NUMB WITH SHOCK, Tori clasped her hands in the middle of her chest. Remembering to crank her gaping mouth shut, she tried to concentrate while her heart pounded furiously.
“So …” Draegyn smirked with an embarrassed grin. “I did a bad and my wife dropped the hammer on me big time.”
He did a bad? Was that how we explained being a dick?
“Now, in my defense,” he drawled, “there was a communication misfire behind my assholery.”
Every guy in the place high-fived and barked or hooted and all the women groaned and shook their heads.
Communication misfire? She wondered how long it took him to come up with that one.
“Let me tell you, fellas,” her stand-up comedian husband chortled, “being born a dude put me at a disadvantage when it was time to decipher this miscommunication ‘cause, honestly … any of you guys here think they understand what a woman thinks?”
Not a single hand went up, and all the women laughed.
He held up his hand for quiet and continued with his strange mea culpa.
“But I’m man enough to know when I’ve screwed up. So Victoria, my smart-mouthed geek princess, I’m here to publically proclaim my undying love along with a plea to let me explain.”
Tori was pretty sure she was going to slide off her chair and melt into a puddle of goo.
The room got quiet, and then the first notes of a vaguely familiar old-school song started up. He took the microphone off the stand and came to the edge of the stage. She was just feet in front of him. Suddenly, a soft spotlight shined on her. The breath caught in her throat.
With the Family Justice men adding a soulful harmony backup, Draegyn St. John brought a stunned hush to Whiskey Pete’s as he performed a spine-tingling rendition of the Righteous Brothers classic, “Unchained Melody.” By the end, he was down on one knee, singing his heart out as his sexy blue eyes held her in a tractor beam of love.
When the last notes faded away, he remained on his knee, and every eye in the place swung her way.
Tori leaped from her seat and rushed the stage, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face as he held her tight and spoke the words from the song in a soft whisper.
“Oh, my love. My darling …”
In the next instant, family completely surrounded them and shielded them from the eyes of others by a force field of unconditional love and support.
“I didn’t do it,” he whispered. “Couldn’t. I love you too much. You and Daniel mean everything to me, Victoria. Everything. We’ll figure something out. Okay?”
She could only nod and cry.
Baby,” he groaned, “please tell me you forgive me.”
Tori clung to him and sobbed happy tears. “Only if you forgive me too.”
He kissed her. In front of everybody. And it wasn’t an ordinary kiss. It was a claiming, raw, brimming with emotion, and she gave herself up to the love she tasted on his lips.
When he ended the kiss, they were still surrounded; she was literally hanging from him as he knelt at the edge of the stage. With a shaking hand, she pushed her fingers through his golden hair and whispered so only he could hear, “I think I might be pregnant.”
She held her breath and then his entire face lit up without help from a spotlight. “I know what we’ll call her,” he said. She looked at him curiously. “Faith. We’ll call her Faith.”
She buried her face in his neck. “I’ve always had faith in you, Draegyn. Even when I didn’t.”
“Best meal I’ve ever had here,” Alex crowed happily. Shaking Finn’s hand, he smacked him on the shoulder. He hoped the friendly gesture would start to smooth the edges of their rough relationship. “Your sister can’t boil water without setting off the smoke alarm, so clearly, you got the cooking gene in the family.”
Finn chuckled. An honest, amiable laugh. “Skipped right over her,” he told him with a genial smile. “Feel damn sorry for you, Zorro.”
“Honey, come over here and tell Finn what you said about the potatoes.” He extended his hand for his wife to take, and he wasn’t disappointed when she took it and allowed Alex to draw her forward. Progress.
To his utter astonishment, Meghan went a step further and leaned close to her brother for a peck on the cheek.
“Congratulations, little brother.”
Yeah, okay. He had to bite his tongue so he didn’t snicker. Alex understood her need to get in one good shot before they could move forward. Luckily, Finn grinned. The guy wasn’t stupid. He knew his mouth had taken him pretty far off the reservation and that his sister had every right to get the last word where their previous confrontation was concerned.
“Dinner was incredible,” she told him with genuine praise. “I told everyone you made better potatoes than our ma. Just don’t tell her that, okay?”
“She already knows.” Finn laughed. “Who do you think makes all the sides for every holiday?” He raised his hand and made a funny face. “That would be me.”
“No fucking way,” his wife chirped with genuine delight. “Well, damn! Now that I know she’s phoning it in, I’m putting the kibosh on the endless brisket teasing.”
Just like that, as Alex stood by and watched, Meghan and Finn took the first steps to repairing their fractured relationship. He was glad. So much off-the-chain bullshit went down while they were on their honeymoon that it felt like a goddamn full-time job trying to set things right again.
Now that it looked like the St. John situation was back on track and Cam was safe and sound, he wanted to focus on other things. Like the very real possibility that he and his Irish goddess were having a baby.
When Finn and Meghan’s conversation ended after a promise from Alex that Desert Thunder would be back up and ready to play soon, the three of them hugged, shook hands, and parted with smiles and happy words.
They walked hand-in-hand to where the rest of the Justice crew were saying good-byes and making plans. In short order, they accepted an invitation to a barbecue at Brody and Heather’s and promised Angie they’d come by soon and check out the last finishing touches on the house Parker built them.
Out in the parking lot, Alex casually looked from one couple to another as they went to their vehicles. He said a silent prayer of thanks to the God he was trying to make nice with for bringing this extraordinary group of people together.
They defined what family was about. What being a family stood for. Theirs was a fellowship of individuals who came together through uncommon bonds and created something special. Unique.
He’d lay down his life for every single one of them and knew those feelings were returned.
“Are you okay, baby?” Meghan asked softly with her hand stroking between his shoulders.
“We’re so lucky,” he told her.
She looked around at everyone too and then smiled.
“Family,” she told him with a quick kiss on the lips.
“Come on,” he drawled as he opened her car door and helped her in. “We have a date with a white stick.”
She gasped happily and searched his face. “Tonight?” she asked hopefully.
“Yeah, why not?” He laughed. “You drank enough lemon cooler to pee out a roaring fire. Might as well put it to good use.”
Her laughter rang out as he closed the door and rounded the car to the driver’s side.
A new chapter for Family Justice was being written, and he was honestly excited as fuck. The very idea of adding a page or two of their own with baby names and birthdates was a dream come true for Alex.
When he was seated and belted in, he started the car and put his hand on the gear shift. Right away, his goddess wife grabbed his wrist and squealed, “Oh, my god! Hurry! I have to pee!”
They laughed the whole way home.
THE END … for now
Catch Unforgettable this fall as the Family Justice saga unleashes another rollicking good time!