“This is an incredibly romantic moment and I am ruining it, aren’t I?” He watched me.
I lost my impulsive nature back when I moved my son halfway across the world to be with this man before. It made me a little gun shy. I had planned every single moment of my life from that moment since, and if I were being honest, all hell had broken loose since he showed up back in my life. I shivered as I felt the weight of the ring increase. It wasn’t overbearing, it settled kind of nice; solid and secure. I bit my lip and stared back down at the ring. I knew with all my heart that I wanted to spend my life with this man.
I laughed.
"You're starting to give me a complex. What's so funny?"
"It's funny, even back in college, I thought about what it would be like to marry you. I totally pictured it. I thought, if this guy knew what was running through my mind when I looked at him, he would run away fast.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I lost my smile. His smirk warmed my heart. I peered at the ring.
“Jackson, aren’t we doing this all wrong?” I stood up, which made him stumble back and he stood up, too. “Aren’t we supposed to date for a few years and then we get engaged? Plan the wedding for a while and then get married?”
“According to your timetable, we’ll be sixty by the time we try to have kids.”
I frowned. “Carrington.” He grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his waist. He pulled me into his chest.
I tried to pull back, but he placed his hand on the back of my head and prevented me from going anywhere. While his possessive gestures would turn off other women, they had the opposite effect on me. It made me want him more.
“Seriously, don’t you think we’ve waited long enough? Just say yes.”
I raised my left hand and watched as the ring caught the last of the sunset. It glittered in the light and illuminated my heart. The same gleam returned to his gorgeous blue eyes. I sighed and said, “Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I laughed.
“See, now was that so hard.”
“No,” I leaned back,” but is this how it’s going to be from now? You making all the big decisions in our lives?”
“Maybe.” He looked down at me with a smirk on his face.
“Oh, great. Then, I’ll quit my job and sit around looking pretty all day.”
“If that’s what makes you happy. Ugh.” Jackson stepped back and rubbed his ribs where I’d hit him. I didn’t mean to hit him that hard, but I needed him to stop being so smug and listen to me.
“Jackson, I love you and I will marry you and you know you’re probably right about most things, but you are not in charge of me. It’s not your way and it’s not my way. I know we don’t have much practice with this, but I hope we can find a way to do this life thing together. Okay?”
Jackson pulled me in and his lips landed on mine, demanding and hot and amazing and the opposite of what I tried to convey with my little speech, but I didn’t care.
I wanted to be his wife, so I gave in … this time.
EPILOGUE
Jackson returned from practice and found Carrington lying on the floor in the office in their new house in Paradise Valley. Her feet propped up on the couch opposite the bay windows that looked out onto their back yard.
She rubbed her stomach as tears slipped out of her blinking eyes and rested on her cheeks.
His heart sunk, but plastered a smile on his face and called her name.
"Hey Carr." She had a doctor’s appointment this morning.
She turned to him. Wiped her tears and said, "Hello."
"You ok?"
He knew the answer before he asked it. They had been trying to have a baby for over a year and while there was no physical reason they couldn't have one, Carrington somehow knew this would happen.
He walked in and stood over her.
"Come here," Carrington said and waved.
He laid next her, propped his feet up.
"What're doing down here?" Jackson asked.
"Just checking out the world from this perspective."
"Okay. What do you think?"
She rubbed her stomach again and although he couldn't see her face, he imagined the tightness in his chest came from her. They were so in tune with each other's emotions, the good as well as bad. He took her hand and kissed it. Hoping she would feel how sorry he was. They had been through this before.
He hoped his emotions conveyed that if it didn't happen, that was ok. She blamed herself no matter how many times he told her, it wasn't her fault.
She pulled her hand away. He followed it as she pointed across the room.
"I think we should put the crib over there."
Jackson propped up on his elbow. "What?"
“Yeah, it has great light this time of day. Over here is too dark.”
"You mean?"
She noodled and smiled.
I reached out and touched her stomach, leaned over and kissed it. "Hey little guy."
"Hey no. It's going to be a girl," Carrington said as Jackson reached up and kissed her.
"I don't care. I just hope it knows how much it's going to be loved."
Turns out they were both right.
Justin and Jessica Mitchell were born nine months later and everyone is doing fine.
THE END
Thank you so much for reading Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3), I would be so grateful if you could leave a review.
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Sydney's News
Acknowledgement
First and foremost, I want to thank God. So blessed to be able to call myself a writer.
Huge thank you to the readers who stuck with me through the entire Hope Series. I started this journey with Carrington, Josh & Jackson a year and a half ago. I love them as much now as I did when I wrote the first word in the series.
I HOPE you enjoyed how it ended ... and you never know, I might check in on Carrington and Jackson in another seven years (that's one year in book writing years).
Thanks to my family for their love and support.
Thank you to the New Adult Street Team, my girls who offer support and an encouraging word. I love you ladies.
Thank you to my beta readers who have been with me throughout the series, Emily, Kelly & especially my new reader Ms. Kellie, I loved everyone's feedback.
Thank you for sticking with me through the long haul.
You ladies are awesome.
About the Author
Sydney Aaliyah Michelle is a Adult Contemporary Romance writer, a voracious reader, and movie fanatic who hails from Texas.
After surviving 5 1/2 years living in China, she had the courage to finally pursue her passion and become a writer.
Sydney has been blogging at sydneyaaliyah.com for three years, where she interviews people about their tattoos, discusses her favorite movie quotes, reviews books (New Adult & only the ones she loves) and journals about her writing and editing process.
An active tweeter, she is also a JuNoWriMo (3x) and NaNoWriMo (2x) winner who notes the sci-fi action flick “The Matrix” as the best representation of her life in the past. She is blessed to be awake now and doing what she loves.
She can recite the entire script for the 80’s teen comedy/drama The Breakfast Club and loves any and everything associated with the Avengers movie, especially Tony Stark.
When it comes to books, Sydney reads many different genres, but some of her favorite writers are Stephen King, Cora Carmack, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Cassie Mae, & Emily Bronte. The Great Gatsby, Under the Dome, Losing It, CassaStorm, Switched, & Wuthering Heights are her favorite books.
Find Sydney Aaliyah Michelle online:
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Feel free to contact Sydney Aaliyah Michelle at [email protected].
/> Table of Contents
Books by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Copyright & Credits
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
Acknowledgement
About the Author
Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3) Page 23