by Renee Dyer
In the rain, it’s hard to tell, but I think a tear falls down his face. He’s smiling at me, but many emotions cross his face. I want him to say something, anything. He keeps squeezing my fingers.
“I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that. You have no idea how long.” He let’s go of one of my hands and reaches into his pocket. I’m not sure what he’s doing.
“You are the light to my dark, Adriana. I wake up every day happy because I know I’ll at least get to hear your voice. I was lost until the day I found you and then everything became clear. You are my destiny. I love you, sweetness.”
He pulls his hand out of his pocket and through the rain, the glimmer of diamonds catches my eye. I can’t stop my gasp as he puts the ring in front of me.
“Marry me, sweetness. I can’t promise you pretty words or that I have all the answers on how to make our schedules work. All I know is I want you in my life, today and always. Alex was the start of your story, I want to be the person who ends it with you.”
I can’t speak. He doesn’t understand that he says some of the most beautiful words to me. I nod my head vigorously up and down. I know I’m grinning like an idiot.
“Is that a yes, sweetness? I really need to hear you say it.”
“Yes, Tucker. Of course I’ll marry you.”
He slips the ring on my finger and crushes his mouth to mine. The rain cascades down our faces and all I can think is this is just like the romance books I read. I can’t wait to tell Alahna. I know I shouldn’t think this in the middle of my moment, but it’s weird how the mind works.
He breaks away from our kiss and picks me up into his arms. “Let’s go get dry and celebrate.”
I’m sure he means make love, but I’m so excited to be engaged to him that I want to call all my friends and family to tell them. I’ll strip him down and celebrate all through the morning hours with him, but I want to shout it from the rooftops that I’m going to be Mrs. Tucker Stavros.
“Can we call everyone after we get dry and invite them over to celebrate? I’m too excited to hold this news in.”
If he’s disappointed, he doesn’t say anything. He carries me into the house and straight to my room where we shower. We may have taken that time to quickly celebrate with each other. That’s what newly engaged people do, right? But, as soon as we were dressed, we started calling people.
Tucker’s call to Grams made my heart smile. All he said to her when she answered was, “She said yes.” I heard her screaming and squealing across the room. I love that woman and can’t wait to say that we’re officially family.
Within an hour, all of my friends are over and mom and Adrian are on their way. I’m sure Victoria will be coming with Adrian, even though they still say they’re only friends. Pizza has been ordered and Preston did a beer, wine, and champagne run. I even talked Grant into coming down and celebrating with us. We’re only missing Grams, Eddie, and Cammie, but we brought out laptops so they can Skype in for as much of the party as they can.
I never thought I’d find this kind of happiness in my life again. But Tucker said it perfectly when he proposed… Alex was the start of my story, Tucker will be the end.
That’s a book I would love to read.
Epilogue One
Tucker
There are days that I’m still in shock that I have Adriana in my life. I lived so long believing I couldn’t be loved, that I was undeserving of love, but I rolled into her life and she turned everything upside down in mine. I’ll never be more grateful for anything.
It’s been almost five years since I proposed to her on that rainy afternoon. That day, I thought my world was a jumbled mess. I couldn’t see past the problem that was in front of me with Grant, but hearing her say she loved me made it all clear. It doesn’t matter what the world throws at me as long as she is at my side.
Grant faced his mistakes. I stood beside him while he did. It meant telling our life story. That sucked. Having people hear about the hurts of our pasts, how my brother hated me for so many years, how my father abandoned both of us, it ripped me to the core having that in the public eye. But, Adriana stood by my side through every step. She held me up when I felt too weak to stand on my own.
The network went after Grant. We knew they would. How could they not when a competing show put out two episodes almost identical to what we were doing? Right down to the lines we were going to say. Only the names were different. And, their show aired two nights before ours. The network knew it was going to happen because Grant came clean beforehand. We did our best to put the story out there before the shows went to television, but the fans were outraged… at both shows.
Some cried publicity stunt because we were both newer shows. Some cried bad treatment of the stars because Grant felt he needed to act out in such a way. All around, it wasn’t a good outcry. The network got fed up and canceled the show. I’m still shocked about that. That created a lot more negative buzz, but they got tired of hearing people cry that Grant should have never been written out.
The network originally sued Grant for millions of dollars. They wanted to go after him for the lost pay and benefits for the entire crew of the show as well as lost revenue. Grant had only done this show. He didn’t have that kind of money.
My lawyer, Grant, Eddie, and I offered them a better deal. Grant and I gave Eddie exclusive rights to write a screenplay of our lives. We offered that screen play to the network. They could turn it into a movie, mini-series, or show. It took weeks for them to go through the decision making process with their legal team, but in the end, they took our deal and I coughed up several million dollars. Grant didn’t want me to, he told me he’d figure out how to come up with the money, but I told him he could figure out how to live a happy life.
I meant that.
