(Almost) Happily Ever After

by Annabelle Costa

  “I’m not refusing!” Will says. He sounds really frazzled. “I can’t stand up, for fuck’s sake! Just frisk me in the chair. Please. I’ve got to catch a flight.”

  He glances at his watch, his brow furrowed. He’s afraid of missing me. Little does he know.

  “Will?” I say.

  He doesn’t hear me. It’s too damn loud in here.

  “Will!”

  This time he turns his head, a confused expression on his face. When he sees my face, his eyes light up. “Libby! You’re here!”

  I want to run to him and hug him, but I’m on the other side of security. If I run past, I’ll probably be tasered.

  “That’s my girlfriend,” Will tells the TSA agent. “Can she come through?”

  “Sorry, but no,” the man tells him. “She hasn’t had her bag and shoes scanned.”

  Will throws up his hands. “Well, can I go over there and talk to her? Or are you planning on arresting me?”

  “You can go.”

  “And can I have my shoes back?”

  The man gives Will his shoes back, and he takes a second to put them back on before he wheels back through security to meet me. He looks deliriously happy to see me, but he hesitates before reaching for me.

  “You came,” he says.

  I nod. “I want to go to Vegas with you.” I glance at the line. “Although it’s probably too late.”

  Will glances over at the security agents. “That? Oh, don’t worry. Once the head of security gets here and they find out I’m a lawyer, we’ll be on that flight in sixty seconds. And we’ll probably get our next flight for free.”

  I’m sure he’s right. You don’t mess with a disabled lawyer at the airport.

  “So,” I say, “Saperstein and Hitchcock let you have the time off after all.”

  “Not really,” Will says. “I quit.”

  I stare at him. I can’t believe this. He quit? Will quit? “You did?”

  He nods. “This morning. I went to Saperstein and told him that I was taking a week off to go get married. No requests—I was going. He said I couldn’t because I needed to be there for the next court date. So I quit.”

  I feel a lump hardening in my throat. “You quit to come to Vegas with me?”

  He smiles crookedly. “Well, after I told him I was quitting, Saperstein was only too happy to let me have the vacation that I’d been planning. Actually, it was sort of flattering how hard he tried to get me to stay. He basically started throwing money at me. By the end, he was offering me double my salary.”

  “Double your salary?” I gasp. Will’s salary is already ridiculously high—more money than I’ll probably earn in my lifetime at this rate. “So did you take it?”

  He shakes his head no. “I didn’t. Once I said the words, I just… I knew it was the right thing to do.” He looks thoughtful. “It was like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I mean, the whole reason I wanted to earn a good salary was so that I could buy you a house and support us. When I thought I’d lost you…” He lowers his eyes. “There was just no point to anything anymore.”

  I slide into his lap, leaning my body against his. “I’m sorry I left.”

  “Don’t be,” he says. “I deserved it. It was a wake-up call. I mean, what’s the point of being with the woman of my dreams if I don’t ever get to see her?”

  I laugh. “I’m the woman of your dreams? That’s so cheesy.”

  He doesn’t smile. “You are. Libby, if I can’t be with you, there’s no one else I’d ever want to be with.”

  I remember what Stephanie said: If you don’t go back to him, he’ll probably die alone. I don’t know if I believe it though. I’m not that great.

  Will pulls my face towards his, lowering his lips onto mine. This is the longest it’s ever been since we’ve kissed, and his touch sets every nerve on fire. Somehow, Will just does it to me. I think if I didn’t come back to him, I very well might have died alone too. After all, any man I’d ever meet would only compare unfavorably to him.

  “Excuse me, sir?”

  I nearly jump out of my skin at the loud voice from right above us. I scramble off Will’s lap as a uniformed man stands over us awkwardly. I glance over at Will, who has a small smile playing on his lips.

  “My name is Roger Tyler and I’m head of LaGuardia security,” the man says.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Tyler.” The calm in Will’s voice is a sharp contrast to the anxious tone he had when he was trying to catch the flight a few minutes ago. “My name is William Kaplan and I’m an attorney for Saperstein and Hitchcock. Have you heard of them?”

  By the way Tyler’s eyes widen, I’m guessing that’s a yes. “Of course I’ve heard of them!” He shoots a dirty look at the man who had been trying to persuade Will to stand up. “Everyone has heard of them.”

  “Yes, well.” Will sits up straighter in his chair. “Your staff members were insisting that I stand up so they could run a metal detector over me, but that’s not something I’m able to do. I explained it to them quite a few times. Of course, this happened in front of quite a few other passengers. It was very embarrassing.” He looks Tyler right in the eyes before adding, “For everyone involved.”

  The subtext of his words couldn’t be clearer. TSA just humiliated themselves by insisting a paraplegic stand up for a security check. In front of tons of witnesses.

  Will shakes his head. “And now I’m not sure how my girlfriend and I can possibly make our flight.”

