“Hello, little one,” Levi said as the movement came again, this time right beneath his hand. “Are you happy to hear I love your mama?”
“I’m sure she is, but probably not as happy as her mama is.”
Levi chuckled, wrapping his arms around her again. “I can’t wait to meet her. To hold her in my arms like I’m holding you.”
“I can’t wait either, but I’m kind of glad we’ll have a couple of months, at least, with just the two of us. We have some birthing classes to attend first.” And Sammi found herself looking forward to that, and to so many more things, with Levi by her side.
They may have only just confessed their love for each other, but Sammi knew that they had a promising future ahead of them. With a foundation built first on a mutual love for the baby she carried, but now strengthened by the love they had for each other and a shared faith, Sammi once again felt hope for her tomorrow.
EPILOGUE
Sammi stared down at the baby in her arms. Though she was exhausted and in pain from almost eighteen hours of labor, joy eclipsed everything as she watched her daughter blink her impossibly long dark lashes as she took in her new world. Sammi had to smile when she saw that the baby’s eyes were a beautiful shade of blue—not the brown she’d anticipated. Though she was well aware that they might still change color, she kind of hoped they didn’t because they looked so much like Levi’s eyes.
“She’s beautiful, love.” Levi’s voice washed over Sammi, and she leaned more fully into his arms which were wrapped around her and their little girl. “She looks so much like you.”
Sammi laughed briefly then winced at the pain that came with the movement. “I was just thinking she looked like you.”
“Maybe she’s just the perfect blend of each of us,” Levi said. “You did so good. So good. I’m in awe of your strength. Thank you for all you’ve done to bring our little girl into the world so I could meet her.”
Sammi swallowed hard against the emotion that rose within her. She reached out a hand to grip Levi’s arm. “I couldn’t have done it without you by my side.”
And she meant every word of it. He had stayed through every hour, leaving only to use the bathroom and grab some food. His softly murmured words of encouragement had helped her to stay focused on what she needed to do. And she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would have taken the pain from her if he could have.
The months that had passed since that Thanksgiving night in October when they’d shared their love for each other, had reinforced what she’d already known about the type of man Levi was, and he was exactly the man she needed. Like she’d known from their previous interactions, he was a man of few words, but she’d since learned that his emotions ran deep. And that had included his love for her.
Even though he wasn’t a fountain of flowery words and promises like Jayden had been, Sammi hadn’t doubted Levi’s love for her since the first time he’d uttered the words. The way he had taken care of her in those early months after she’d told him about being pregnant had become amplified after their declarations of love. Whether it was his commitment during the birthing classes to learning how to do his part for the delivery, or showing up with breakfast after she finished her shift and rubbing her aching feet before he headed off to his own day of work, he had thrown himself headlong into caring for her and their baby.
In turn, his love for her had made her a better person because she strived each day to show her love for him. To make sure he knew that what he wanted and needed mattered to her. Sometimes it was a challenge to know that, since he didn’t voice what he wanted often, but that just meant Sammi had to watch for opportunities and take advantage of them when they came along.
Her mom’s illness meant that she had had to step up with regards to cooking meals, so she’d always invited him to come when she made supper. Between the two of them, he was still the better cook, but he always seemed appreciative of her efforts. Her favorite thing to do, though, was to find out from Jeff where he was working and then showing up with a large hot coffee from Tims and a box of donuts. Once winter had hit, they’d sit in her car to talk while he drank his coffee. Those were times she treasured because their relationship had grown as they’d shared more and more about themselves.
“So how about the name?” Levi asked.
They’d discussed names at length in recent weeks, and she had begun to wonder if they’d ever be able to settle on just one. In the end, they’d hoped that meeting the baby would help them decide from the handful of names they’d narrowed it down to. Makayla’s baby had been named the minute of her birth, so now they had Bennett and Grace’s Olivia Joy, and Makayla and Ethan’s Stephanie Elizabeth.
Sammi shifted the baby a little so that they could see her face more fully. “Ella Irene?”
The name seemed perfect to Sammi, but would Levi agree?
“Ella Irene Weston.” Levi paused. “It’s perfect.”
Sammi looked up at him and smiled. They’d already agreed that the baby would have his last name because even though marriage hadn’t been discussed at length, they both knew it was in their future. However, considering the situation with her mom, Christmas around the corner and being hugely pregnant, it had seemed that adding one more thing like planning a wedding just hadn’t been a good idea. Especially when her emotions and energy levels were all over the map. Plus, there was already a wedding in the works with Grace busily planning her and Bennett’s ceremony.
In the past couple of weeks, the only person who had managed to not tick her off at all was Levi. Not that he’d catered to her every whim—although, to be fair, he’d done a lot of that—but he’d allowed her to cry or vent, and then he had just held her. And, frankly, Levi-hugs were the very best medicine for her. He’d tuck her head under his chin and hold her close, reassuring her with his presence, even more than with his words, that everything was going to be okay.
