“I’m ready, but are you? You must be tired since you just flew in.”
For the last couple days, I’d been up in New York with Josh for business. I’d only returned this morning. The travel had been strategic as I had an early Christmas surprise to show Juliette, and I was anxious to see her reaction to it. “Yep, got plenty of sleep last night, so I’m well rested for the drive.”
If you’d told me over a year ago I would ever have been this happy, I would’ve called you a liar. But Jules brought me back to life. Gave me a reason to live it and thank God for every day I had her in it. Her and Tristan. I might not be Tristan’s biological father, but I loved him more than I ever thought a heart was capable of loving.
“You said the condo at Disney has a washer and dryer in it, right?”
I smiled because she’d already asked me these questions. But how could I fault her for wanting to ensure everything was organized? At least one of us was that way. “Sure does.”
“And Internet?”
“Yep.” I knew it was important because she continued to take classes. I was so proud of her for sticking with it. Not because it made a difference in how I felt about her if she had a college education, but because I knew how important it was for her to complete her degree.
“And it has a kitchen, so we can get groceries. I already packed the snacks you bought for the drive. And last week I loaded a couple of movies onto Tristan’s iPad to keep him entertained.”
“You’re always good with this stuff. Too bad you’re still a slob, though.” She kissed me playfully.
We’d moved into a larger townhome and made the basement my office. And, well, with that space—old habits die hard. I was in fact a slob. “Only my desk is a mess. And maybe the floor next to it.”
“If I ever wonder where all the glasses and mugs have disappeared to, I only need to go downstairs. But I cleaned it up while you were gone. Hung a picture on the wall above your desk, too.”
“What picture?”
She busied herself putting the last of the smaller bags by the door. “Tristan drew you one, and I framed it. It’s your Christmas gift from him.”
I looked towards the couch where Tristan was working to put on his tennis shoes.
He had his Mickey Mouse shirt on in addition to a Disney World magic band around his wrist. He’d evidently slept with both, anxious to get down there.
“Did you make me a picture, bud?”
“Yep. It’s a surprise.” At three-and-a-half, he was starting to string together complete sentences. It was adorable.
I bent down and helped him with his last shoe. “Do I get to see it before we leave?”
He hopped down and took my hand. “Yep. Come on, Mommy. You come, too.” He waved his hand for his mom to follow.
The first thing I noticed was that Juliette had indeed cleaned up my desk. I smiled as I remembered the first time she’d organized my files in Connecticut. I’d been absolutely mesmerized by her.
She flicked on the light, and I could see the anticipation on Tristan’s face. As I studied the eight-by-twelve frame holding the hand-drawn picture above my desk, I expected to see an animal of some sort. Those were his favorite to draw. Instead, I saw three stick-figure people.
First was me, the tallest with glasses; then came him in the middle, holding my hand; and Juliette stood on the end with long brown hair. But when I looked closer, I realized they were labeled with letters in crayon. ME was below him, Mommy below Juliette, and Daddy was written below my likeness.
My eyes hit Juliette’s.
She answered my unspoken question. “He drew it and then asked me to write the words to go under each person. He wanted yours to say Daddy.”
I swallowed hard as I bent down to lift him up. “I love it.”
“Mommy said I gotta ask you.”
“Ask me if I want to be your daddy?” My voice was thick with emotion. This little boy and his mom were my everything.
“Yep.” With his adorably serious face, he was so matter of fact and sure with his one-word declaration.
I glanced towards Juliette; her cheeks wet with tears. “And you’d be okay with that?” Although I knew she loved me as much as I loved her, this was a whole other level of trust. I wanted to respect that in asking for her blessing in this pivotal step.
“Yes. I know you said you wanted to wait until he’s old enough to decide, but I think he has by drawing this picture.”
“Can I?” Tristan asked, putting his little toddler hands on either side of my face.
“I’d be honored.”
He scrunched up his little face with confusion at my words. “What?”
I laughed at my mistake in phrasing it that way for a three-and-a-half-year-old. “I mean yes. Yes, you can call me Daddy. That would make me very happy.”
