Forever True (The Story of Us)

by Grace, Gwendolyn

  “Oh, Daddy, can I feed Kay Kay?” Liv asked using the nickname she came up with for Kaden. She loved helping out with the baby, and Court and I planned to take advantage of it for as long as it lasts.

  “Sure, Liv.” I handed her the tiny bowl and put a bib on the baby. “Careful, not too much at one time, okay?”

  Liv nodded and began spooning small portions into Kaden’s eager mouth.

  Jordyn, who turned five just before the baby was born, doesn’t care much for helping out in the same way Liv does. I think part of her is still trying to get used to not being the baby anymore. We went and got her an “I’m a big sister” t-shirt anyway, which she happens to be wearing right now so I’m pretty confident that she’ll come around. Instead of helping with the baby, Jordyn was cracking eggs and chattering away some random fact she learned on her favorite show, Brain Games.

  “Yeah, so did you know that your brain is mostly fat?”

  “No. No, I did not know that, J.”

  “Yup, so now that Mommy is exercising every day so she can lose fat. Will her brain get smaller too?” I threw my head back and laughed.

  “Do skinny people have small brains? Do fat people have big brains?” She continued to ask, genuinely interested in the answer.

  “I don’t think it works like that, darlin',” I gasped out as I held my sides trying to control my laughter.

  “What’s so funny?” Court asked as she entered the kitchen wearing a robe and a sleepy smile.

  “Nothing.” I shot a quick look to Jordyn indicating for her to cool it on the discussion topic involving fat. Court’s been a bit touchy about her weight after having the baby. I’ve told her she’s perfect to me, but that doesn’t always seem to work. It also helps that I don’t feed her insecurities by keeping things from her and have eliminated traveling for work altogether. It’s not necessary, and I don’t volunteer to do it anymore. Erica got engaged over Christmas to a firefighter and has settled down a lot. She and Court are definitely not friends, but they’re at least cordial when on the rare occasion they see each other. It’s been nearly two years since we remarried, and I’m not going to lie, things aren’t all magic and rainbows. We get angry, and we argue but we love each other and we try hard every day to make this marriage work.

  “Kay Kay! No.” Liv called out, and I turned to see that Kaden had turned over the cereal bowl and was spreading the mess around on the highchair tray.

  “Kaden Violet Turner.” Court gasped. “You are making a mess, little girl.”

  I grabbed a dishtowel and began wiping off the baby’s hands while Court took the tray and rinsed it off.

  “Thanks for helping, Liv.” I winked at my oldest daughter before turning to Kaden. “Why are you giving your big sister such a hard time, Kay Kay? Huh?” I lightly bounced the giggling baby in my arms.

  “Here,” Court held out her arms as she walked over to us, “I’ll take her.”

  “No, that’s ok. Super Daddy has it under control.”

  I managed to finish the waffles, eggs and bacon all the while carrying Kaden around with me. When we found out that our third child would be another girl, Court and I were excited to just have a healthy baby. Cole extended his sympathy to me however. “Three daughters, man? Tough break.” He chuckled as he slapped me on the back. I knew that a lot of guys hope for sons that they can throw a football with and do all kinds of father-son type things. But I felt very lucky as I looked around the room at my beautiful wife and three daughters who were made up of the best parts of us.

  Sons?

  Nah, I loved my girls.

  Readers, thank you so much for reading Forever True!

  I hope you enjoyed the short follow up to Alex and Court’s story. I felt like I wasn’t done with them and thought they deserved a little more closure. I plan to have Justin and Kimmie’s story completed by the spring of 2015!

  Remember that reviews count!

  Please be sure to leave your reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, even just a few words can really help!

  XO-G

  To my husband, Tony, for your continued support and for posting about my books on

  your Facebook page in between the sports talk. That was a surprise for sure!

  To my little man and the reason I breathe, for just being awesome!

  Mommy loves you, always.

  To my sister, Melissa, for always having my back.

  To my besties, Kat and Christa for continuing to answer the phone

  knowing that I’m mostly calling to talk about my book stuff.

  To Jennifer Zamora, my PA and the other half of my brain.

  Thanks for helping me keep it all together! We’ll figure all this out eventually.

  To the G-Force, my Facebook Street Team, for helping me get the word out.

  Maci, Samantha, Sandy, Shannon, Jordan, Trista, Missy, Christa & Kat.

  We are small but mighty! You girls rock!

  To my beta readers, Kingston Westmoreland, Maci Dillon, Samantha Johnson-Whitehurst,

  Kat Gulledge, Jasminn Wulf, Brytiany Aiken, Clorist Thompson and Lianne Cotton.

  Thank you for your honest and valuable feedback. It was just what I needed.

  To an unwavering group supporters made up of authors, bloggers, co-workers,

  fellow soccer moms, high school friends, reading buddies, family members and loved ones.

  Thank you for cheering me on every time you see me!

  I am completely blown away by your continued belief in me!

  I love all your faces!

  XO

  Forever by Haim

  Lover’s Spit by Broken Social Scene

  Silver Coin by Angus and Julia Stone

  Past in Present by Feist

  Just Like Heaven by Katie Melua

  Shut Up and Dance With Me by Walk The Moon

  Please Forgive Me by David Gray

  Dream Girl by Dave Matthews Band

  Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen

  When Gwendolyn Grace is not daydreaming about fictional characters, she tries to be a fairly decent wife and an attentive mother. During the day she manages the office for a small maritime security company that fights pirates, just not the cool Johnny Depp kind. In her spare time, she is a blogger and book reviewer however writing has been her passion for as long as she can remember. The Story of Us series is the first of hopefully many more books and series to come.

  Find her all over social media!

  www.facebook.com/authorgwendolyngrace

  www.twitter.com/AuthorGGrace

  www.goodreads.com/gwendolyngrace

  www.bookdivaness.com