“I’m proud of the man you’ve become. You’re everything I never was.”
I could’ve disagreed with him, but it would’ve been a lie.
“Bro, you’re looking hot, if I do say so myself.” Johnny, always the jokester, said from behind me. I’d been pacing ever since I came back in from talking to Ronan. I just wanted to marry Julia. Right now.
Ever since Johnny moved back to Colorado with us, we’d gotten close. His hair was short now and he had less facial hair than me. He looked nothing like the guy we’d gotten out of prison months ago. He and I worked out at the gym together every day, and the guy was seriously packing on the muscle. He was a machine.
He’d gotten several tattoos since then, and I’d seen many girls over the few days he’d been here ogling him at the pool or beach. I guessed it was the combination of the tattoos and the muscle that had them coming in droves. Some bad boy thing or something. Johnny had been working at a bar in Denver that had live music, and he’d started putting a band together again.
“Thanks, Johnny. I think. Get any ladies by the pool?”
His eyes gleamed. “I think I live in the wrong state, bro! Have you seen some of these women? Never mind, don’t answer that. You’re marrying my sister and I’ll have to kick your ass if you say anything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have eyes for anyone but her, Johnny. You’re safe from having to kick my ass. How’s my girl? Is she ready?”
Johnny’s face softened. The only time I saw him be gentle and loving was with Julia. “She’s beaming. I had to hold her back from coming to see you. I better enjoy this now. It’s as close as I’m ever getting to this shit.”
“Never say never,” I advised. “If someone would’ve told me a year ago that I’d be doing this, I’d tell them they were dead wrong.”
Johnny shook his head. “Not happening. I’m happy for you guys and all that, but that’s where I draw the line. No woman is going to pin me down. Uh uh. This man is free from prison, and that means the prison of marriage too.”
There was no talking to him. He would see, someday. I’d bet money on it. And when Johnny fell, he was going to go down hard.
It was like a dream as I watched Julia walk down the aisle on her brother’s arm. While her parents had come, she’d chosen to ask Johnny to walk her down. I’d thought there would be a throw down about that, but they’d been fine with it. I think they were more grateful that she allowed them to come at all.
Her dark hair was in waves around her shoulders and down her back, just the way I liked it. A long veil surrounded her face like a halo, contrasting with her hair. She looked like an angel. An angel made just for me. The dress was sexy but classy, strapless and knee-length, perfect for a beach wedding. She beamed at me the entire way, her eyes never leaving mine. There could’ve been two hundred people here or none, and it wouldn’t have mattered. Julia was all I needed.
Words were echoed, and prayers were said, but all I could feel was her hands in mine and all I could see was her magnificent face. As we slid rings on our fingers and promised each other forever, I cried. I’d promised I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop it.
When Julia saw my tears she lost it, both of us blubbering through our vows and kiss. I took my handkerchief and wiped her eyes gently while she used her thumbs to do the same. Then we turned and faced our family and friends. I laced our fingers together and lifted our joined arms as they pronounced us for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. McIntyre.
We cheered our excitement, along with our family and friends.
Life has a funny way of working out sometimes, best laid plans and all of that. I sure was glad that the plans I’d sketched out for my future had been made in pencil, because they’d all been erased and redrawn now. The first draft had been scratched; the new draft had just begun. And it was better than ever.
The End
Two years later
“BABE, CAN YOU COME HELP me for a second?” Julia called. I put down the hammer I was about to use to hang up a picture. When my love called, I went. No matter what I was doing.
“On my way, dear!” I walked out of my office, stopping for a second to admire the sign outside my door. Carter Blake McIntyre, Architect. It was the one Julia got for me our first Christmas together, and it finally had its permanent home. Julia’s was right next to mine outside her office door, but hers had gotten an upgrade or two. Julia McIntyre, Interior Designer. No matter how many times I looked at her name, it never got old. She was mine.
“What do you need, my love?” The look on her face made me stop in my tracks. “Are you okay?”
She held out her hand and I took it, pulling her to standing. Julia leaned against me, breathing into my chest. I rubbed her back, waiting for her to talk to me. Our two year anniversary was just two months ago, and I couldn’t believe it.
We’d decided to stay in Colorado for the last two years, both of us working for Colorado Cares up until last week when we moved our entire lives to Florida. We’d just gotten settled into our house and now were completing our office, the new business Julia and I were starting together. The house we purchased was just fifteen minutes from my parents.
