Western Waves

by Brittainy Cherry

  “I’m not the only one who stayed. She needed you, too. We both did.” I glanced at my watch. “I should go check in on her and make sure she’s okay. But thanks for the conversation, Maple.” I stood and gave her a hug.

  As she squeezed me, my heart almost exploded within my chest as she said, “Please, Damian. Call me Grams.”

  The next few months leading up to the delivery of the baby were the most beautiful yet nerve-racking months of both Stella’s and my life. This time, we made deeper vows for one another, ones that we didn’t make over nine months ago when we stood at the coastline.

  We promised each other to stay until the final chapter of our lives. We promised to stay during the storms, and stay during the bright days, too. We promised each other forever—even when we were scared.

  And trust me, fear did come.

  “I got the bag!” I shouted, rushing out of the house and slamming the door behind me. I got to the car, tossed the bag into the back seat, and then hopped into the driver’s seat and drove out of the driveway.

  “I can’t believe it’s time,” I said out loud. Then I reached over to hold Stella’s hand.

  Oh, fuck me.

  I forgot Stella.

  Seconds later, I came dashing back into the house. “I forgot a wife!” I exclaimed, hurrying over to her. “I guess I’ll need you to deliver the baby.”

  She laughed, holding her hands against her back. She’d been having back pain and hadn’t been sleeping well, but she said that was just getting her ready for the lack of sleep that came with a newborn.

  The delivery went smoothly. I was there for the whole thing, holding Stella’s hand as she cried out. Then when the baby girl was born, I swore the room lit up with more light. She was placed on Stella’s chest, and Stella cried into her blessing.

  I cried, too, because fuck…it was overwhelming in the best way.

  “Do you want to hold her?” Stella asked, looking toward me.

  “Please,” I agreed.

  She placed her in my arms, and just like that, I fell in love.

  As Sophie’s eyes stared up at mine, brown like her mother’s, I knew that instant love was a thing. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever witnessed, and it felt like a privilege to be near her.

  I placed my lips against the little girl’s forehead and realized at that moment that I would forever be wrapped around her finger, at her beck and call.

  “Welcome home, Sophie Blackstone,” I whispered, repeating the kisses against her forehead.

  Home.

  Not a place, but a person. People. Stella and Sophie.

  Home.

  As I looked into the eyes of my daughter, I couldn’t explain the overwhelming sense of joy that filled me.

  “Stella?” I whispered, holding our daughter against my chest.

  “Yes?”

  “Marry me again this fall?”

  She smiled and lay her head against the pillow as we stared at one another in complete bliss. “Yes.”

  Epilogue

  Stella

  Three Months Later

  * * *

  The ceremony had many of the same elements as the last time. Aaliyah and Connor attended again. This time, with Grant, who was getting cuter each day. Maple still officiated the ceremony, and there were still blueberry scones as our something blue.

  There were a few different things this go-around, though. Connor volunteered to walk me down the aisle, and when I arrived, Damian was holding our daughter in his arms. My world stood before me, and I stared in complete awe at the two.

  “Hi there,” I whispered.

  “Hello,” he replied.

  My nerves were nonexistent, yet the butterflies remained. I wore a white gown with flowers in my hair, and once I reached the altar, I felt Kevin and Mama’s kisses against my toes as the waves slowly came and went.

  At the end of this ceremony, I wore Blackstone at the end of my name and signed paperwork to officially make Sophie his daughter.

  By the grace of the ocean, we were a family.

  The Blackstones.

  The happily ever after to our own unique fairy tale.

  Damian

  Five Years Later

  I didn’t know love was something that kept growing.

  Over the past five years, I’d fallen in love with Stella more and more each day. I’d fallen in love with the love of self that she’d deserved. After Sophie was born, Stella made it her mission to truly dive into understanding her emotions. From learning how to sit a while with sadness to understanding how to work her way out of said emotion. She not only wanted to learn and grow for her own betterment, but she wanted to make sure our daughter would also have the tools needed to work through her own feelings.

  Whenever Stella and I would get into an argument, and instead of avoiding the conflict, she’d yell at me and get angry, I’d fall a little bit more in love with her. Because she was being her fullest self. She was allowing herself the space to exist at her fullest, even if that meant sometimes anger appeared. She also lived in happiness, too. Real happiness. The kind of happiness that came from the deepest corners of her beautiful soul.

