by Fiona Keane
“Avery,” Sean took my chin between his thumb and finger, holding my other hand against his chest, regaining my attention. “You don’t want a big wedding. It took you months to accept my proposal. You’re four months pregnant. Let’s just do it. Right here, right now, with the people we love.”
“Here?” I gaped. “But I’m not wearing a white dress.”
Sean laughed warmly and placed his hands on my bump. “The jig is up on that one, my love.” He kissed my forehead and continued grinning at me.
“What do you say?” Lizzie called. “Can we do it? Right now?”
Ella was jumping up and down, clinging to Jesse’s arm. I glanced at my mom, who was dressed in a black wrap dress and large pearls decorating her clavicle. She was holding my sister’s hand, both smiling and beginning to cry. Don’t make me cry. I’m a hot mess. I glanced back at Sean, his emboldened green eyes expectant and waiting.
My mouth parted into a smile, my heart humming with love for him. Sean kissed me again and waved for Jesse to join us, his hands still clinging to my belly. Jesse stood between us, motioning for our friends and family to approach the pergola. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I thought I was just getting pancakes.
Sean’s mom was latched tightly to his father’s right arm. Her free hand grasped my mother’s. Lizzie and Ella stood next to me. My imperfect, unrequested but appreciated, bridesmaids. Did they know about this? They had to. Jesse knew. Sneaky bastards. Noah stood behind Sean, his sleeve continuing to pull me into a darker place. Sean squeezed my hands in his, grinning at me while Jesse spoke to everyone. Jesse is marrying us? This is beyond perfect.
“Avery,” Sean murmured, his eyes tangling my heart and mind, “I have loved you more deeply with each moment of our precious time together. You haven’t been easy to catch, but holding on to you is worth everything. You’ve been my best friend, my lover, my partner, and you are the mother of our children. I know you’re too smart for me, too kind for me, and too lovely for me, but that love and kindness is what calls me to you every day. We’ve been through the gates of hell and back together too many times this year, and yet here we are, ready to embark on the scariest and most rewarding journey of our lives. I promise you, Avery, that I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure you are the happiest woman alive because that is how you make me feel. You’re my heart, Bean. You meet me and challenge me, pushing me to heal and become who I’m meant to be. Without you, I’m nothing. I’ve been lost and you found me, Avery. I promise to love you, as I already do, unconditionally, with every fiber of my being for as long as…forever, Avery.”
And just like that, with uncontrollable tears pouring down my cheeks, our family and best friends with us, I stepped onto my tiptoes and kissed him. I kissed Sean, the man who was more than my friend, the man who I carried through hell and back, the man I will love forever. My Sean.
Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
Our two-bedroom condo haunted me for months after Sean came back from the hospital, even into the beginning of our marriage. The arrival of Vivienne and Blake changed everything. It’s cliché to say so, because it’s obvious that one baby, let alone twins, flips your word over, but Vivi and Blake erased so much of the ominous, exhaustive cloud that lingered in our home and in our past. Their cries broke through the pain. Their smiles healed the pieces of our hearts lost to Sean’s health scares.
As I reminisce about the years it took Sean and me to truly find each other, I’m filled with angst, wondering how limited time really is and all of the things we have yet to share with our family. We have to teach the twins to read. I need to teach Sean how to braid Vivi’s hair. We have to make Halloween costumes. I want to curl up on the couch with Sean, wrapped in a blanket of nerves as we wait for Vivi to come home from her first date. I want to be in his arms as we watch Vivi and Blake graduate, help them move, and watch them fall in love.
I want to spend every second with Sean, cocooned in his veil of security. However, no matter what is left on our clock, Sean will always be my forever.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Limitless Team for the opportunity to tell Sean and Avery’s story. Thank you to Toni, my editor, for your patience and guidance through this process. Thank you to the marketing teams helping Sean and Avery find their audience. Thank you, Lydia, Renee, and Jess for everything you’ve done to encourage and guide me.
This book wouldn’t exist without the support of my husband, my sister, and my best friend, the three people who read this story years before I ever had the dream of its publication. To my love, thank you for giving me the chance to daydream and create these characters, for letting so much of our history shine through, and for your love. Thank you, Sarah, Julie, and Megan, for laughing with me, helping me brainstorm, and for your unconditional love and support.
To the me from years ago, living in the studio apartment downtown near the best coffee shop, with an incredible group of best friends, I’m proud of you. Reflect and smile, knowing it’s only just beginning.
About the Author
Fueled by coffee and rainy days, shelves of books consuming her home in the Pacific Northwest, and a vivid imagination, Fiona writes about love because she believes the world needs more of it. She could spend eternity lost in a story, taken into someone's thoughts while she is left lingering there long after the pages have turned. Fiona works to meld themes in the current world and spin them into stories of longing, determination, and hope.
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