Julia had tried to convince Johnny to move here with us, but for now he was still in Colorado. She and her parents had reconciled, but it was still different. I didn’t think she could drop her guard entirely, and I couldn’t say that I blamed her. Johnny was doing well, though I wished he would live a little more. Hayden and his wife Karrie had a daughter named Haylie, who was now over a year old, and Karrie was expecting again, this time a little boy. They still lived a few hours from us, but we would at least get to see them more often now.
“It’s time,” Julia whispered, breaking me from my daydream.
“Time for what, sweetie?”
She leaned back, taking my hands and placing them on her protruding stomach. “It’s time, Carter.”
“Are you serious? You still have a month left! Are you sure?”
She smiled, gritting her teeth as a look of pain crossed her face. I thought Julia was beautiful before, but there was absolutely nothing like seeing her carry my child. Our child. Though she complained she looked fat and her stomach was never going to be the same again, I didn’t care.
“I’m . . . sure, Carter. Can you help me to the car? I called the doctor already and he said to get to the hospital.”
I gripped my love’s hand, using my other to steer her out of the front door. I got out my keys and locked the door. The logo had just been put on the building and the door, and I had to admire it for just a second. McIntyre Designs. Architecture and Interior Design. That was awesome. As I helped my wife into the car to go deliver our first child, I couldn’t help but appreciate everything I saw on the way. Life was wonderful.
“You got it, babe,” I whispered in her ear as she crushed my hand in pain. “One more big push, and we get to meet our baby.”
Julia’s eyes were squeezed shut. Sweat dripped down her forehead. She’d been such a trooper over the last eight hours, but according to the doctor, the time was now. We were going to find out whether our firstborn was a boy or a girl. I was about to be a dad.
“Okay Julia, let’s give it all you’ve got,” the doctor said. “Let’s meet this baby.”
Julia’s eyes opened and locked with mine. I nodded, leaning over and brushing my lips on her damp forehead. She squeezed my hand again and pushed, her lips in a tight line as she tried to ignore the pain.
“That’s it, that’s it! One more big one, Julia!”
Within seconds, I heard an echoing cry resound through the room as our baby took his or her first breath.
“It’s a . . . GIRL!” The doctor lifted her up so we both could see her. Her small face was scrunched up and she was wailing like a siren, but she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen (next to her mother, of course). I was a father. This baby was mine. I had a little girl. We had a little girl.
Tears slid down Julia’s face as we both watched the nurs
e take her over to clean and weigh her. “She’s ours, Carter,” Julia said, echoing my thoughts.
I watched as the nurse walked over to us and settled her in Julia’s arms. Her eyes were shut, and her mouth was pursed. Dark hair the color of Julia’s stuck out from the hospital cap they’d put on her head. As I watched my daughter nestle in my wife’s arms, I couldn’t help the tear that escaped.
“Can I hold her?” I asked, my voice cracking. Julia lifted her hand and placed it on my face. Her touch communicated so much that we didn’t even need to say. She lifted the precious bundle and put her in my arms. My daughter squirmed and then settled, her face relaxing as she went back to sleep.
“I’m your daddy,” I said, not stopping the now continuous stream of tears flowing down my cheeks. I was someone’s dad. After everything, she was mine. “I’ll love and protect you every second for the rest of your life, little girl.”
I heard Julia sniffle, and I lifted my blurry eyes to hers. No words needed to be spoken.
“Mom, Dad, meet your new granddaughter.” I placed the baby in my mom’s arms, knowing she was going to burst into tears at any second. With my youngest brother now fully into toddlerhood and Gretchen in second grade, life was flying by all of us.
“She’s so beautiful. Julia, you did a great job, honey.”
“Hey, I was part of this too,” I kidded, leaning over and brushing my lips over Julia’s. You couldn’t tell this woman had delivered a baby a few hours ago. She was breathtaking as always.
“Until you give birth to a baby, I won’t tell you that you did a great job. I’ll say thank you for helping make my grandbaby, though, okay?”
“What’s her name?” My dad traced her soft cheek with his finger. “She looks a lot like Logan, but has Julia’s dark hair.” Logan was my exact replica at two and a half years old. My mom said that was my dad’s reward for not getting to have me as a baby. He was right. Our little princess had my facial features and bright blue eyes, but her mom’s dark hair. I knew I was in trouble already because the second she blinked her little eyes at me, I was a goner. Even born a month early, she’d been a healthy six pounds and came out announcing her arrival to the world.
