid-step. With his eyes wide, he slowly strolled forward, taking careful steps toward his mother’s grave.
“H-how?” he stammered, running a finger along the glossy white stone.
“I ordered it a while ago, but it was finally finished over the weekend. Your dad came first, and Jessie, but I knew you’d want your own time anyway. So, I’m going to walk for a bit, because that masochist of a doctor said I have to. I’ll be near the Rover when you’re ready.”
I was about to walk away when he stopped me. “I want you with me. I want our baby here. I want to show her my family, let her know her prayers worked.”
His eyes glittered with tears, and I sank into his chest, so insanely grateful for second chances and for truth.
“Okay,” I whispered, settling down on the earth, basking in the sun as the man I loved began to talk to his mother about our life.
It was glorious, perfect, and mine, and I was never letting it go.
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Because it never gets addressed
Pip: A small hard seed in a fruit or a very attractive person or thing.
Also By Ashley Munoz
Interconnected Series:
Glimmer
At First Fight: A Fade Novella
Fade
Standalone’s:
What Are the Chances
The Rest of Me
Coming Soon:
Vicious Vet
Acknowledgments
As always, my gratitude is first and foremost for my creator, without whom I wouldn’t have the ability to tell stories or the passion for it.
To my husband and kids. We’ve been through a lot this year, more than I care to ever go through again, but we made it and we keep making it.
The timing of this book was odd and toward the end, quite challenging. I couldn’t have completed it all without your loving support.
To my mother. I thought I knew your strength, but you keep surprising me. You are the most selfless person I know and I can only pray that one day, I become as gracious in walking that out.
Eric, I love you and miss you always.
To my siblings: Gosh I freaking adore each one of you. Thank you for loving me, talking to me, supporting me and believing in me. Daniel, Jon, Rebecca, Amanda, Ben, Bryan, Kevin, Anthony and Elizabeth, you are my people.
Haley, Jonathan P, Chris, Lily- I freaking won the lottery in the “in-law” department.
Eli, a special thanks to you for lending me your experiences and perspective on the correctional facility side of things. Thank you for reminding me that being in jail for any amount of time, isn’t something to gloss over.
To my beta readers, Rebecca, Brittany, Gladys, Amy, Krystal and Joanna- thank you so much for your input and appreciation for my words. Thank you for helping me perfect this story.
Brit- thank you always and I can’t wait to see you and hopefully meet Connor this summer.
To Tiffany, my PA- I couldn’t do this without you. I say that a lot, but I mean it. I couldn’t imagine doing any part of this author thing without you in my corner. Thank you for your book recs and your friendship.
To Brandon from Herringbone Books: I thought I’d put it in print, so it’s official- if I ever make it big, you’re my first stop and I’ll never forget your kindness toward a debut- indie author.
To Jeanette, my cover designer. Seriously girl, this cover was a freaking home run. Thank you so much for always working with me and creating something so perfect for my stories. I couldn’t have hoped for a better cover.
To my editor C. Marie- You are a wizard. Seriously the way you transform my words and sentences with your editing superpowers is simply amazing. Thank you for always making room for me and for making me sound way more brilliant than I probably am.
To my amazing readers and Book Beauties, you have no idea how much you mean to me. Every tweet, IG mention, facebook tag, comment or share- it just all makes such a big difference in my life. Thank you for loving my words and always coming back for more.
About the Author
Ashley is a thirty something mother of four who’s eighteen at heart, which should mean she’s not old enough to even have teenage daughters, much less be equipped with knowing how to deal with them. When she’s not writing, reading, or desperately trying to convince her kids that Backstreet Boys are still the best band to ever walk the earth, she is helping her husband with DIY projects.
She started writing as a way to keep busy once her fourth child came along. She comes from the non-profit world, where she counseled women in crisis.