by Whitney D.
My life had taken some immensely sharp turns over the past several weeks, so much that I didn't even recognize myself. I wasn't quite sure how it would all turn out, but I felt confident Sebastian would never leave my side.
Instead of packing everything I owned into the same two suitcases I'd brought last time, I threw my stuff into a laundry basket instead. The suitcases made my stay seem temporary and I didn't need any reason to run again. Sebastian was it for me. He'd been the one since the day I laid eyes on him that Friday afternoon. He may not have known it then, but I did. My feelings for him never changed the day he broke up with me, instead they were just put aside until we'd found each other again.
And boy did we make up time. The first week I was living with him, we made love all day. He worshiped me both in and out of the bedroom. I was the luckiest girl in the world. There may have been one or two occasions where I actually asked him to pinch me because I felt like it was a dream. I certainly never imagined that my life would turn out as it had or that it was possible to be as happy as we were.
Not all love stories are perfect and we had to fight to keep ours from falling apart. It may have taken twelve long years to get our shit together, but if I had to do it all over again I don't think I would've changed a single thing. Everything that happened between our high school breakup and fate bringing us back together again, made us realize what we wanted in life.... and what we didn't.
My divorce from Matt was mostly painless. He'd been so caught up in his own personal turmoil, that he gave me everything I wanted and didn't put up much of a fight. Ultimately, I told him he could have the house because I never wanted to step foot into that place again. He agreed, saying he didn't want the memories either. We put it up for sale and it sold in three weeks flat. I didn't ask for alimony even though I knew it would've paid good. The bottom line was that I wanted my time with him to be a distant memory, and I didn't need a stipend from him constantly reminding me of the time I was living without my one true love – Sebastian. And for that matter, his grad student was surely going to take him for all he was worth.
A mutual friend of ours told me that Kristin, his “baby mama” was making Matt's life a living hell. He wasn't forever twenty-one, but more like suddenly fifty-two. Once reality sunk in and the thrill of cheating on me wore off, he'd realized what a dumb ass he'd been. He'd stopped seeing Kristin when he tried to get me back, and when I wouldn't give him a chance, he ran back to her. Karma always finds a way and for him, it came in the form of her sucking every penny he'd worked so hard for straight from his dwindling bank account. Inevitably, Kristin refused to take him back and with a baby on the way, he'd surely be spending the next eighteen years of his life supporting a woman he wasn't in a relationship with and a child he thought he'd wanted.
Luck would have it that the baby was Sebastian's. A few weeks shy of the anniversary of the day Sebastian walked back into my life, I delivered a healthy baby boy that we named Evan. The name was Sebastian's idea since it was reminiscent of my maiden name.
I quit my job at the hospital after the baby was born. Sebastian knew that my job had been very rewarding for me, and he even tried to get me to change my mind because he told me I'd regret the decision. But, motherhood had been an unexpected blessing – it quickly became my new favorite thing in my world. Evan brought a kind of love into my life that gave me ten thousand reasons to love his dad even more. We spent our days at home, or catching a special showing of pretty much any movie we wanted at The Shriner while Sebastian worked.
And if you're wondering, no, Sebastian and I didn't just run to the alter and marry. Our relationship stayed non-traditional. He'd had the diamond solitaire from the necklace set into a ring when I was eight months pregnant. When he gave it to me, it didn't fit my finger and we laughed hysterically because my fingers were so swollen. It actually ended up on a chain again, until six weeks after Evan was born when it finally slid with ease onto my finger.
He didn't propose when he gave it to me, instead he might as well have read me his vows that day...
“I promise to love you for the rest of my life, just as I have all this time. They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered. Right here,” he pressed two of his fingers to his chest “This is where you've been. This is where you'll stay.”
We got married one random Tuesday when Evan was two and I was already four months pregnant with our second child.
“Let's get married today.”
It hadn't been planned, in fact before that day we hadn't even spoken about getting married simply because we were so happy that a piece of paper that the government acknowledged as proof of our union meant nothing to us. When it came time for us to say our vows, his consisted simply of “I love you.” Just like all those years ago, on that day, when he said those three little words, they changed my life forever.
THE END
Acknowledgements
Danny – Are you going to kiss me or not?
My two beautiful kids – you are and will always be my biggest accomplishment. You bring so much joy to my life! I love you little monsters.
To my sister, Hayley. It only took me thirty-two years to realize that YOU are my person. I looked for my person for all of my thirty-two years on Earth before one day realizing that you were right there in front of me the entire time. A sister’s love and bond is like no other. I love you!
To my mom who won’t read my books, but always refers to me as her little literary genius and my step-dad who reads my books and can still manage to look me in the face when he speaks to me. I love you guys. The road to where you are was paved with many sharp turns, but you ended up at the exact place you were meant to be.
Morgan “The Bomb” Terry – Haha... that title is sticking with you. Thanks for all you've done for me. You are one of the sweetest chicks I know. What they say about everything being bigger in Texas is definitely true – you have a huge heart and I feel lucky to have you in my circle.
To everyone I’ve met along my writing journey – My little Instagram community of strong supportive women - I love you ladies to death. Thanks for all the laughs and your continuous support.
To everyone who has shared a teaser, told someone about my books, or one-clicked anything I've written: I owe everything to you. Thank you for your unwavering support!!
COMING SOON
Soot
[so͝ot] NOUN
A black powdery or flaky substance consisting largely of amorphous carbon, produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter
I'll never forget the sound that escaped her as she screamed for help.
She was begging.
She was panicked.
I saved Libby Adams when her apartment caught on fire. She was covered in soot by the time I found her. The only thing I could see was her desperate piercing blue eyes looking at me under the veil of her thick lashes.
I lifted her, pulling her quivering body against mine as I carried her to safety. She was quickly handed over to an EMS unit.
For weeks all I saw were those icy blue eyes. And when I was asleep, her screaming haunted every dream. I became obsessed with the woman in Apartment 108 – a stranger who I’d never see again.
That was, until I needed her to save me.
About The Author
Whitney lives in central Florida with her husband and two beautiful children. She is a fur-mama to a pup named Briar Blue and rescue cats named Fiona & Birdie. She met her husband on a blind date in 2003. That night, she went home and told her mom, "I'm going to marry that guy". The rest is history. She loves reading, hazelnut coffee, traveling, baking, and writing. She is a self proclaimed wino and lover of all things chocolate. Her favorite reads include books with alpha males, sexy confident women, and happily ever afters. She wrote her first novel when she was 12 years old. However, it went unpublished and was eventually lost during a move from her childhood home.
Whitney D. is also the author of:
Stay With
Me Tonight: A Drake brothers series (Part I)
Stay With Me Forever: A Drake brothers series (Part II)
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