Julia and I shared a look, and she nodded. “Her name is Calia Joy. Her name is part of both of our first names, and Joy because she’s brought so much joy into our lives already.”
“That’s a perfect name, Calia Joy McIntyre.”
My daughter scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue, making us all laugh. “Is that what you think of your name, baby girl? Come here and see your daddy.”
I tucked Calia into my arms and breathed in her smell. I couldn’t even believe that this was my life now. I had the most amazing wife in the world, a new baby daughter, my own business with the love of my life, and family and friends that supported me through anything. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Julia reached over and touched our daughter’s little hand and she opened up and gripped her mommy’s finger. “Thank you,” I said, my voice breaking. Julia’s eyes shimmered with tears and she nodded, our unspoken words passing between us. She just got me. She always had.
L.L. Collins loves spending her days in the Florida sun with her husband and two boys, reading, and writing. LL has been writing since she was old enough to write. Always a story in her head, she finally decided to let the characters out made her lifelong dream of becoming an author come true in the self-publishing world. She's the author of the Living Again Series and the Twisted Series, plus a new standalone, Back to the Drawing Board. Visit LL on her website, www.llcollinsauthor.com and on all social media. Look for more of her emotionally charged novels soon!
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THE LIVING AGAIN SERIES
(all standalones, but best read as the series)
Living Again (Living Again #1)
Purchase from Amazon
Reaching Rachel (Living Again #2)
Purchase from Amazon
Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3)
Purchase from Amazon
Finding Forever (Living Again #4)
Purchase from Amazon
Breaking Free: A Living Again Novella (Living Again #4.5)
Purchase from Amazon
LIVING AGAIN BOXED SET
Purchase from Amazon
THE TWISTED SERIES
(NOT standalones)
Twisted Souls (Twisted #1)
Purchase from Amazon
Twisted Paths (Twisted #2)
Purchase from Amazon
STANDALONES
Back to the Drawing Board
Spotify Playlist
Smoke and Mirrors~ Imagine Dragons
Love Alone is Worth the Fight~ Switchfoot
Fool For You Anyway~ Foreigner
Time~ Creed
Broken~ Lifehouse
Everything~ Lifehouse
Sail~ AWOLNATION
Halo~ Beyonce
How You Remind Me~ Nickelback
If Today Was Your Last Day~ Nickelback
Just As I Am~ Brantley Gilbert
Bleeding Out~ Imagine Dragons
Something I Need~ One Republic
The Fighter~ Gym Class Heroes
No Ordinary Love~ The Civil Wars
Dust to Dust~ The Civil Wars
Photograph~ Ed Sheeran
Lost In You~ Three Days Grace
The Best of Me~ Brantley Gilbert
Like I’m Gonna Lose You~ Meghan Trainor, John Legend
Yours to Hold~ Skillet
Riot~ Rascal Flatts
Fly~ Maddie & Tee
Sparks~ Coldplay
Where It All Begins~ Hunter Hayes, Lady Antebellum
It Was Always You~ Maroon 5
Love Someone~ Jason Mraz
Everything I Didn’t Say~ 5 Seconds of Summer
Inside Your Heaven~ Carrie Underwood
So Small~ Carrie Underwood
Broken~ Seether
My Own Prison~ Creed
Goodbye My Lover~ James Blunt
100 Years~ Five for Fighting
Six Degrees of Separation~ The Script
If It’s Love~ Train
This Ain’t Goodbye~ Train
This is What it Takes~ Shawn Mendes
You’re Beautiful~ James Blunt
Marry Me~ Train
You and Me~ Lifehouse
Accidentally in Love~ Counting Crows
Smile~ Uncle Kracker
Thank you to everyone who continues to support and love me through this amazing writing process. Who knew two years ago I’d write eight books and publish them in such a short time? It’s a dream come true, and I’m so thankful to have a wonderful support group.
Thank you to my readers. Without you, I’d just be writing for myself. Your loyalty and encouragement to get you the next story keeps me going.
To my fellow author friends, thank you for encouraging, supporting, loving, and being awesome people. You know who you are.
A special thank you to Mary Ellen Stamm, who went above and beyond for me in this story. You’re an amazing, one of a kind friend.
To Kellie, for always, always dropping everything to talk plot, read a scene, or just be there to listen.
If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review at your point of purchase. It helps more than you know. Help support indie authors and if you loved it, tell a friend or two. It’s more appreciated than we can express. Support getting new books to choose from and purchase your books, don’t get them for free from a piracy site.
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