Page 44 of Until the End (The Lost Letters #3)

Carson

G inny’s carefree laugh brings a smile to my face.

She looks hot in her ripped jean shorts, tank top, and pigtails.

I’m going to need her to recreate this look for me later, when we’re alone and I can shove my face into her cleavage.

Her pregnant belly sticks out prominently, and I’m not sure I could love her any more than I do in this moment. She’s practically glowing right now.

The camera guys roll their equipment to new locations while the rest of the crew sets up for the next shot.

I’d never realized how much production goes into creating a music video.

There have been costume changes and set designs and a million other things I couldn’t begin to describe, all to create this video for one of the songs on Ginny’s new album.

This one is all about longing for a happily ever after of her own creation, and Ginny was all for showcasing her baby bump in this video.

I gained a lot of respect for the execs at Muse Records when they backed Ginny wholeheartedly after she told them about the baby. I expected them to balk about having to adjust their touring dates, but they seemed thrilled for us .

It’s been a few months since the showdown with Cecelia.

My recovery has been slow going, but I’m finally able to go about my days relatively normally.

The doctors say I’m at a higher risk of my lung collapsing again since it happened once, so I’ll have to be careful with how hard I push my body, but I should recover completely without any real impact on my day-to-day life.

The buzz over the story about Cecelia and what she did has died down significantly.

It’s helped that Mariana, Tanya, and Chelsea have been working hard to give them other things to talk about—the baby being number one.

They’ve also been strategically leaking snippets of the new album, and people are going feral for it.

Ginny is beside herself over the reaction.

I think she’s starting to fall back in love with being a singer. It’s been wonderful to watch.

The label put off the tour until after the baby is born.

Given the circumstances, I was glad they didn’t try to play hardball.

Ginny and I have both needed time to heal after what happened to us.

We even started seeing a therapist together to talk through our trauma.

It’s been eye-opening to hear Ginny’s side of the story.

I hate how terrified she was after I was shot.

I can’t even attempt to put myself in her shoes.

The images haunt me when I try to think about it.

So, therapy has become an important part of our healing.

It takes another hour or so to finish filming the scenes for the day.

This was the last day on set, so now it’ll be up to the post-production team to get everything edited together.

She filmed one of her breakup songs a couple of months ago, before her baby bump was so prominent.

I thought it was going to be my favorite, but this one might have just taken the top spot.

Ginny comes over to me once she’s done changing.

Her jean overalls go perfectly with her pigtails, and all I want to do is scoop her up and take her home, where we’ll stay for the remainder of her pregnancy.

The kidnapping has made me a whole lot more protective of Ginny.

She’s been a good sport about it, and I’ve done my best not to be too crazy.

But sometimes, it’s hard to curb those instincts.

I tug one of her pigtails, and she grins up at me. “Be careful. I might think you have a crush on me if you do that.” I do it again on the other side, and Ginny laughs.

“Good thing I do have a crush on you, then.” Leaning down, I quickly kiss her plump lips. “You ready to go?”

“Yep. What are we doing now?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“One you’ll have to wait for.”

She pouts. “I don’t wanna.”

I poke her bottom lip, making her laugh. “Too bad.”

Taking her hand, I lead her out of the studio and to the parking garage.

Daren follows behind us, keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

He’s struggled the same, if not more, than us after what happened.

Ginny and I have both done our best to assuage him of any guilt, but he still blames himself.

It’ll just take time for us all to move on from the ordeal.

Daren helps us into the back of the SUV. He gives me a quick smirk when Ginny tries to wheedle information out of him. He’s been a part of this plan from its infancy.

I’m not sure I’d have been successful if it wasn’t for him and Chelsea.

The three of us have had a lot of late-night chats to get things in order without Ginny knowing what we’re doing.

In fact, I’m pretty sure Chelsea and Daren had extra late-night chats without me, if the way the two of them have been looking at each other is any indication.

