Bonus Track: Forever
“I would gladly lose myself in love. In you.
Because that’s where I find me.
I realized the fall no longer matters
when forever is staring back at me.”
‘Blake finally finds Happily-Ever-After with Zach Parker!’
BLISS. THE KIND THAT MAKES you tingly and laugh for no reason or every reason. That was my life now—every moment of it. With him.
We were snuggled up on the back deck to our farmhouse. Zach had wrapped a blanket around my shoulders insisting that there was a chill in the air and he didn’t want either of his girls getting cold. We sat on the rocking swing, me wedged between his legs, lying back against his chest, his arms holding me tight against him as his hands rubbed lazily over my swollen stomach, our little girl resting peacefully (for the moment) against my bladder.
In the distance was the (second) treehouse that we’d built together when we bought the property two months after the Lovestruck tour ended a year and a half ago. That treehouse had seen a lot of things since then.
We made music in that treehouse. We made love in that treehouse. And we’d made the promise of forever when Zach proposed to me on a star-encrusted August night last summer.
“How long will you want me?” I’d teased him softly.
“Forever. As long as you’ll have me.” And then he’d dropped down on one knee.
So many tears had been shed in that small space, but they’d been happy tears; they’d been tears because I never knew I could be this happy.
There are girls that will plan forever in order to have the perfect wedding. And then there was me. I planned the wedding for a perfect forever—which meant becoming Zach’s wife as soon as I could.
During the Lovestruck tour and the few weeks following it, I’d written more songs than I could produce on a single album. With Zach’s help—and a fair number of planned duets—I narrowed it down and managed to finish recording my next album, Forever, the day before he proposed. I had a feeling that wasn’t a coincidence either.
The album released in the fall and the tour? Well, it was going to start the new year. And that’s when I figured, what better way to start Forever than with forever? So, in Zach’s parents’ barn that was covered with snow, decked to the nines with enough twinkle light to make Clark Griswold jealous, my dad walked me down the aisle to the love of my entire life with Ash standing by his side.
Shivering and sublimely happy, we said I do in the place where we’d argued ‘I don’t’ for so many years—‘I don’t want her,’ ‘I don’t love him,’ ‘I don’t care if this hurts her,’ ‘I don’t care if I never see him again.’
Karma. Fate. I didn’t care what it was called as long as it meant forever.
“How long will I be with you?” I tipped my head up and asked quietly as we held each other during our reception and watched our close family and friends dance and drink and celebrate our love.
He kissed my nose and replied, “As long as the sea is destined to wash against the sand.”
After our honeymoon on a secluded island where the sea was ours and clothing was completely optional, we started the Forever tour as husband and wife, sharing our fairy tale with a few hundred-thousand of my closest friends. ZPP opened and Zach became a permanent part of my show—and the crowds loved it and us.
There were no more rumors. No more falling reputations. There was nothing that could break what we had after all we’d been through.
In fact, halfway through the tour, something happened that made us even stronger.
Did I mention that our honeymoon was clothes and birth control-free?
With four months left to the tour, we found out that we were pregnant. I stared at that little blue strip like it was telling me that I’d won another Grammy. And Zach? My eyes welled with tears remembering the way he’d crushed me to him, kissing me, then pulled my shirt off of me to kiss and whisper to my stomach. Happy excitement quickly turned to relentless desire as his kisses drifted lower with that devilish smirk that said he was about to try to get me more pregnant just to be sure—if such a thing were possible, he would have accomplished it.
“How long will you need me?” I whispered much later against his lips, his cock still buried and pulsing inside of me, our bodies sticky with sweat and satisfied love.
“Mmm,” he groaned and flexed his hips, letting me know that it looked like he was going to keep ‘needing’ me all night.
“How long?” I said just before I bit his lip.
“I guess…” He pretended to think. “I guess for as long as the sun still rises in the morning.”
We’d kept the news to ourselves until just before the last few shows, deciding to do one of our popular livestream videos to let all our fans know the happy news. Pink and blue balloons littered the remaining concert. Happy, adoring fans sent us cards and gifts; I’d never felt more loved.
We found out we were having a girl the day before our final show in Nashville. And with what may go down as the most publicized gender-reveal in history, the Forever tour ended with a series of pink fireworks sparkling into the summer sky.
We were still writing. We were still going to be recording. But touring? I wasn’t sure when our next concert would be. And as much as I loved seeing and singing for my fans, there are some things in life that are just more important, I thought, looking down at my modestly swollen stomach. I smiled to myself and sighed.
“Is she moving?” Zach quickly asked, always ready at the drop of a hat to worry about me or our baby.
“Just a little… right up into my ribs,” I answered with a small groan, shifting against him. “What are you thinking about?”
“How much I love you, Blakebaby” he whispered gently against my mouth.
“How long?” I breathed back, slowly blinking my eyes open so I could lose them in his.
“How long will I love you?” He waited for my nod before his mouth thinned with pure focus—because simple words were not enough for Zach. Not when it came to me. And then his eyes flicked up towards the most perfectly clear, star-studded night. “As long as there are stars above you.”
I was melting. “Zach…”
“Even longer if I can,” he added with a rasp, brushing a finger over my lip before kissing me gently… reverently.
The End of all Endings.