I had the money and I had no problem fixing this for him. It wasn’t about having him indebted to me. I could care less if he ever gave me the money back. This wasn’t done as a loan even though he told me he’d pay back every cent. Guess he’ll find out how ornery I can be when he tries giving it to me.
I just want my brother in my life. I’m grateful for the chance to have a relationship with him. We’ve both been slowly building a relationship with Mikos too. It’s strained, but it’s getting better.
I think all the relationships I’m building in my life are thanks to Adriana. Without her, I think I’d still be walking through life down on myself and feeling like I deserve less than everybody else. We may have started out on rocky ground, but when we found our footing, we soared.
After I proposed to her, we made the other decisions pretty quickly. We’d keep both our houses, but her house would be our main home. I love her friends and family and couldn’t imagine our life without them in it.
Our wedding date was a no brainer for me. Adriana seemed shocked when I asked her to marry me on June twenty-fifth. She got misty eyed and told me a little over a month away was too soon. I laughed and told her I could wait another year, but no longer. That day may be the anniversary of my mother’s death and Alex’s birthday and most people would ask why, but I wanted the day to be a wonderful memory for us and a thank you to them for guiding us to each other. I do truly believe they had a hand in it.
We got married in our backyard with our closest friends and family there to share in our day. We wanted to get married in the place where we first said we loved each other. We had a path cleared through the high grass and an arch built that was covered in white lace. Pink lilies and lavender roses were intertwined through the lace, the same flowers from the dinner I made for her two summers before.
The natural wildflowers growing amongst the tall grass were the perfect backdrop. I had wicker folding chairs flown in and all of them had silky, lavender bows tied around them. I also had a matching lavender run brought in for Adriana to walk on… all the way to me.
My vows to her were from my heart.
“I wanted to ask Eddie to write something for me so I’d know you’d have
pretty words on our big day, but I knew that was cheating. I may not be able to give you pretty words or always say what you want to hear, but I promise to always tell you the truth. I promise to tell you I love you every day and tell you how beautiful I think you are. I do think you’re beautiful, sweetness. There is no one else I think is more beautiful than you. I’ll hold you up when you feel like you’re falling down and I’ll take care of you when you’re not well. I’ll bring you presents and do all the romantic things you deserve. I want to be like the men you read about in your crazy romance books. I want to make your heart race and your toes curl. Most of all, I want to fall asleep next to you every night and wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. I love you, Adriana. I can’t wait to start my life with you as my wife.”
I wish I could tell you what her wedding vows to me were, but I don’t remember them. I was too busy wishing the wedding and reception were over so I could make love to my wife—with her dress on. I could picture lifting that dress and burying myself in her. I tried paying attention, but she looked so stunning. All these years, I think she believed I was dazed by the beauty of her words. I was simply dazed by the beauty of her. I’ll never admit that, though.
When we found out she was pregnant, I was over the moon. Adriana struggled with it. The therapist we see together said it was due to her PTSD and it may take her a little while to adjust to the pregnancy. A few weeks after knowing, she accepted the pregnancy and started getting excited.
That was, until she had an ultrasound and saw there was only one baby. She cried for days. Somewhere in her head, she convinced herself she was carrying twins because every woman in her family had twins. I couldn’t comfort her over those days no matter what I did and it tore me apart. I finally told her maybe she should go talk to Alex. I don’t know why I thought of it, but I figured that if she talked to him, it might make her feel close to him and the twins. I was desperate to help.
One visit to his grave and she was calmer. It was still hard for her the entire pregnancy. She asked me many times if I thought the twins resented her for having a new baby. We bumped up our therapy sessions to twice a week. They helped her to see that she had a right to want a family.
I was nervous the day we found out we were having a boy. Her family had mostly girls. I thought this would send her into another tailspin, but she smiled at the screen and rejoiced at hearing his heartbeat.
That night, I brought up something I had been thinking of for a while. Knowing we were having a boy made the conversation possible.
“I was thinking of a name for the baby and wanted to know what you think.”
“Mmm,” she says lazily, running her hands over her belly.
“How about Chase Alexander?”
She shoots up from where she was laying in my lap and stares me in the eye. “W-why would you want t-that name, Tucker?” Tears mist her beautiful eyes.
I put my hand to her cheek and smile at her. “When I heard you tell Grams about the books that saved you after losing Alex, I had to read them. Personally, Chase is my kind of guy. At first, I didn’t get why you would read those books. I thought they would just make you sadder, but when I read them a second time, I understood how you could find love and hope from them. So, Chase for that love, hope, and healing the books gave you. And, Alexander… do you really have to ask me why?”
The first tear falls over and I swipe it away.
“He taught you what true love is. Because of him, you know how to love me and that little man in your belly. I’ll be forever grateful to him. I told him so the day I went to his grave and asked him for your hand in marriage.”
“Oh, Tucker. I love you. Thank you. I love Chase Alexander.” Her tears fall freely, but this time, I know they’re happy tears.
