One More Time
Page 18
“I really don’t know why my dad thought it was a good idea to get Olivia a cat for Christmas,” Aria says, shaking her head and tossing the ribbon in her hand into the trash.
“She loves that cat,” I remind her. “And your dad adores her.”
“He does,” she agrees with a sigh, and I smile again. I didn’t know what would happen after George said he was going to leave Aria’s mom. Part of me doubted that he would follow through, but he did, and he did it in a big way. Not only did he leave Beatrice, but he moved into my old house, started going to AA, and has put in the effort to get to know his daughter.
I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for him, but he has stuck with it, which says a lot about the kind of man he is. Her mom, for her part, moved to California to live with Josh after her divorce was finalized, and how they are doing is anyone’s guess. Josh’s request for more alimony was denied, and the judge cut down his monthly payments to half of what they were. He also put a time limit of two years or until Josh remarries for how long he could receive benefits from Aria. It wasn’t what I wanted, which would be him getting nothing, but knowing his hold over her has a time stamp makes me feel a little better about the situation.
“Are we still meeting everyone in town for dinner?” I wrap my arms around her, and her wide eyes meet mine as her hands land on my chest. One of those hands is sporting the two-karat diamond ring I proposed to her with while we were out to dinner with my family, her dad, and Colton and Gia a week before Christmas. Two weeks later, I slid a heavy solid band on behind it when we got married at the courthouse in town, her not wanting a big show but wanting to make it official.
“Yes, we have reservations.” She licks her lips, and my eyes narrow on her mouth before they meet her gaze.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened.” She puts pressure on my chest for me to let her go, but I refuse by holding her tighter.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Just tell me and get it over with.” I give her a squeeze, and her eyes narrow on mine. Over the last couple of months, she and my mother, she and Olivia, she and Gia, and even she and Anna have conspired against me on more than one occasion, and she always has the same facial expression when she’s getting ready to spring some news on me or ask me to do something. Thankfully, it hasn’t been anything that might lead to me losing my mind, but it’s still always been something.
“There is nothing to tell you. We need to get ready to go; otherwise, we are going to be the last to show up for dinner.”
“Aria.”
“Tide.” She holds my stare, and I let out a breath.
“All right, let’s go get ready.” I give in, knowing she’s going to have to come clean sooner or later. When we get upstairs, Olivia is in her room, torturing Mittens with the laser light he will never be able to catch, so I head with Aria into our bedroom, and we both change. She puts on a pair of tights and a long sweater dress with a high collar that looks amazing on her, and I tug on a different pair of jeans and a button-down shirt.
When I’m coming out of the closet, buttoning up my shirt, Olivia comes into the room, wearing a frilly pink skirt over a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved black shirt with writing across the front. It takes me a moment to read her shirt, but when I do, my heart stops in my chest.
“This is for you.” Aria places a box in my hands that has a big bow tied on top, the ribbon the same as the one stuck to Mittens.
My chest feels odd as I open it and expose the small piece of fabric under the mound of tissue paper, one single word written across the front.
Surprise.
“Really?” I meet Aria’s gaze, and she nods, and I drop my eyes to her stomach.
“I’m going to be a big sister,” Olivia says proudly, running to me and wrapping her arms around my waist. Palming the back of my girl’s head with one hand, I pull my wife toward me with the other, then kiss her deeply, thinking that once again she’s proven there is no limit to the love I have for her.
Aria
Nine Months Later
WITH LUCA’S TINY, warm body curves around me and his mouth latches onto my breast, I watch Tide move to the front door when the bell goes off. Since we just got home from the hospital with our sweet boy, I’m prepared to see a lot of people today. But really, there is only one person I want to see, and judging by the bell ringing again, I’m guessing she’s here now.
Unlatching Luca, I adjust my shirt, then lift him to my shoulder to burp him as Olivia comes around the corner. I watch her kick off her shoes, then tiptoe across the carpet, and smile as she crawls up onto the couch to sit next to me.
“Hi, sweet girl,” I say quietly, and she leans in to touch her nose to mine, then rests her hand against the back of Luca’s head and bends down to kiss his cheek.
“Can I hold him?” She looks at me, and as soon as I nod, she falls to her bottom, and I place him in her arms. Seeing them together causes tears to burn the back of my throat just like they did when she came to the hospital to meet her baby brother.
I look across the room at my husband and know the look in his eyes reflects the one in mine. Pure happiness. I don’t think either of us ever believed we could be this happy, but here we are, and somehow the outside drama in our lives has sorted itself out. Not that everything is perfect, but like he told me when we first started, we are in this together, and really, that is the key. Because at the end of the day, as long as we have each other, and our kids are happy and healthy, nothing else matters.