I can’t wait to talk to Ginny about it. It’s been difficult to keep from saying something, but she would’ve asked how I knew Chelsea and Daren were talking, and I couldn’t give away my secret just yet.

Daren drives us out of the city and toward one of the upper-class suburban areas.

It’s a gated community where several other celebrities live.

Chelsea and I went through too many listings to remember, trying to find the right place for Ginny and me to call home.

I wanted something that was cozy and comfortable while simultaneously being safe. I think we found a happy medium.

Nothing has been signed yet—I wanted to give Ginny a chance to veto the house in case she hated it. I don’t think that will happen, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Ginny is quiet as we drive through the neighborhood. I’m not sure if she’s caught on to what we’re doing here or not.

When Daren pulls into the driveway of the dark blue two-story house, Ginny finally looks at me. “What are we doing here, Duck?”

“Let me show you first. Then we can talk.”

She follows behind me without question. Her trust in me always makes me love her harder. The realtor is already inside the house, a welcoming smile on her face.

“Hi, Virginia. I’m Terry. It’s nice to officially meet you.” Terry holds her hand out for Ginny to shake.

Ginny smiles at her but doesn’t say anything more. Terry doesn’t seem to mind because she gives me a grin. “Are you two ready for a tour?”

“Yep.” I nod at her. I keep my hand in Ginny’s as Terry walks us through the house.

Every room and feature she describes only further solidifies my belief that this could truly be the house for us.

It’s got four bedrooms and four bathrooms, with a finished basement and an in-ground pool.

I’ve already done research on the best safety equipment to ensure the baby won’t get hurt .

When Terry leads us back to the foyer, she says she’s going to step outside and let us talk alone.

The second the door is closed, I turn to Ginny. I clamp my bottom lip between my teeth, nerves getting the best of me. Ginny hasn’t said a word about the house since we arrived. It’s freaking me out.

“Say something. Please?” I blurt out.

“How long have you been looking for a house?”

“A little over a month. Chelsea, Daren, and I have been trying to find one that fits all of our needs. It’s been hard.

I wanted to surprise you, but figured I shouldn’t just outright buy a house without talking to you first. Not that I could afford this one on my own.

There’s no way they’d even let me in the door— oof.

” Ginny’s body slamming into mine interrupts my word vomit.

She wraps me in the tightest hug she can with her round belly, and I feel like I can finally relax.

“I can’t believe you’d do this for me. Well…I can, but I never imagined you would.” She pulls back just enough to look up at me. “Do you know how long I’ve been dreading trying to find a house out here? It’s been on my mind since Muse asked me to start filming the music videos for my album.”

“You’re happy? This is a good surprise?” I can’t help but confirm she’s not mad at me.

“The best. Thank you so much, Duck.” She pops up onto her toes and kisses the hell out of me. My fingers spread through her hair as I take control.

God, what kissing this woman does to me.

Since I got out of the hospital, we’ve been careful about sex.

I’ve given her many, many, many orgasms as the baby has turned her into a nympho, but it’s been months since I’ve actually been inside her.

It’s been both connecting and frustrating.

I’m very ready for the go-ahead light. So is Ginny, given how she whines for me every time I touch her.

I’ve got a check-up with the doctors this week, and I’m for damn sure going to be asking for the all clear.

I pull away, knowing we can’t get carried away here. “What do you think of the house?”

“It’s perfect. Beyond perfect. I can picture us and our little sunshine girl running around in the basement. Even the backyard is perfect. We’ll have to get her into swimming lessons as soon as possible, but that’s probably for the best anyway.”

“I’m so glad you love it. I want Terry to put in an offer tonight. Is that okay with you?”

“More than.”

“Then let’s go talk to her.”

“You know you made us all look bad with this little stunt,” Teddy teases me. I take a sip of my beer, grinning around the mouth of the bottle.

“I still can’t believe you managed to find the perfect house without any input from Ginny.” Michael shakes his head.

Standing in our brand-new backyard in LA, I’m surrounded by our family.

It took us two months to finally get the keys to the house, but the minute we did, we invited everyone to come out for a housewarming party.

