A YEAR Later

Serendipitous.

That’s our family, our story unique and puzzling, and explaining it takes longer than I care to, so it’s rare I share the story in its entirety. I gaze at the family picture we just took on the camera’s screen and the only appropriate response is to laugh. It’s been a year and I’m still trying to grasp how we got here.

Everly and I have grown close. She tells me about Kase when he was young, but we don’t talk about them as a couple. When we looked at each other as sisters rather than the women Kase loved, the bond forged quickly. Considering she lives close, we spend a lot of time together.

And I wouldn’t wish it any other way.

“Would you lay the camera down and come dance with me, woman?” Kase insists, grabbing the camera out of my hands himself.

“I needed to make sure we got a good one.”

His brow pops up. “You made us stand there for like ten minutes taking picture after picture. There has to be at least one.”

I run my fingers against his rough jaw, humming at the feel of a couple day’s growth. He knows how much I love it. “There is. It’s perfect.”

“It’ll be more perfect in a couple of months.” His smile touches his eyes, and he lays his large hand across my protruding belly. 

Ray took away my chances of having a baby ten years ago, but he also gave it back when he shot me. The doctor didn’t realize when he cleaned up old scar tissue that had formed around my fallopian tube close to where the bullet hit me, that he opened it up enough for an egg to squeeze through. We didn’t learn this, of course, until I went to the doctor sick as a dog and told I was pregnant. After picking my jaw up off the floor and running to the trashcan to throw up, I cried for our little miracle. 

I cover his hand and a little kick bumps against us. She’s a fighter already and her daddy is ready to spoil her rotten. He’s already started. I glance around the tent, filled with pink and white, twinkling lights, and the high pile of presents. Our friends and family wear smiles, laughing and dancing. Today is our baby shower. Bentley Rose Nixon doesn’t know the craziness she’s about to be a part of. But it’s the only crazy she’ll know so it’ll be her normal.

At the request of Everly and I, Stone found our birth mom. Her name was Rose, and she was seventeen when she had us. We don’t know her story, but we know her ending. She passed away fifteen years ago of a drug overdose. Who knows how she got pregnant, but if not for her, I wouldn’t be here today, so I wanted to find a place for her in our family. It was obvious when we found out we were having a girl that was where she belonged. I would honor her by giving my little girl her name.

“Once Little B gets here, I’ll have to share you, so I need you to show me a lot of love right now so I don’t feel neglected,” he says, pulling me to the dance floor, swinging me out and back into his chest. The band sings “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride. Their song choices have brought me to tears about ten times. Make that eleven. I sniff and pat under my eyes before my tears escape. “Don’t cry, beautiful, I’m not that bad of a dancer.”

I chuckle as we sway to the music, my belly snug against his. “Cowboy, you’re not bad. But you’ve come a long way from the sprinkler.”

He throws his head back in laughter. “Holy shit, I can’t believe she told you about that.”

“Yeah, I heard about your moves. You might have to show me some.”

“Babe, you’ve seen all my moves.” He grinds his hips against me and I wrinkle my nose in amusement when his thigh barely touches the inside of mine. “It’s not funny. Little B is already cockblocking me.”

“Dad, what’s that mean?”

I peek around Kase, Reed stands there with a shit-eating grin on his face. I can’t get over how much he looks like Kase, especially when he smiles like that. Biting my lip, I look at Kase, waiting for his answer. Can’t wait to hear him get out of this. Instead of answering, he puts him in a headlock and tickles him.

“What have I told you about eavesdropping?”

Reed squeals as Kase tortures him.

I love seeing them together. Reed decided that he wanted to call him dad. He still calls Wayne dad and sometimes it gets confusing when we’re all together, but the guys don’t care. Both are happy to be in his life. I think I was the most difficult for him. Did he refer to me as his aunt or his stepmom? He settled on ant-mom, coincidentally after a certain Marvel movie came out. 

Ten months ago, Kase bought an acre of oceanfront property and built our house on it. He surprised me last week, taking me to the house. Going there, I thought we were viewing a house to buy, I didn’t realize it was ours already. The property and the view are amazing and I can’t wait for Bentley to love the ocean as much as her daddy does. 

“I’m stealing your wife,” my dad says, wrapping one arm around my waist and the other holds my hand in the air. Kase stops tickling Reed long enough to wink and mouth “I love you” and then he pulls him off the floor.

“How you feelin’?” We two step around the floor to a quicker song, one that doesn’t have tears running down my face.

“Wonderful. Everyone I love is here, including you.”

Kase and I got married the month after we found out I was pregnant. He was adamant there wasn’t any reason to wait. I didn’t need a big wedding. So, we had the perfect small beach wedding where Tori was my maid-of-honor and Cody was Kase’s best man. Max and the team were there alongside our new family. One of the best parts, my dad was there to give me away.

Marrying me and having a son released the remainder of Kase’s trust. He wasn’t sure if having a son with a different last name counted, but it was a loophole his grandfather didn’t plan for. I’m a little bitter that his grandfather made it a requirement for him to have a son, not a daughter, before receiving the rest of his trust. The money wasn’t a big deal, I mean Kase already had enough money to last us two lifetimes, but it was the principle. Reed and Bentley, and probably their kids, will be set for life. But I hope they learn from their dad that money doesn’t replace hard work, loyalty, and being a good person.

Everly gave Wayne another shot. While I had mixed feelings about it, he loves her, treats her like a queen and she loves him. Kase and Wayne’s relationship is strained. They’re working on it, but they’ll never be best friends again. Everly wanted to be closer to me and Reed closer to Kase, so she made Wayne move a town over from here. I was ecstatic about the move.

I also met Everly’s mom who decided I needed a mother figure in my life and she graciously volunteered. Kase thought it was a little awkward at first until I reminded him we lived a town over from his first fiancée, who was my twin. He shut up after that. Things just can’t get any more peculiar.

Later that evening, Everly and I sat on the sidelines, watching our worlds collide again. It only took twenty-nine years and one man to bring it all back. The cool spring breeze coming off the ocean fills the tent. It feels fan-freaking-tastic after dancing and being on my feet for hours. So does this white wooden chair. I plop my feet on another one and take a deep breath, reminding myself this isn’t a dream. It’s my life.

“It’s so sweet to watch them,” Everly says, eyeing the dance floor. I open my eyes and follow where she’s looking. “Who knew that would happen?” I nod in agreement. The grumpy old bastard was never married for a reason. I think he’s softened in his old age. We both watch in awe as Everly’s mom and my dad dance across the floor, her tight in his arms, both gazing into each other’s eyes. They met at my wedding and unbeknownst to us, they continued their little fling back in Texas. They told us a month ago they were moving here, to be close to us. Together.

It‘s as if we’re living the movie, Parent Trap.

“You know, nothing is surprising anymore.” I grab her hand, so thankful she’s here and part of my life.

I came to Gilley Cove hiding, and alone.

Now it’s filled with family and friends.

Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this life.

All because I was a blinding echo.