That night, we had the most incredible sex we’ve ever had and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking back to something Preston said to me. Books equal sex. I sent out a silent thank you to Molly McAdams for writing those books because Adriana got turned on and still does every time I bring up a line from them.
The day Chase was born, I don’t think I stopped smiling. At Adriana, at the doctors, the nurses, our visitors… I beamed at everyone. Grams flew out a week before he was due so she was here to see him be born. Her face when she saw him brought tears to my eyes. The love shining in her eyes made me see how I must have been looked at my whole life, but was just too blind to see.
Even Mikos and Grant came to see Chase. I never thought I’d have a family, but having my little boy brought my family together. My heart felt almost complete. The only one missing was my mom. I know she was there in spirit, I felt her with me, but I would have loved for her to be able to hold her grandson.
Alahna’s visit, I have to say brought me the most amusement. She had a cat ate the canary grin on her face from the moment she and Preston walked in the room. She congratulated me and walked straight to Adriana and the baby. She asked me to hold Chase while Adriana opened the gift.
I didn’t question her because I figured it was something girly for Adriana. I was wrong. Adriana started laughing out loud and the two of them started going on about a book. Little did Alahna know, I was familiar with that book. When I jumped into the conversation, saying I couldn’t believe she ended it that way, Alahna gave me a confused look. Adriana just looked at me with love in her eyes and held the gift up.
Alahna had a specialty onesie made for Chase. It was grey with black lettering. On the front, it said, Saving Chase and the back said, One Baby at a Time. She didn’t have just one made. She had them made in several sizes. When I asked her why she had so many made, she said, “Babies grow so fast, I want that saying to grow with him.”
With the show no longer on my plate, I could be a family man now. I loved the freedom of doing what I wanted. If I wanted to read for a movie, I did. I decided not to do anymore TV series. They’re just too time consuming. My life was with my family now and that’s where my happiness is. I did take Henry up on the offer of becoming the VP of Cancer Forward. It was the best decision I ever made. The job makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile with my life.
Chase is two now and four months ago we welcomed our second child into our lives. Lily Marie Stavros is named after my and Adriana’s mom. Ellen asked us to use her middle name instead of her first. We thought it only fitting to use the names of the two women who loved us from the day we were born.
I think we’re done making babies, but we sure do love pretending we’re still trying. I hope we never lose that passion for one another. I hope there’s never a day where I don’t want to touch her. If that ever happens, then I know we have a problem.
Our story may have started with Adriana being broken, but it could have only ever ended one way—with her mending me. Let’s face it, I was broken too.
Epilogue Two
Adriana
I bet you thought it was over with Tucker’s epilogue. I bet he thought so, too. He likes to have the last word. I promise, I’m not as long winded as he is.
My world was a mess when Tucker came barreling into it. I don’t think I could even decipher between what was real and what was coming from my nightmares. Life was hard. I didn’t know how to breathe. Hell, I didn’t know how to do anything, the pain was so excruciating.
But, Tucker came around and it suddenly felt like stones were being lifted off my chest. It overwhelmed me. In the best and the worst ways. I fell for him, hard and fast. It scared me because I knew he could become my world, but my world was a shattered web of darkness and agony. I didn’t want that for him. I didn’t want to drag him down into my pain.
I know people couldn’t understand why I would let him go. It was hell for me too, but have you ever cared for someone so much you would do anything for them? Even if it meant sacrificing your own happiness? That’s what I did for Tucker. Sometimes loving another person means you have to let them go until you can be healthy for them.
I wasn’t healthy enough to take care o
f myself. I never should have started a relationship with him in the first place. I knew that, but he was irresistible.
As much as it hurt, I’m glad for our time apart. It allowed me to heal. I was able to start letting go of the relationship I had with Alex and see that I could move on with my life. I may have thought I lost Tucker in that time, but I still worked on getting me back. I needed that.
I was fortunate to be given a second chance with Tucker and I knew not to waste it. It wasn’t easy. We both had demons to face, but together, we face them every day. We go to therapy together. It’s kind of funny to me. We go to couples therapy, but not because there’s something wrong in our marriage. It’s to help us know how to deal with the baggage of our pasts. We’re stronger for accepting the broken parts of each other.
Tucker seems to think he never has pretty words for me, but he makes me swoon on a daily basis. I’m amazed that he still can’t see himself for the sweet man that he is. I know there’s a broken boy in there, crying to be let out. There’s still so much healing to be done.
As much as I’ve worked on myself, I take more pride in seeing Tucker piece himself back together. Watching him with Mikos and Grant makes my heart soar. He’s gone from the broken man in my dining room who told me he was abandoned and had no siblings to the man who loves his brother and is trying with everything he is to forgive his father. I still see the anger and hurt he feels toward Mikos, but he wants our kids to know their grandfather, so he’s trying to get past it.