  “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Mr. Kaplan,” Tyler says anxiously. “Let me call your gate right now to make sure they’re holding the plane for you. And is there anything else I could do for you? A free upgrade?”

  “We were already flying first class,” Will says.

  “Of course, of course,” Tyler says. He wipes his brow with the back of his hand.

  “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Will says vaguely. “But please, we’d like to make sure we’re on that plane.”

  A minute later, we’re traveling down the terminal in the direction of Gate 23A. Roger Tyler absolutely assured us that the plane would not take off without us and that we didn’t need to rush. But I’m rushing a little. I mean, I feel sort of bad that a whole plane has to sit there and wait for us.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to get married,” I murmur, as Gate 23A comes into sight.

  “Actually,” Will says, “if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather wait.”

  I stop and look at his face to see if he’s joking.

  “Seriously,” he says. “I want to marry you as much as humanly possible, but I think we can do a little bit better than being married by an Elvis impersonator in some twenty-four-hour chapel. I want to have a real wedding, with our close friends and family there.”

  I smile. That’s the wedding we talked about before Will’s job got in the way. “So what are we going to do in Vegas then?”

  “Honestly…” He takes his hand off the wheel to hold mine. “I don’t know if I even want to get out of bed for the week.”

  “Yeah.” I grin at him. “You do look really exhausted. You’ve got those huge circles under your eyes.”

  Will rolls his eyes. “I meant I want you, woman.”

  I squeal as he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap. He pushes the two of us all the way to the gate. It’s the best way to travel.

  Epilogue

  “Do you William take Libby to be your lawfully wedded wife…”

  Will looks so devastatingly handsome in his tuxedo. It makes my chest ache just looking at him. After over three years together, it still gets me just looking at him. It’s like he gets sexier every year. And those dark circles under his eyes have completely disappeared. He is definitely every bit my handsome prince right now. And I feel every bit a princess in the whisper pink georgette gown I fell in love with months ago.

  He glances at me and grins dopily. I’m probably grinning equally dopily. Even though we’ve been engaged for nearly two ye
ars, I genuinely can’t believe this day has come.

  “Will you love, honor, cherish, and keep her, in sickness and in health…”

  It was worth waiting a little longer to get married. A quickie wedding in Las Vegas wouldn’t have been nearly as special as getting married in the late spring, in my parents’ backyard, with our closest family and friends present. My father was able to walk me down the aisle.

  We did have a great time in Vegas though. We had an amazing room at the Bellagio and although we didn’t spend the whole week in bed, we did spend a huge chunk of time in our room. The tub’s Jacuzzi setting was to die for.

  And when we got home, Will went… straight back to Saperstein and Hitchcock.

  He said it was just for two weeks, since he couldn’t quit wouldn’t giving notice, and he had to fill in the rest of Hanford’s lawyers. There was a part of me that genuinely believed he couldn’t really quit, that these two weeks would end up with him returning to the firm again forever.

  But it didn’t. At the end of those two weeks, he threw his briefcase in the closet and said, “That’s it. I’m done.”

  “…for as long as you both shall live?”

  Will gazes up into my eyes. “That’s not long enough,” he says.

  I can hear a smattering of “aw” noises from the audience, probably with equal parts eye-rolling. I am a little worried that if I died, Will would take up residence at my grave. Although he’d probably end up still going to work during the day.

  Will without a job was really awesome. We were barely apart through the Christmas holidays. And Will was able to kiss me at midnight on New Year’s Eve without my having to shake him awake on our sofa. We spent so much time together that by the end of January, we both agreed that we were getting sick of each other and that Will should start looking for a new job.

  He did a bunch of interviews, and everyone wanted him. I don’t know what that crap was about never being able to find a job again if he screwed up with Hanford, because every firm in Manhattan seemed to be clamoring for him. Including Stephanie’s firm, who made him a really generous offer. In fact, all the firms made him really generous offers.

  In the end, he took the least generous offer of all.

  “Do you Libby take William to be your lawfully wedded husband…”

  Will took a job at the District Attorney’s office. It’s completely different from the work that he did before. He still works long hours, but nothing like before. He gets the weekend off, and there usually isn’t someone breathing down his throat. Also, because he works for the government, he gets all the holidays and lots of paid vacation. It’s definitely compensation for the crap salary. That and the fact that he says he feels really good about the work he does. The truth is, I don’t think Will ever cared that much about the money anyway.

  Of course, money really isn’t an issue anyway, because in January, Will got a call from the producers of Katie Corrigan’s show, who wanted him to do a weekly segment, weighing in on legal issues. He really impressed them when he came on her show. So he started doing the segment a few months ago, and wow, does television pay well. He could quit his day job at this point, if he were so inclined. (He isn’t.)

  The television segment is a huge hit. Will is really great on camera. He’s gotten offers to come on other shows, which he sometimes does if he has time. He doesn’t get nervous about it at all anymore. And it’s a good use for all those expensive suits, which he wears less and less now that he works for the DA.