She had no regrets about the painful path that had brought her to this moment. The person she’d been a year ago couldn’t have begun to envision what lay ahead. The pain she’d endured—both self-inflicted and from others—had taught her to trust God more and to love those around her without reservation or expectation.
Levi bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Thank you.”
Those were the words she wanted to tell him every day—especially recently. Thank you for loving me in spite of my moody moments. “For what?”
“For telling me that you were pregnant.” He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Every day I thank God for that. Just thinking that you could have chosen not to tell me, and how much I would have missed out on, makes my heart ache. I would have missed out on her. I would have missed out on you. On us.” Emotion filled his face as he swallowed hard. “You’re mine now, right? Forever?”
Sammi felt tears spill down her cheeks. “For today and every tomorrow, I’m yours.”
He moved one of his arms from around her and dug into the pocket of his jeans. When he lifted his hand once again, he held a slender gold band. “Then marry me? Make us a family?”
She stared up at him, seeing that his eyes held a sheen of moisture. All the expectations she’d had for how she’d wanted things to unfold with regards to a proposal and the wedding that would follow had long since slipped away. She knew now that she’d focused too long and too hard on the details of making the future she wanted, rather than focusing on who she was making that future with and why. Now, all she cared about was legally becoming Levi’s wife so that they could live the rest of their lives together in whatever way that might unfold.
“Yes. Both of us say yes.” Sammi leaned up enough to kiss him, lingering this time as she savored the moment. It wasn’t a proposal in a nice restaurant or in a romantic setting—she didn’t even have her hair and makeup done—but it was perfect because of the man asking the question. When their kiss ended, she said, “Take a picture of the three of us to mark this occasion. And then you can post it on our social media to let every
one know we’re going to become a family.”
When he gave her a searching look, she laughed.” Yes, I know what I look like. It doesn’t matter. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, and I want a picture of this moment.”
After he’d taken the picture, he showed it to her. She did look like she’d just spent eighteen hours bringing another human being into the world, but underlying the exhaustion and messed up hair and makeup, her joy was evident. And Levi…her heart clenched as she saw that instead of looking at the phone for the picture, he was looking at her and baby Ella. His love for them so very clear in the tender way he gazed down at them.
“It’s perfect,” Sammi said. “I guess we can’t post that just yet though. We need to let our families know first.”
“I suppose I can go tell them,” Levi said, reluctance in his voice. “They have all been waiting for hours.”
“Take a couple more pictures so that you can show them what she looks like.” Sammi shifted the baby a bit, prompting a small cry of objection from her. “Hey, there little one. Just want to get your pretty face showing for the people wanting to see you for the first time.”
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Levi said after he’d taken a few pictures of Ella. He ran his fingertips over the baby’s cheek then kissed Sammi’s forehead. “Don’t go anywhere.”
They smiled at each other before Levi left them to go share the good news. Sadly, his mom wasn’t in the waiting room with Sammi’s family, but Yvette had promised that someone would help Donna FaceTime with them once the baby was born. They would take Ella to see her once they’d both been discharged.
Sammi reluctantly let the nurse take Ella to clean her up and weigh her. Even though her arms felt empty, her heart was full with the knowledge that even when the two people she loved most in the world weren’t right there with her, they would be back soon.
Levi looked over at Bennett as they stood in the entrance to the room that had been set up for Bennett and Grace’s wedding which was going to start in just under an hour. “You sure about this?”
Bennett clapped him on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Definitely. It was actually Grace’s idea, and there was no arguing with that woman, even if I’d wanted too. Which, by the way, I didn’t.”
The week after Samantha and Ella had come home from the hospital, Levi had first broached the idea of getting married. She had told him that she wanted to wait until after Bennett and Grace had their wedding on Valentine’s Day, and then they’d plan theirs. He knew that she wasn’t holding out for a big wedding, but rather wanted to give Bennett and Grace a chance to have theirs first.
But then Bennett had approached Levi with an idea, and all it had required was him talking Samantha into getting a marriage license without actually having set a wedding date. Levi had been positive that it would take a few conversations to convince her, but in the end, it had taken just one. Which had led them to where he was now, just a short time away from becoming Samantha’s husband.
“Do you think she has any idea?” Bennett asked.
Levi glanced at him and grinned. “No. I’m pretty sure that if she had, she would have at least hinted that she knew. She’s been pretty focused on the baby and helping Grace with other details, like getting the fit of her dress just right.”
Bennett and Grace had decided against using the large sanctuary of the church since they planned to keep the number of wedding guests quite small. With having a one-year-old of their own plus the two new babies, they’d decided to limit the guest list to their family and closest friends. That meant that Levi was going to know most of them, and most, if not all, would be people Samantha would have invited to her wedding anyway.
