Ready For Flynn,Part 3: A Rockstar Romance: Ready For Flynn Series
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I laughed when Kayden sighed with relief at Amber because she said she didn’t want more children. Luckily for us, she was happy to give up her job to be with Kayden and agreed to watch over our growing brood. She, Niven and the two new female nannies are managing the kids amazingly well, and it gives the rest of us breathing space to do our jobs without worrying about being away from them.
Since the kids are all so young, they don’t travel with us all of the time, but we all agree that we want to spend as much time watching them grow as we do playing music, so if the trips aren't lengthy or too far away we try to include them whenever we can.
As for the band, life on the road can be tough, but the way we gelled as friends made it so much easier to do our jobs. Lexi’s more relaxed for having the love of a good man, and the band settled down after Jonah was replaced. He was a pretty angry man for a while and wanted my balls in a sling. Initially, Valerie was concerned that Tommy Alsaci would raise his ugly head to defend him, but that never happened. Nowadays, Jonah’s anger has subsided and he’s thankful to us for cutting him loose because he admitted it forced him to get clean and sober. He says he’d probably have been dead by now if we hadn’t.
Since leaving the band we’ve become better friends and still support him although he’s doing pretty well for himself. He’s in another band but one where the limelight isn’t shining on him all the time. He told me he was happier and felt less under pressure.
Valerie still brings him into the studio and helped his band cut their album, but I guess we both felt guilty for taking a guy to the top then dropping him the way we did. However, when I look at my kids I know she was right I definitely don’t want someone doing drugs around our kids. It’s a constant fear of mine as they grow but I’m already starting to educate them about the pitfalls of going down that path.
Jonah’s settled with a girl who’s really good for him, she’s an ex-mental health nurse and calls it as she sees it. He says that she’s exactly what he needed. I was thankful we stayed friends after all was said and done because he wasn’t a bad guy, just had a weakness none of us saw when we signed him.
Replacing Jonah with Kayden was a gamble and there were so many permutations of what could have gone wrong with that. It hadn’t been Kayden’s dream to be in a band. Just like it hadn’t been mine in the beginning.
Surviving after those we loved were ripped right out from under us, Valerie, Kayden and I know what it is to reach rock bottom in an emotional sense, and that could have defined how we lived our lives. Instead of allowing our grief to engulf us, we dug deep and grew stronger. We realized that we had one shot at life, and even if we’re thrown some devastating curve balls, it’s still possible to not only survive but exceed any previous expectations you had for that life. That depends of course on what you’re willing to put into it and how much determination and luck you have.
I believe my lucky breaks weren’t because of my music. They came the day I met Martin Darsin and the day I met his sister. As soon as I saw her my life stalled, and for a while I tried to force my path in another direction to forget the tender young girl who wasn’t ready for me, but that had somehow seared my soul.
Fate had other ideas when tragedy, sorrow and hurt forced us together but once again circumstances and timing pulled us apart. Second chances don’t come around too often, and to be offered a third that day when she called me I didn’t hesitate to go get her. I was done denying my heart what it had wanted since the day I set eyes on her.
I wasn’t surprized to see how beautiful she’d become but the scars in my heart from leaving her burned with a scorching ache the moment I saw the adult version of the innocent girl I’d tried hard not to fall for. From that moment on I already knew what she took long enough to discover, that I believed she was more than ready for me.
Hearing the screen door creak open, my gaze turns to meet hers. My eyes lock with the gorgeous green eyes of the woman I adore and we silently stare for a few seconds. She looks at the kids and I watch her long legs as she steps out onto the porch. I drink in her beauty as she stretches her arms above her head, drawing my eyes down to the hem of her white cotton shirt. Her midriff is revealed and I take in her small black shorts and her awesome swollen belly. I love her body when she’s pregnant. My eyes travel back up to her mouth and a sleepy smile curves her lips as she watches our kids.
Turning to me, she gives me a smile that says it all, she’s happy. Valerie climbs on my knee and I cradle her in my arms and hold her tightly. I sigh the deep sigh of a contented man and as I turn to watch my kids play again I kiss her hair as my hand moved up to cradle her head.