  “…as long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” I say quickly. Maybe too quickly, because I hear the audience giggling.

  Will’s brother Jack, who is his best man, gets out our wedding bands. I’m really excited about my wedding band—mostly because I’ll actually get to wear it, as opposed to my engagement ring. It kills me that Will bought me a beautiful diamond ring that I’m terrified to wear in the city. The simple gold engagement band won’t be a tease for muggers.

  “William, repeat after me, with this ring, I thee wed…”

  As for me, well, it shouldn’t be any surprise that I quit college. Again.

  This time I was somehow okay with it though. Maybe because I didn’t quit to work as a waitress. I didn’t have as many people lining up to employ me as Will did, but I ended up taking the job at Stephanie’s firm.

  And I love it.

  I’m working on cases that deal with important human and animal rights issues. And Stephanie is teaching me so much. Despite the fact that we got off to a bit of a rocky start, Stephanie has become one of my best friends. She even allowed me to take her shopping and help her pick out some flattering suits. (But she won’t let me touch her hair on penalty of death.) She’s also convinced me to start paralegal school in the fall, which I’m actually really excited about. She’s been such an incredible role model to me.

  In fact, Stephanie is here right now. Sitting in the audience on the bride’s side. Third row.

  After Will repeats the minister’s words, he slides the wedding band onto my fourth finger. As he does it, he looks sort of amazed that this is actually happening. I feel the same way. We’ve certainly been through a lot.

  “Libby, repeat after me, with this ring …”

  After avoiding all thought about it for months, Will and I finally started talking about the baby issue. Like, will we ever have one? Because it sure as hell isn’t going to happen the natural way.

  One thing we can both agree on is that we want kids. Badly.

  Other than that, we’re not sure. We decided that we’re going to go back to Dr. Powell and give in vitro fertilization a try. How many tries, we’re not sure. Maybe it will work right away. Maybe it won’t. Maybe after a few heartbreaks, we’ll decide to go the adoption route. Will said he’d be happy to adopt a baby and it would subvert my fear of needles. And I wouldn’t end up with Mia’s fourth degree vaginal tear that I’m never ever allowed to talk about.

  Either way, I think we’ll be satisfied, as long as we get to be parents. Together.

  Mia, my maid of honor, nudges me, and I put the ring on Will’s outstretched hand.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife…”

  This is it. We’re about to be married. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. And it’s everything I ever wanted.

  “You may kiss the bride.”

  I slide onto Will’s lap for this part—it’s my favorite place to be. I feel his warm, strong arms encircle me, and my lips press against his. We’re trying to keep it a chaste kiss, because we’re in front of friends and family, but it’s hard. I don’t ever want to stop kissing this man. He’s my handsome prince—the one that I always dreamed of.

  And then we live happily after.

  Entirely.

  Acknowledgements

  I used to think that nobody read the acknowledgements except for the people actually being acknowledged. Boy, was I wrong.

  I’ve received a review that said they were lowering the star rating of my book by one star because of a typo they found in the acknowledgements. I’ve had a review state that they were lowering my review rating by two whole stars because they really didn’t like someone that I acknowledged. That’s what I get for acknowledging Hitler—I’ll never make that mistake again. (That was a joke. Sometimes I think I’m funny.)

  A lot of people put a lot of effort into helping me with this book. I want to thank my attorney connection, Janet Webb, for helping me make sure I got all the lawyery stuff right. (If she were reading this, she’d probably be informing me that “lawyery” is not actually a word.) I want to thank my talented author friends, J. Saman, Molly Mirren, and J. Alana Giresi, for their support and comments. I’d also like to thank my non-author beta readers, Hailey and Betty, who helped me without expecting anything in return.

  And of course, I’d also like to thank my readers. If you guys hadn’t bought the first book in this series, I never would have been motivated to write a second. So thank you for that! />
  Dear readers,

  If you’re reading this, I’m assuming that means you’ve made it to the end of (Almost) Happily Ever After. I really loved writing this sequel to Libby and Will’s story, and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it!

  As an author, I love feedback. While good feedback is the best, of course, I like to hear it all—the good and the bad. You, the readers, are what keep me going as an author. So please tell me what you liked, what you loved, and even what you hated. I’d love to hear from you either way. You can write to me at razberripie@gmail.com or visit my website at http://annabellecosta.blogspot.com/.

  Finally, I need to ask you for a favor. A small favor. If you are inspired, I’d really love a review of (Almost) Happily Ever After. Reviews are so important in publicizing a book, and you have the power to help me make or break my book. So if you’re so inclined, please help me!

  Thank you so much for reading (Almost) Happily Ever After and getting to know my characters! And if you haven’t already, please check out The Ugly Duckling, the first in this series.

  Sincerely,

  Annabelle Costa