He hugged me to him. “Me, too. Momma said I have two. One in heaven and you here with me.”
I appreciated the way she had explained this to him. I never wanted to lie to Tristan about his biological father. But some day when he was older, I would sit him down and tell him this was the day I became his dad. Just as his mother had captured my heart, so had he. “That’s right. I love you, Tristan.”
“I love you, too, Daddy.”
Oh fuck-cluck. I was going to lose it. I handed him off to Juliette, who was quickly becoming a mess of tears herself. “Uh, here. Why don’t you two go upstairs, and I’ll be up in a minute?”
She led him up the stairs.
I was grateful for a few minutes to myself to get a handle on my emotions. Toddlers didn’t always understand happy tears, so I didn’t want him wondering why his picture had made me so emotional. Taking the frame off the nail it hung on, I studied it closer. There was no way I was leaving it here for the next week. Nope, it was making the trip with us.
When I went up to the main level, Jules and Tristan were waiting by the door. Both looked curiously at the fact I was holding my present under my arm. “I want to take it with me, so I can have it all week. Then I’ll bring it back and put it above my desk again.”
This appeared to make Tristan very happy as he grinned from ear to ear.
As we started on the road south towards Orlando, I couldn’t help smiling. Obviously, I hadn’t been the only one with a big Christmas surprise in mind. I took Juliette’s hand across the console, and we spent most of the trip talking about the new house we would start building in the new year. I’d purchased the lot next door to Sasha and Brian, who were almost done constructing their house. I’d surprised Juliette with it when I’d proposed last month.
After the eight-hour drive with a couple stops, we got checked into our hotel and put Tristan down for the night. I’d relished it when he’d wanted his ‘daddy’ to brush his teeth, tuck him in, and read him his bedtime story.
Finding Juliette in the bathroom removing her makeup, I came up behind her and put my arms around her waist. I hugged her to me.
“You okay?” she asked.
I nodded, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “Better than that. You really blew me out of the water today with the family picture. Thank you.”
She smiled. “For what? I only provided the frame.”
I shook my head, moving her hair off her neck in order to land a kiss. “No. You gave life to that little boy, and now you’re sharing him with me. There is no greater gift.”
Her eyes went misty. “That was beautiful. I can’t think of anyone who will make a better father than you.”
I turned her around and kissed her softly, appreciating how amazing this woman was. But when her hand rubbed my chest, I stepped back with a wince.
“What’s under your shirt?”
Her head was quirked to the side, causing me to smile. “Something I can’t wait to show you.”
She lifted a brow. “Is this another ‘if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine’?”
Ah, she was referring to the way I’d got her to slowly reveal her body in the beginning and shed her insecur
ities. “My favorite game. But this is your surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?”
My girl loved surprises, but only if she could find out what they were quickly. But suddenly I was nervous. I unsteadily fisted the back of my T-shirt and pulled it over my head, holding the soft cotton in front of my chest.
“If you don’t like it, then I can get it changed. Although I guess it’s a little late for that, but I could always get it removed. Maybe I should’ve asked you whether you were all right with changing it before doing something permanent. But that would’ve ruined the surprise.” Ironically, I was the one rambling instead of her.
“Get what changed?”
I dropped the T-shirt and watched her curiously take in the square bandage above my heart.
“Show me,” she whispered.
I peeled it back, revealing a J-U-L-E before the S which had once stood alone.
She gently ran her fingers over the raised skin, which was still a bit red and tender, and around the black cursive letters. “When did you get this?”
“Two days ago, in New York.”
My gaze didn’t leave hers as I watched and waited for her reaction. “Please tell me you don’t hate it.”
She shook her head, whispering the words, “Not even close.”
“I wanted a way to show you that although the past was there first, the future is there now too.”
She continued to remain stunned.
“Say something.”
She lifted her eyes to mine, so full of emotion. “The symbolism is everything. I can’t even put it into words what it means to me. It’s incredible.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. Thank God, she loved it. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
“Marry me?”
She giggled. “I believe you already asked that question on one knee in the grassy field where we’re now building our house, and I said yes.”