  Watching Stella learn to love herself made me fall even more in love with her. There was something so attractive about a woman who knew who she was and didn’t feel as if she’d ever needed to apologize for it.

  About a year ago, she and I opened our first gallery shop: Cinderstella & the Beast. We began working together, tying her artwork into my photography, and selling our pieces on the regular. Even though I was still running Roe Real Estate, I’d found time to focus on my photography, too, because I’d learned how important it was to give myself to my craft. Being able to make art with a person I loved was a bonus to it all.

  The business was running mostly by Stella, seeing how she finally felt comfortable to leave her position at the massage studio. She taught art classes to kids in the inner city, too, helping them develop their own skills.

  After we received the money from Kevin’s will, we didn’t touch it for a long time. We sat down and figured out a way we could give back to the world in a positive way. That meant donating a lot of the money, and our time, to children in need. Both in California and my old stomping grounds of New York. Stella and I had many conversations about our core beliefs and what they encompassed. Luckily, we were on the same page: all we wanted to do was give back to those who weren’t given the same gifts as us.

  “Hi there,” Stella said, walking up to me on the sandy beach behind our property.

  “Hello.” I smiled, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re tired. You should be resting.”

  She shrugged. “The kids requested my attendance for the night swim, and who am I to disappoint them?”

  Kids.

  Our kids.

  The sun was setting overhead as my family splashed through the water. It amazed me how much one’s life could change within the shortest period. It had been five years since Stella and I renewed our vows, and we had done it each autumn ever since. If I learned anything about love, recommitting to it was of the utmost importance.

  Each year, our family grew.

  There was Sophie, who came first, yet she wasn’t the oldest. We also added to our family two more siblings for Sophie to grow up with. Jaden was a fourteen-year-old boy who’d been in the foster system since he was a toddler. He had a heart of gold, and it felt like the biggest gift for me to be able to love him. The other day, while I was playing basketball with him, he told me he thought he’d never get this, a family.

  Me too, kid. Me too.

  Turned out sometimes wishes come true in tenfold.

  Then there was Kai, a beautiful little girl of the age of eleven. She was a wild child whose soul felt safest whenever she was near the water. I’d spent so much time building the trust of that sweet little girl. She’d spent more days afraid than not, and she didn’t speak a word when she came to us at the age of eight. Now, it was almost impossible to get her an
d her siblings to be quiet.

  I didn’t mind the noise of the house. It reminded me of my blessings each day.

  I once lived within quiet walls, and I prayed I’d never find myself back there.

  Then there was the next to come. Stella was currently two months pregnant, though the kids didn’t know another sibling was on their way to us. It was our secret for a little more time, and I couldn’t wait for the day to see my other children hold him or her as a newborn.

  “Daddy, come in the water!” Sophie screamed as she splashed around with Kai, Jaden, and the sweetest dog ever, Milo. Each night, Milo slept next to Jaden after years of always being by my side.

  The best kind of traitor. I was convinced that Jaden needed Milo more than I had. Maybe Milo needed him, too.

  I’d join them in the water in a moment, yet for a few seconds, I stood back in awe as I watched my family, my world, dancing so freely within the waves. I studied their laughter. Stella’s chuckles being just as loud as the kids. Her sounds were still my favorite, and I was certain that would never change. But my children…

  My children were my world.

  Sure, they didn’t look like me. Some of their skin was darker, and some was light. Some had brown eyes, and others had green. None of that mattered to me because I saw it. I saw it every time I tucked them into bed at night. I saw it when I helped them with their homework. I saw it when they slammed their bedroom doors when I pissed them off. I saw it when they’d wrap their arms around me and hold on so tight.

  I saw it in their eyes.

  That was where I saw it the most.

  It was within their eyes that I saw how their souls matched my own. It was in their eyes that I knew we were always destined to be a family. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life, either, if I knew it would lead me to them.

  Those children were mine, and I was their father.

  We were one, not by blood but by our entangled souls, which made it all that much more beautiful.

  Stella and the kids were the beats that lived within my heart. They were my wishes and dreams all come true. My favorite universal blessings.

