by Vivian Ward
After talking with my brother a couple of days later, he finally admitted to me that he realized how badly Joe had treated me and said that he understood why I would go for a guy like Matt. It took me pointing out every wrong thing Joe ever did and Matt proving what lengths he would go to in order to keep me happy and my family together. It was nice to know that he finally saw my side of things instead of seeing them how he thought they were.
“Hey, babe?” Matt asked as I climbed into the shower.
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you see if your parents want to come over for dinner tomorrow night?”
“Okay. Why do you want them to come over?” I asked as hot steam surrounded my body. It felt good, too. We had finally gotten everything put in its place, and we could relax for a change. It had been a month since we moved in and I never realized how much stuff I had accumulated after the fire until I had to organize everything.
“I just figured it would be a nice gesture, and you should invite your brother too. Isn’t he seeing someone?”
“Uh-huh, her name is Wanda. She’s real nice. I could picture him and her together for a while—as long as he doesn’t screw up, but you know how he can be.”
“Invite the two of them over and fix whatever you think will be easy, or I can grill if you want.”
“I don’t care either way, babe,” I said, stepping out of the shower as I wrapped the towel around me. “I love you. I can’t thank you enough for making things right with my family. Do you know that?”
“Well, if you insist, you can thank me in the official ‘thank you’ room,” he nodded towards the bedroom.
“Is that so?” I dropped the towel and did a ‘come hither’ motion with my finger. “Follow me and I’ll show you what thanks is all about.”
Chapter 30
Matt
Carrying the last slab of ribs off the grill, I heard Stephanie’s family beginning to arrive. Andrew had been keeping me company in the backyard, enjoying the new swing set that I had put together for him. He said he wanted to be a fireman like me one day so I even put a metal pole on the end of it that he can slide down. He and I spend a lot of time together when I’m home from work.
“Matt, do you need some help?” Lance asked as he came out into the backyard.
“Yeah, if you could grab those tongs and get Andrew to follow us in, that would be great.”
When we walked inside, we found Stephanie and Wanda finishing up the side dishes as they laughed and talked. It was nice having her family over and watching her enjoy herself. I sat the ribs on the counter and started washing up for dinner while Stephanie’s parents fussed over Andrew.
“Those smell good,” Vincent said to me, eying the ribs in the pan. “Hope you got more cooking so the rest of you will have something to eat,” he laughed, rubbing his belly.
“If you could eat all of those ribs, I bet you’d have to buy a new pair of suspenders, Vincent.”
We were all sitting around the table, eating and enjoying each other’s company when Stephanie began talking about Andrew starting kindergarten next month. She had already enrolled him, and we learned that his teacher’s name would be Miss Traverse. It didn’t take long for him to join in on the conversation and start talking about school.
He was so proud and excited and had been practicing his handwriting—well, as best as a five-year-old could. His mom and grandmother had been working with him a lot to get him ready, and it was starting to pay off. His speech was better, and he had a grasp on his numbers, alphabet, colors, shapes and could even sing a few songs. I was proud of that little boy.
After dinner, we all retreated to the backyard so that everyone could gather around and listen to me play the guitar. Andrew sat next to me as I played a little something for everyone, dancing along to the music. He was quite the little shadow. Near the end of the night, I played a special song that I had written just for Stephanie.
“From the start, you stole my heart,
I knew that we could never live apart.
I always put our love above all,
Always willing to take that fall, for you.
Stephanie, I could never do without thee,
Will you take this ring and marry me?”
I pulled her engagement ring out of my shirt pocket and got down on my knee as I opened the box. Her eyes sparkled as tears began welling up.
“Baby, I know we’ve been down a long road with a lot of bumps, but you’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I’ve already spoken to your dad, and he’s given us his blessing. Will you marry me, please?”
She looked up at her dad, who gave her a reassuring nod before she threw her arms around my neck and squealed.
“Yes!” She wiped her tears away. “I can’t believe you did this. Oh my god,” she held her hand out. “Mom, did you know about this too?”
Kim nodded, “Yes, baby. I did. Your daddy and I discussed it with Matt, and we would be happy to add him to our family.”
She looked to Lance who stood to give her a hug. “Congrats, sis. You have a good man there.”
“I can’t believe all of you worked together on this, and nobody said a word to me,” she beamed. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world!”
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About the Author
Vivian Ward was born in Brooklyn, New York but now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up the daughter of a single mother, her life was a struggle from day to day. When things got hard, she retreated to her room where she would write about fantasy worlds that would take her away from reality. Even as an adult, her passion for writing never went away and now she hopes to share it with the world.
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