I grinned. “You did. But you make me want to ask you over and over again. Because now that I’ve found forever, I’m just anxious for it to start.”
Her hands framed my face. “The fact that this mouth can say the most beautiful, and yet the most deliciously dirty, things will never cease to amaze me. And I won’t ever get tired of saying yes. In fact, I hear Vegas is real nice in March.”
“You’d be okay with getting married in a few months?” If I was being honest, it was taking everything in me not to rush things. But I hadn’t wanted to remind her of our first botched attempt, when I’d pushed things quickly for the wrong reasons.
“Mm. Absolutely.”
I dipped my head, taking her lips in a searing kiss and backing her up to the edge of the bathroom counter. I lifted her up, quickly taking off my glasses so I could pepper her neck with kisses.
“Now it’s your turn to show me something.”
She giggled. “Oh, I’ll show you something—”
“Mama. Mark—I mean Daddy?”
I grinned in the crook of her neck, giving her earlobe one more tug for good measure before turning.
Tristan was standing there in his PJs, shielding his eyes from the bright light.
“What’s up, baby? Why are you out of bed?” She hopped down to kneel by him.
“Why were you hugging?”
She winked up at me. “Uh, it’s what mommies and daddies do. It means we love each other.”
Thankfully, Jules was quick with her explanation because I was still working on an appropriate response.
“Can I hug, too?”
I lifted him up. “Sure thing, bud. Big group hug.”
Jules and I both squeezed him tight. In glorious fashion, he giggled between us and said the sweetest words I’d ever heard.
“I love my family.”
I couldn’t have said it any better.
Are you sad that the Something Series is over? Me too which is why I’m writing a Series Epilogue that catches you up on all the couples a couple years later. This scene will be exclusive to those who are signed up for my newsletter and will come out in November via e-mail. So click here or http://eepurl.com/c3amXT to be added so you don’t miss this final farewell to all of these fantastic couples!
And if you have a few minutes to leave a review, I’d be incredibly grateful. It makes such a difference for a self-published author. Email me a link to it at [email protected], and I’d love to thank you with a personal note.
Sincerely,
Aubrey Bondurant
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Some of you have been anxiously awaiting Mark’s story since book one and I have to say I put it last because I knew just how emotional it would be. Not only because of what he and Juliette had to go through, but also because it’s the end of the series. Saying goodbye to this group of friends is really tough for me. That being said, never say never for future characters…because I may already have something in mind that allows us to check in down the road! And as you read above there will be a Series Epilogue that will be coming out in a couple of months exclusive to those signed up for my newsletter!
I hope you enjoyed this book and the four that came before it as much as I did writing them. I set out to create a series that not only featured imperfect women who lifted one another up with their friendships, but also write my favorite types of romance. Each of these books and the characters mean so much to me and the greatest compliment is when someone tells me how they have related to them.
I want to give a big THANK YOU, shouted in all CAPS to my loyal, amazing readers for sticking by me throughout this amazing journey. You know someday I’d love to do this full time, but in the meantime, you’ve been so patient for the next book. Every tag you make, every share, every person you recommend my books to means so much! It’s for you that I happily stay up late at night typing away!
To my family: Thank you for the continuation of encouraging the dream and putting up with the balancing act that doesn’t always go perfectly!
To my editor, Alyssa Kress. Once again you keep me on track, push me to do better and encourage me to keep going. It’s truly a pleasure to work with you since day one!
To Lori who requested Mark be a dirty talker. I love the way you think my friend! I only hope I did him justice!
To all of the amazing bloggers, some of which I actually got to meet this last year! When I say I wouldn’t be doing this without you, I really mean it! You’ve been unbelievably supportive in sharing, promoting and supporting me, I can’t thank you enough!
To LB: Lastly, but not least: When an author finds out that her good friend has been cheated on and lied to by her shitty husband, what does she do? She names Juliette’s ex after him and of course happily kills him off. (Insert the clink of the champagne glasses toasting.) Sorry it wasn’t more of a torturous scene my friend! And although Juliette’s story is not yours by any stretch, I know your Mark is out there for you someday!
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