  And that was more than enough.

  Epilogue #2

  Damian

  Three Months Later

  * * *

  With the approaching holidays, I felt as if my life was in overdrive. Stella and I always had gone all out for the kids for Christmas, which meant we were always exhausted. Still, we loved it. Cooking blueberry scones on Christmas morning was our favorite tradition. Plus, over the years, we’d been able to add more and more traditions.

  On Christmas Eve, I stayed a bit longer at the office than I’d hoped, but I was looking forward to the next two weeks in vacation mode with the wife and kids.

  When I stood from my desk to head out, I made sure everything was in order. I exited the building, then began to lock the front door. I was surprised when I heard a voice calling out my name.

  “Hey, Damian? Are you Damian Blackstone?” a stranger asked.

  I turned around to meet his stare. I was thrown off as I looked into a set of eyes that seemed far too familiar.

  “Yes, I am,” I replied, on high alert. I smoothed my hands over my peacoat. “Do I know you?”

  He nervously chuckled as he brushed the palm of his hand against the back of his neck. “No, you don’t. Well, I mean, shit.” He muttered under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Honestly I didn’t even know you existed.”

  “Wait a minute…” I narrowed my eyes and pointed a finger at him. “I know you.”

  He rubbed his hands together. “I had a feeling you might, even though I was hoping you wouldn’t. I get that a lot from people.”

  “Holy shit. You’re that actor, from”—I snapped my fingers together—“from…”

  “My Oscar winning movie Glory Years?”

  “No. Never saw that. It’s right on the tip of my tongue.” I waved my hands around trying to connect the dots. “From…”

  “My Emmy winning show, Forgotten?”

  “No. Nope never saw that. You’re from…”

  He sighed, defeated. “The viral dancing taco commercial?”

  “Yes!” I slapped my hand against my leg. “That’s it! Mr. Taco! The walking taco who twerked on a bus!”

  He groaned. “Listen, that was over eight years ago, and I was a kid. I was a new actor back then. I would do anything for a check or gig.”

  “Regardless, I’m still confused by how you know me. Do you need me to find you a property to buy? Or are you looking to sell your home?” It wasn’t unusual for actors to come to me. I’ve had my fair share of celebrity interactions throughout my time in Los Angeles. “I’m actually on holiday break as of five minutes ago, but after the New Year—”

  “No. That’s not why I’m here, actually. It’s insane. I should be back in Chicago with my family getting ready for the holiday tomorrow, but I had to fly out here to meet with you.”

  “Oh, um, why?”

  “A few weeks ago, I received a letter from a woman named Catherine. She told me about you, and then she told me about…me. And well, that’s where things get weird, but instead of talking in circles, I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m Aiden.” He took in a deep breath before letting out his weighted sigh. “Your younger brother.”

  Bonus Scene

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  The Compass Series

  ALL STANDALONE NOVELS! ENJOY TODAY!

  Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Western Waves, you can go back and read the series from the beginning!

  You can read Southern Storms Jax & Kennedy’s story (where you will meet a young Connor!)

  Followed by Eastern Lights Connor & Aaliyah’s story.

  Northern Stars, Aiden’s story is coming Spring 2022!

  The Elements Series

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  Looking for some more angst? You will find it right here and you’ll fall in love with the men of the Element Series! You can download the complete Elements Series Collection for free in Kindle Unlimited here: The Complete Elements Series

  Or, each of the titles are available separately (All standalones and free in Kindle Unlimited):

  The Air He Breathes

  * * *

  The Fire Between High & Lo

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  The Silent Waters

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  The Gravity of Us

  Also by Brittainy C. Cherry

  Art & Soul:

  Young Adult Romance

  Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship:

  A Holiday Romance

  The Space in Between:

  A Contemporary Romance

  Loving Mr. Daniels :

  A Student Teacher Romance

  Behind the Bars :

  A Second Chance Romance

  Disgrace:

  Small Town Romance

  Eleanor & Grey:

  A Second Chance Romance

  Landon & Shay Part One:

  An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  Landon & Shay Part Two:

  An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  About the Author

  Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and a minor in creative writing. She loves to take part in writing screenplays, acting, and dancing—poorly, of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in. Cherry lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her family. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets.

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