by Lexi Wilson
“My pleasure. It’s always great to see you.”
I smiled. “I’ll be honest, Ben. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be coming here. It’s sort of sad, though. I’ve enjoyed our time together, and a part of me doesn’t want it to come to an end.”
He nodded. “I had a feeling this might be one of our last sessions. I never encourage or discourage people to leave their sessions. I am a big believer of letting it happen naturally. If you feel like you’ve gotten enough out of it, then you probably have. For what it’s worth, Kaylee, you’re very different than the woman I met a year ago.”
“I know. I feel different.”
“Give it some thought. If you want to come back, by all means, come back. My door is always open to you. If not, just give me a call so we can say goodbye.”
“Thank you, Ben. Honestly, thank you for everything. I better get going. I have a busy day ahead.”
“Have fun today. Give that girl of yours a big kiss from me.”
“I will.”
I rushed out of the room, checked the time, and hurried home. I had been looking forward to today. I’d almost cancelled my appointment with Ben because of it, but in the end, I decided to still go. I didn’t like to cancel on people at the last minute, and his office was so close to home anyway.
Home. I smiled as I pulled up the house. Jaxon had asked me if I had wanted to move into another house, a house that could be for both of us, but I’d said no. I loved Jaxon’s house. It had been the house that I had fallen in love with from the very moment I’d walked into it. Also, Allie loved that house, and I didn’t see the point in moving. It was still my favorite place in the world. In the past year, Jaxon had taken us on two vacations, but no matter how much we had enjoyed it, I always felt a sense of happiness and relief when I came back home. It wasn’t just the house that I loved, but also the town that it was in, and the people who resided here. I finally felt like one of them, and they had all accepted me as one of their own.
I got out of the car and made my way into the house, where Allie and Jaxon were sitting in the living room. They looked up and waved at me as I came in.
“How did it go?” Jaxon asked me after I’d said hello to both of them.
I smiled. “It went well. I think I might be done, though.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really? As in, done for good? No more sessions?”
“I think so.”
“Wow. And what does Ben say about that?” he asked.
“I think he agrees it’s time.”
“That’s big news, Kaylee. How do you feel about not going anymore?”
“I think I’m ready. There’s simply nothing more to talk about.”
“I’m proud of you,” he said.
“Thanks, Jaxon. What I do want to talk about, however, is today. How are you feeling, Allie?”
“Excited,” she said.
“Good answer. It’s going to be fun.”
There was another concert at the school that day. This time was different than the last time, though. For one thing, I was excited for it this time and not worried about the people in town seeing me. But that wasn’t the only reason it was different. This time, Allie was going to be playing in it. She only had a small part, but it was still a big deal. Allie was the youngest person at the school, and probably the most talented with the guitar. It always amazed me when I watched her play. She was so young, and it felt like her little fingers could surely not handle a guitar that well, but the moment she started playing it was like she turned into someone else. It was incredible, and we knew she was going to be a hit. Allie was 5 now, and she went to a regular school down the road. But every afternoon I’d get her and she’d sit in the music school with us. She had lessons three times a week with Jaxon, and spent most of her spare time practicing. We hadn’t forced any of it on her, either. She just loved to play. I had a feeling that her guitar was almost like Ben. It was her way of releasing her emotions. We’d asked her if she wanted to be a part of the concert this time, and she’d happily agreed. I was surprised at how happy and excited she was. She barely seemed nervous at all.
We all got ready and made our way to the school. Allie was wearing a new dress we had bought for her, and she couldn’t wait to show it off. She wanted to wear her dog slippers, which now looked like they had seen better days, but we managed to convince her that the slippers did not match the dress. The dress, however, had little dog faces all over it. Her dog obsession had not ended, and her love for Toby had not waned. This was something we all loved the most about Allie. She didn’t like something in stages. She loved things forever and held onto them. I often wondered if it was because of the sort of childhood she had, and I was glad that she had learned such a good lesson from it. A simple lesson, really: keep hold of those who mean the most to you, and never stop loving them.
The room was filled when we got there, and we made our way to the front to say hello to Lisa and Mindy. There was a buzz in the air as all the students got ready to show their families what they had accomplished over the year, and I couldn’t wait for the parents to hear my students. I’d taken on more classes over the last year, and the school was now bigger than it was a year ago. If this continued, we were going to have to find a bigger place to teach, somewhere with a big hall for the concerts. Right now, the place was so full that there was barely any space left. I watched as Lisa went up to talk to everyone and to introduce the students and the teachers. One by one we all waved at the crowd. This time I was up at the front and not hidden at the back like I had been the year before.
My class was up first, and they did very well. I teared up watching them, especially since some of them had struggled so much when they had first arrived at the school. There was one girl in particular who I had been worried about, but she stood there and outshone the rest. Her nerves had propelled her to do even better than everyone else, and when she was done, I couldn’t help but rush up to her to give her a big hug.
When it was Allie’s turn to play, I thought I was going to faint from nerves. Jaxon stood next to me and held my hand, and I had a feeling he felt the same as I did. Allie, on the other hand, looked as cool as a cucumber, and not at all nervous. She was a born performer, and clearly very proud of what she had achieved. She stood up and smiled at the audience, then gave a special smile to us before playing.
When Allie played, the whole room went quiet. Everyone was clearly very surprised to see this little girl with so much talent. Her song was short, but very emotional, and by the end I was sure that there were not many people left with dry eyes. I had never been prouder in my life. Here was my little girl, who had started off in this world with so much fear and unhappiness, standing tall and showing everyone that she was stronger than her circumstances. I could learn a lot from her. She came up to me and wrapped her arms around me, then did the same with Jaxon. We were a family unit now.
I’d asked Jaxon once what his thoughts on adopting were. I knew that he could not have children even though it had always been his dream to have a family. I told him that I would consider it if it was what he wanted. But he’d surprised me by saying that he no longer needed to adopt. He had Allie, and that was all he wanted. We agreed that the three of us made the perfect team.
I stayed for the food and the socializing this time, and enjoyed meeting all the parents. Then, when the last parent finally left, I told Allie that we had a surprise for her.
“Come on, let’s go home,” I said. “Jaxon and I have a present for you.”
“You do? Where is Jaxon?” she asked, looking around.
“He’s went to get your gift. Come on,” I said. “Let’s go. You did so well today, my darling.”
Allie’s gift was a dog, just like I had always promised her. I wanted her to know that I was the sort of mom who kept her promises. She gasped when she saw the little puppy and burst into tears. She promised to continue loving Toby though, and decided that the two dogs would become best friends. Toby was curious
at first, but seemed quite happy by the new member of the family. When Allie was outside playing, Jaxon came up to me and took me in his arms.
“Today was wonderful,” I said to him.
He smiled. “It was. Allie isn’t the only one who is getting a present, though,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.
I watched in shock as Jaxon got down on his knees and took a little box out of his pocket. He opened it up to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.
“Kaylee, you are everything that I have always wanted. You are the one I have been waiting for. I love you more than you’ll ever know. I made a promise to myself to always protect you, but I want to make a new promise to you, and that is to always love you. I love this family that we have together. Will you marry me?”
I burst into tears, then got down onto the floor and wrapped my arms around him. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
“What’s going on?” Allie asked as she walked in to find us on the floor in tears.
I grinned. “Jaxon has asked me to be his wife. I said yes.”
She gasped. “Does that mean Jaxon will be my new daddy?” she asked.
“Only if you want me to,” Jaxon said.
“I want you to,” she said. “Can we have a dog cake at the wedding?”
We all laughed. “Yeah, let’s have a dog cake!”
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Copyright © 2018 by Lexi Wilson
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