Aria
Four years later
“I’M NOT WALKING the red carpet.” I roll my eyes at Rachel, and she sighs dramatically, which has always been her style.
“You have to walk the red carpet. It’s your vision that has come to life.” She plops down on the chair opposite of me, and Tide laughs. He thinks she’s funny, something I’m thankful for, especially when she’s being so annoying.
“It’s not happening. I don’t need to walk in order for the movie to show.” I rub my stomach that has seemed to grow three times its size in the last four months. Really, I’m just as shocked as everyone else that I’m only carrying one baby with how big my belly is already. Then again, maybe because this is my second baby, this little girl has more room to roam.
“Tide, you really must talk some sense into your wife. This is her big day. She should be there to bask in the excitement.”
“I think you know as well as I do, Rach, that you can’t tell Aria anything or get her to do something she doesn’t want to do,” he says, and I smile up at him, watching him grin.
“You haven’t attended one of the red-carpet events in the last three years, and I don’t want you to have regrets. This is the last movie,” she replies while I shake my head. I’m sure there are authors who would bask in the light of the cameras and attention, but I have no desire to have my face splashed on the front page of the newspaper.
“I agreed to come to town to do interviews. Now all I want to do is put on my pajamas, order room service, rent a movie, and sleep.”
“Fine.” She sighs. “I’ll send you pictures.”
“I can’t wait to see them,” I say, and she gets up, giving me a kiss on my cheek and Tide a hug before leaving our room. With her gone, my husband comes over to take a seat next to me and rests his hand on my stomach.
“How are my girls doing?”
“We’re tired and hungry.” I pout, and he grins. “I wish your mom had FaceTime. I really miss Luca and Olivia, and it sucks I can’t see their faces.”
“They miss you too, baby, but when I talked to Mom while you were in your last interview, she told me they were good and about to go meet your dad, Lisa, Anna, and Charles for dinner.” Charles is Anna’s husband, a guy both Tide and I like a lot and Lisa is my dad’s girlfriend who is sweet and completely the opposite of my mother in every way. Over the last couple of years we’ve all gotten pretty close which is surprising given how things wer
e. The only person in my life who I don’t have a relationship with is my mom who is still with Josh.
“They’ll enjoy that,” I say as he lifts my feet up to rest on his thigh.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the premier?” he asks, rubbing my feet, and my eyes lock on his.
“Do you?”
“Hell no.” He laughs, making me smile. My husband isn’t someone who likes attention, which has been one of the things we’ve had to deal with since the first movie of my series was released. People have a tendency to be curious about the authors they love, so they dug until they found out about the man I married, and he became a little bit of a sensation amongst my readers. I can’t blame them, since he really is a book hero come to life and more handsome than any man I could describe with words. That said, he’s not interested in sharing our life with anyone, so I’ve done my best to keep our private life private.
“I don’t either.” I rest my hand on my bump. “I just want to lounge with you, and in the morning, I want to get on the plane and head home.” Like him, I like my life just like it is—quiet, normal, and a little bit boring. I’m happy, happier than I have ever been, and I know it’s because I put it all on the line one more time.
Books By Aurora Rose Reynolds
The Until Series
Until November
Until Trevor
Until Lilly
Until Nico
Second Chance Holiday
Until Her Series
Until July
Until June
Until Ashlyn
Until Harmony
Until December
Until April (Coming Soon)
Until Him Series
Until Jax
Until Sage
Until Cobi
Until Talon
Shooting Stars Series
Fighting to Breathe
Wide-Open Spaces
One Last Wish
Underground Kings Series
Assumption
Obligation
Distraction
Infatuation
Ruby Falls Series
Falling Fast
One More Time
Fluke My Life Series
Running into Love
Stumbling into Love
Tossed into Love
Drawn Into Love
How to Catch an Alpha Series
Catching Him
Baiting Him
Hooking Him
Standalone Novels
Love At The Bluebird
The Wrong/Right Man
Alpha Law (written under CA ROSE)
Justified (written under CA ROSE)
Liability (written under CA ROSE)
Finders Keepers (written under CA ROSE)
To Have To Hold To Keep
Trapping Her
Taking Her (Coming Soon)
Stalking Her (Coming Soon)
Happily Ever Alpha World
Do you love Aurora’s Until series? Check out her Happily Ever Alpha World, published by Boom Factory Publishing.
The Happily Ever Alpha authors have been hand selected by Aurora to write stories connected to her Until/Until Her/Until Him series.
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About Aurora Rose Reynolds
Aurora Rose Reynolds is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose wildly popular series include the Until, Until Him, Until Her, Fluke My Life, Underground Kings, How to Catch an Alpha, and Shooting Stars series.
Her writing career started in an attempt to get the outrageously alpha men who resided in her head to leave her alone and has blossomed into an opportunity to share her stories with readers all over the world.
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