Page 46

Caleb

Five months later

T he doorbell rings as soon as I walk out of my bedroom and slip on my suit jacket. “Come in!” I shout, and the door opens, and my parents walk in. My father is wearing a blue suit, while my mother wears a satin dress that goes just past her knees.

“Are you ready?” my father asks, following my mother in as she looks up at me with a big smile.

“You look so handsome,” she compliments me when I get to the bottom step, pulling out my sleeves from my black suit jacket, “just like your dad.” She leans into him, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

“You look beautiful, Mom.” I kiss her cheek.

“If we don’t leave now, we might be late.” My father looks at his watch. “Or at least late in Sierra’s mind, and she has enough to worry about today.”

“Then let’s go,” I urge, walking to the front door, following my parents. My father opens it, and my mother stops as she looks over.

“You know what this house is missing?” She steps outside, looking over her shoulder.

“If you say kids”—I close the door behind me before turning and locking it—“I’m going to tell you that you have to take it up with Sierra.”

“No, not kids.” She walks down the two steps toward the walkway. “Even though that would be lovely.” I nod, following them as I tighten the tie around my neck. “A dog.”

“Mom.” I stop in my tracks. “I like the kid idea more.”

“You always had dogs growing up.” She looks over at me while my father opens her car door.

“Yeah, and you know what sucked about all of that?” I open the back door of the car. “Saying goodbye to them.”

“So dramatic.” She rolls her eyes at him. “You can’t have kids without a dog. That’s just cruel.”

I slam the door as she looks over her shoulder while she reaches one hand for the seat belt. “Brewsky was your shadow from when you were five until you were seventeen.”

“Mom, I love you”—I stop when my father gets in—“but can we not talk about this today? There is enough going on without bringing up a dog and children.”

“It’s the circle of life, Caleb.” She turns back to face the front. “You have to give us grandchildren.”

“Again, talk to Sierra.”

“I can’t talk to her today,” my mother huffs out. “She’s already going through it.”

I pull out my phone and send her a message to give her a heads-up.

Me: My mother wants us to get a dog. The answer is no.

I press send, not thinking she has much time to get back to me with her doing her hair and makeup for today. But I’m shocked when I see the gray bubble pop up with the three dots.

Sierra: Why can’t we get a dog? I want a dog.

I look up, ignoring the conversation my parents are having in front of me when I answer her.

Me: We can’t get a dog because when they die, it’s traumatic, and our kids don’t need to go through that.

Sierra: Wow, instead of thinking how amazing the experience would be for the children with a dog, you just go to the bad part of it.

Me: Yes, I’ve lived through it, and it sucks.

Sierra: We’re getting a dog.

Me: Aren’t you busy doing other things? You have time to argue with me about a dog?

Sierra: I always, always make time to argue with you. It’s my favorite pastime.

Me: That’s because you want to get in my pants.

Sierra: Like that’s hard.

Me: I’m getting hard thinking about it.

Sierra: Got to go. Love you.

Me: See you soon.

I put the phone in the inside pocket of my suit jacket and look out the window.

It’s been five months since that fateful day.

I want to say it was uneventful, but the roller coaster that came after was something straight out of a movie.

The first thing that happened is Sonia rushed to the hospital but was escorted right out when Fiona called security on her, and then told both her and her mother—in no uncertain terms—they were both dead to her.

She would never, ever forgive them for taking Sierra away from her. Never.

The second thing that happened was her uncle Peter pleading not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

They went through all the steps, and in the end, they found he knew exactly what he was doing.

He’s being held without bail since he purchased a plane ticket to the Bahamas while he was being held for attempted murder.

The third thing that happened was we found out Sierra was worth millions, like tens of millions, from her great-grandparents as the firstborn grandchild. She wanted to refuse the money, but her mother said it was the least of what they owed her.

“I can’t believe they’re getting married,” my father says as I look out the window.

We are on our way to Fiona and Carl’s wedding.

It’s still strange to say, but when you are with them, you can feel the love pouring out of them.

The minute she was discharged from the hospital, he took her home to his house, and she never left.

“I can’t believe they are having another baby,” my mother says. “She was shocked. She thought she was starting premenopause and boom. Baby.”

The two of them moving in with each other right away was something else, but then they have moved to be closer to Sierra, buying a house a street over and fixing it up.

Even though they didn’t want to push Sierra to do anything she didn’t want to.

They wanted to be close when she was ready.

Right away, she included them in everything.

We had Sunday meals together every single week.

That with the fact she and Fiona would get coffee a couple of times a week.

Each time, Sierra would come home and tell me how she was getting to know her.

Each time, it was as if they were almost the same person.

Her adoptive parents were just as included and made it a point to come down for Sunday dinners every week even though the drive was over three hours.

They made a weekend trip out of it most times and were now looking to buy a home near us.

It’s like one big happy family, and as long as Sierra was happy, I didn’t really care.

We pull up to their home, parking on the street as we make our way around back where the ceremony will be held. I spot Joseph and Carl standing together. Both of them are in black suits. Carl with his hands in his pockets while Joseph talks to him. “Hey,” I say to them, “how is everyone doing?”

“He’s nervous,” Joseph states, slapping Carl on the shoulder.

“I’m not nervous at all. Never been more sure of anything in my life. I just want to get this show on the road and finally make that woman mine.”

“Good things come to those who wait,” Joseph teases, and my father laughs at them.

“I’m going to go in and see if I can help in any way,” my mother says, getting up on her tippy-toes and kissing my father.