We want our family to feel like they’re welcome to come out here any time they want.

Ginny and I both are going to be spending a lot of time in LA, and we want to ensure our family never feels left out of our lives while we’re here.

We also needed to get everything settled here because the baby is due in the next two months, and we wanted to be in Sonoma when she’s born.

Ginny’s album was released two weeks ago, and it’s gone over like gangbusters. People have been listening to it like crazy, and it’s shot up the charts like a rocket. I don’t fully understand the platinum, gold, whatever, but I do know Ginny has been all over the news with accolades for this album.

I couldn’t be prouder of her. We’ll get a few months to settle into life with our baby girl, and then Ginny is going on tour for the next year.

She said, depending on how she’s feeling, she might be willing to go a little longer since she had to postpone the original start date.

At this point, the execs at Muse are willing to do just about anything to keep her happy.

Ginny’s already started writing songs for a new album, but it’ll be a little while before she releases it.

In retaliation for surprising Ginny with the house, she and Tanya set up a social media page for me to start selling my art.

While I was laid up after surgery, I started drawing to keep myself busy.

Ginny, the little sneak, took pictures of my finished pieces and posted them to the page.

Apparently, people enjoy them because they all sold within a month.

We had to set up a website to keep up with the demands, and now I get to do something I love to bring in a little extra money for our family.

I mostly credit the success to Ginny’s fame, but I’m having fun, nonetheless.

“I know my woman inside and out,” I respond. Ginny, Gia, and Lottie are lying in floaties, while Lottie’s sister and Ryan’s sister sit on the steps, chatting.

Ginny’s belly looks like she swallowed a basketball, and I have to help her put her shoes on. Doting on her has become one of my favorite things to do. She gets this soft look of love on her face every time I do something for her, and I’ve become addicted to seeing it.

“Have you picked out a name for the baby?” Ryan asks.

“Sort of. It took us forever to find ones we both like enough to put on a list.” I swear, it’s the only time Ginny and I have ever not seen eye to eye on something.

I’m pretty sure she started coming up with the most bizarre names just to see my reaction.

“As of right now, we have two names we’re waffling on—one I like the best and one Ginny likes the best. We want to wait until the baby is born before we pick one for sure. ”

“Makes sense. That way, you can pick the one that’s best suited,” Michael says. His eyes haven’t left the pool, where Addie is stretched out on the stairs. I recognize the look of longing on his face because I wore it for years before Ginny was finally mine.

I don’t point it out, knowing it won’t do much good if he’s not willing to talk about it with us yet.

We hang out for a while, talking, eating, and laughing as we always do when we’re together. It’s late when Ginny and I finally make it up to our bedroom. She’s barely awake at this point, but she refused to go to bed any earlier.

I help her into her pajamas and get comfortable with the huge snake-like pillow that’s become my enemy. It’s prevented Ginny and me from cuddling the way we used to, but I swallow down my annoyance because I know she sleeps better when she’s wrapped up in it.

Once I get myself ready for bed, I slide under the covers and get as close to Ginny as the stupid pillow allows. With my hand on her belly, I whisper to our daughter. “Goodnight, peanut. Don’t be too hard on your momma’s bladder tonight, okay?”

Ginny snorts. “Too late.”

I move back up the bed until I can press a soft kiss to Ginny’s lips. “I love you so much, Goose. Thank you for making me the happiest man to walk this Earth.”

“I love you right back, Duck. I’m so lucky to call you mine.” Her voice is sleepy, her eyes drooping heavily while a smile tilts up the side of her mouth.

I lie there for a few minutes, stroking her soft hair and watching her sleep.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would be my life.

I’ve loved Ginny since I was a kid. For years, I believed she’d move on from our small town and live a grand life in the spotlight.

I was fully prepared to cheer her on from the sidelines, but now that I have her in my arms, I’m never letting her go.

She’s the love of my life, the woman of my dreams, and the best partner I could ask for.

I’ll love her until the end of time.