They were both in the wedding party which meant that Levi had a good excuse to wear a suit and Samantha was going to be wearing a beautiful dress as well. From conversations he’d had with her about the wedding, he knew that Grace’s dress was ivory while all the bridesmaids were wearing long dresses of blush pink in a style of their choosing. He wasn’t sure if it would bother Samantha to get married in something other than white or ivory, but personally, he thought she was going to look beautiful in whatever she wore.
The chairs in the small room were set in rows with an aisle down the center leading to an arch covered in roses of all different shades of pink. There was a table with candles on it that Bennett and Grace would use that would then be switched out when it was time for him and Samantha to use them. There would also be a quick addition to the attendants with Amy and Henry joining the group that had been standing up for Bennett and Grace.
Levi knew that Samantha had let go of most of her ideas for what her wedding should be like, but after feeling like he’d gypped her out of a romantic proposal, he wanted to do this for her. He hoped she didn’t mind sharing the day with Grace and Bennett. He didn’t think she would, but there was always a small chance he was wrong. They were still getting to know each other, after all, but he felt as if she was being honest when she told him that all she cared about was just getting married. The trappings didn’t matter.
A heavy arm landed across his shoulders. “You ready to tie the knot, gentlemen?”
Levi looked up to smile at Keenan. “I know I am.”
“And you know I am,” Bennett said with a grin of his own.
“Then let’s do this!”
Sammi looked across the front of the room to where Levi stood, listening as the pastor pronounced Bennett and Grace, husband and wife. She was filled with love, not just for Levi, but for her brother and Grace. They had waited a long time for this moment, and she was glad to be a part of their happy day.
Another happy part of the day was that her mom had decided to come. Given that her bad days were still more plentiful than her good, it hadn’t been a guarantee that she’d be there.
As the recessional began to play, Bennett and Grace left their position at the floral arch and began walking back up the aisle. Sammi smiled as she took Levi’s offered arm to follow the bride and groom.
Levi looked quite stunning in the dark gray suit he wore as one of the groomsmen. The color was the perfect complement to the bridesmaids’ dresses. Even though she hadn’t managed to lose the baby weight yet, Sammi loved her dress. She’d chosen a flowing style that managed to flatter the extra curviness her body had as a result of the pregnancy. And the color…she absolutely loved the blush pink that looked good with her dark hair.
Outside the doors of the room, Sammi’s gaze fell on the stroller where Ella lay. Tami’s mom had come to the wedding as part guest, part babysitter of the two newest family members. Going over, she peeked in to see that the baby was fast asleep, her long dark lashes fanned out over ivory cheeks. She itched to pick her up but knew that there were still pictures to be taken before she and Levi could devote their attention to the little girl.
“Hey, you two. Time for pictures.”
Sammi straightened to see her dad walking toward where she and Makayla were with the babies. It looked like everyone else had already gone back in, so she turned to look one more time at Ella before taking the arm her dad offered.
“Did the baby keep you up a lot last night?” her dad asked as they headed toward the door into the room.
“No more than usual,” Sammi said as she looked up at him and smiled. “She’s sleeping better than I had thought she would given how messed up her nights and days were when we first came home.”
“I remember that with Dalton. It seemed to take forever for him to settle into a decent sleeping pattern.”
Music began to play as they started down the aisle, and as Sammi registered what it was, she swung her head to look at the front, her steps slowing. There at the front, Levi waited where Bennett had stood just a short time ago. And also standing at the front was Amy, dressed in a dress just like the other women beside her.
Was this…? When her gaze met Levi’s, she knew it was.
Grinning with excitement, Sammi tugged on her dad’s arm, ea
ger to get to the front. Though she heard the rhythm of the music, Sammi didn’t even bother to try to keep time with it. She walked quickly down the aisle until, finally, she and her dad were there, just a few steps away from Levi.
When her gaze met his, Levi asked, “Are you okay with this?”
“Very okay with it,” she assured him with a huge smile. “You’re here, and that’s all that matters.”
As the pastor led them through the ceremony, Sammi fought the urge to pinch herself, unable to believe that this was actually happening. After spending so many years thinking and planning what she wanted for her wedding, this one that she’d had no input in was absolutely perfect.
“Levi?” the pastor prompted. “Would you like to say something to Sammi?”
Levi’s hands tightened briefly on hers as their gazes met, and she knew that the idea of talking in public was something that was probably causing him some nervousness. The fact that he was willing to do it made her love him even more.
“Samantha, I didn’t realize it at the time, but one of the worst days I’d ever had, became one of the best because it was the day I met you. I never imagined that as we had our ups and downs trying to figure out how to care for a baby that hadn’t yet arrived, our hearts were finding the love and joy we were meant to have with each other. We each had some hurdles to overcome, but I thank God every day that we made it past them to find what we have now. I love you, Samantha, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”
“I know this is short notice, Sammi, but would you also like to share something?” the pastor asked.
Sammi nodded right away, never taking her gaze from his. There was just so much she wanted to say to Levi, but she knew that she had to settle on a few words for now, and then spend the rest of their lives together telling him everything else.
Believing in Tomorrow Page 30