“You look happy,” she murmurs.
“Beyond anything I ever imagined, babe, I got the love of my life on my lap and my beautiful happy kids in front of me. I’m a lucky man, Valerie. We’ve got this, babe. This is what forever looks like.” I say, nodding toward our children.
Valerie lifts her head and stares intensely into my eyes, “Forever won’t be enough,” she says wistfully and leans in to press her lips to mine.
“Are you two going to start kissing again, because it’s really gross?” Liam asks in an exasperated tone.
Valerie and I look at each other and begin to laugh, “I guess so, Liam. Your mom’s gorgeous. Don’t you want to kiss this beautiful face?” I tease.
“Yeah I do, but it doesn’t take minutes at a time, Dad,” he deadpans.
Sophia, the clinger of my girls comes running over and tries to climb the chair to get onto my knee beside me. “My turn, Mommy,” she says in a whiny voice and tries to push Valerie from my lap. Alana stands with her hands on her hips taking in the situation and shakes her head but says nothing. My heart brims with love. Both girls look so much like their mom; they have wild long, dark curly hair and Val’s massive jade green colored eyes.
These baby girls make me feel irrational and protective; I often think of gun permits, shotguns and extra rounds of ammunition just looking at them. If they turn out looking anything like their mom, I’m sure as hell going to protect them from the potential fuckwad bad boys they’re sure to attract.
“Looks like I have competition for that spot,” Valerie say as she stands up and gestures at my knee.
“Maybe, babe, but it’s all yours after bedtime,” I say, laughing as I looked down at Sophia who is now pressing her ear to my chest and listening to my heartbeat through my t-shirt. Liam shakes his head and wanders away but not before I hear him say, “I can’t wait for Niall to get here, it’s time we had another Docherty man in this house.”
Liam was talking about our new addition to the family. Niall was my brother’s name and now it’s going to be Liam’s brother’s as well. I can finally talk about him, remembering the good times and I wanted Liam to have good times with a brother called Niall as well.
“Jeez, another Docherty man? I can barely cope with the two of you. Three Docherty men are going to ride my butt.” Valerie groans.
Her jaw dropped realizing the innuendo in what she’d said. I raise my eyebrow and flash her a wolfish smile, “You know that’s a lie, there’s only the one,” I chuckle. Valerie shakes her head before a smirk quirks her lips.
She nods at the girls who are now staring innocently up at me, “Flynn can we at least have one conversation without you insinuating something to do with the ‘S’ word?” she whines.
“Where you’re concerned, babe, it’s kinda hard…actually it’s always hard and always gonna be,” I say, tossing back my own innuendo.
Valerie sees she isn’t getting anywhere trying to get me to stop, so she picks up a cushion and bashes me in the head. “Pillow fight,” she says, inciting the kids to gang up on me. I laugh loudly as they all run to follow their mom’s order and pretend to cringe in fear. I can already imagine my future life in front of me. I know it won’t be simple, because Liam is a no-bullshit, frank and honest kid who calls it as he sees it. Meanwhile, the girls are feisty and clever just lik
e their Mom. Personally, I wouldn’t have them any other way.
Other Titles by
K.L. Shandwick
Lily’s story (The Everything Trilogy)
Enough Isn’t Everything
Everything She Needs
Everything I Want
Love With Every Beat
(Alfie’s POV on music, fame and love).
Just Jack
(Jack from the Everything series)
Everything Is Yours
(An Everything Novella)
The Last Score Series
Gibson’s Legacy
Trusting Gibson
The Ready For Flynn Series
Ready For Flynn, Part 1
Ready For Flynn, Part 2
Ready For Flynn, Part 3
About K.L. Shandwick
K. L. Shandwick lives on the outskirts of London. She started writing after a challenge by a friend when she commented on a book she read. The result of this was "The Everything Trilogy." Her background has been mainly in the health and social care sector in the U.K. She is still currently a freelance or self- employed professional in this field. Her books tend to focus on the relationships of the main characters. Writing is a form of escapism for her and she is just as excited to find out where her characters take her as she is when she reads another author's work.
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