“Do me a favor, Hailey,” Carl says when she takes a step up, “tell her to get her ass out here.”

My mother hides that she is trying not to laugh but fails. “I’m never going to tell a bride that,” she retorts, then looks at me. “Are you coming with me?”

“I wasn’t going to,” I tell her and share a look with the guys.

“Good, you tell her that message from me,” Carl says, and I throw my head back and laugh.

“You think I’m going to tell my girlfriend’s birth mother to move her ass?” I shake my head. “There is not enough money in the world for me to do that.” I walk up the steps onto the covered porch and into the house.

“It’s almost time,” Marian says.

“You are going to be late.” Sierra knocks on the door. “Isn’t morning sickness supposed to leave after three months?” We walk down the hall toward the voices.

“Knock-knock-knock,” my mother says and knocks on the open door. “How is everyone doing?” She stops and looks at Sierra. “You look beautiful,” she exclaims, walking over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek, “and so do you!”

“She’s in there. I’m not sure if she’s going to vomit or not,” Sierra tells my mother. “I’m just saying we walk down the aisle, and if she has to throw up, she runs back inside.”

I lean against the doorjamb, taking her in.

Her eyes come to me, and she smiles before making her way over to me.

She’s wearing a lilac one-shouldered dress that hugs her curves perfectly.

It’s like the dress was made for her. A slit down on the right side shows her leg, with a sash that hangs down on the side, trailing her when she walks.

“Aren’t you so handsome,” she coos when she gets close to me, putting her hand on my chest and fixing my tie. “So very, very handsome.”

“And you look more beautiful than you did yesterday.” I wink at her.

“We have to talk,” she says softly, coming even closer to me. “We’re getting a dog.”

“Sierra.” I stand now. “I don’t want a dog.”

“But my mother said she always wanted to get me a dog, and then Fiona said she would have definitely gotten me a dog to be my best friend and talk to.” I roll my eyes. “And that’s what I want to give our kids.”

“Shouldn’t we work on getting the kids before the dog?”

“No, it’s even better if I’m pregnant and then bring the baby in. It’ll protect them.” She looks up at me, a smile on her face.

“Fine”—I look over her shoulder—“we’ll get a dog, but when our kids are depressed because the dog died, you’re going to handle that.”

“Deal.” She gets on her tippy-toes and kisses my lips lightly.

“Now I’m not going to say what was said to me”—I look down at her—“but if Fiona doesn’t get out there soon, Carl is going to come in and carry her out.”

“Fiona,” Sierra calls over her shoulder, “Carl is done waiting and is about to bring everyone inside to have the wedding here.”

“I’m ready.” She opens the bathroom door and steps out. “How crazy is this, getting married at forty-three?” She holds up her hand. “The question is, how crazy is it being pregnant at forty-three?” She laughs and puts her hand on her stomach.

“I don’t even want to think about how that happened,” Sierra teases, “but I always wanted a brother.”

Fiona looks at her with all the love one can look at another person with.

“All this time, we never moved on, and now this. I’m standing here about to marry the man I’ve loved my whole life with our daughter beside me.

If someone told me this was going to happen, I would have told them that they were lying.

” She wipes the bottom of her eye with her thumb. “Let’s get me married.”

We share a smile, and a couple of minutes later, I’m walking out of the house with my mother and Marian. “She’s coming.”

“Everyone get into place”—Carl claps his hands—“especially you, Joseph.” He looks at Sierra’s dad. “I need you to make all this legal.”

I stand here in the front row, watching Sierra walk down the aisle, first stopping in front of her birth father and giving him a hug.

He kisses the top of her head, and when she turns to walk toward me, he stops her.

“I want you standing beside me.” He takes her hand and wraps it around his arm.

“That’s my wish—to marry your mother with you beside us. ”

“Then this is where I will be,” she confirms with her own tears in her eyes as they look down the aisle at her birth mother walking down. The whole thing takes less than ten minutes, with them just wanting to share their vows and nothing else.

He walks her down the makeshift aisle as Sierra comes over to me. “When are you going to make a decent woman out of me?” She puts her hands on her hips, and I just look at her. “You are getting the cow for free.”

“Yeah,” my mother pipes in, “when are you going to do the right thing?”

“You’re asking me this?” I point at myself. “You haven’t even said yes to my proposal.”

“You haven’t even gotten me a ring,” she barks out. I look over at her parents, knowing it was going to come later tonight, but now that she’s all up in a mood, I have to do it now. I reach in my pocket and pull out the black ring box.

“I got you a ring.” I hold it up, and now she shuts up.

“Of course, I had this whole plan, but well, you are you, and nothing with you goes to plan.” I get on my knee in front of her, and she puts her hand to her mouth.

“Sierra, when I met you, I felt the earth shift underneath me.” I smile at her.

“And you ran so far and fast away from me, it was hard for me to keep up with you. But I couldn’t let you go.

No matter how many hurdles you made me jump over, I knew you were the one. ”

“That’s called stalking,” Theo interjects, walking into the backyard, making everyone laugh, “and I said it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Either way, I had to make you mine,” I tell her when she stops laughing at Theo and looks back at me. “I want to have kids with you, grow old with you, and now, apparently, I want to get a dog with you. Marry me, Sierra.”

“Well, you are getting me a dog”—she rolls her eyes—“so I guess I will.” She walks to me and holds my face in her hands. “I wasn’t running that fast or that far if I let you catch me.” She kisses my lips. “And I’ll let you catch me each time.”