On June 13th, one life ended, and another began.

“Would you like to say a few words, Ryder?” the minister asked, rifling through his Bible.

I shook my head. The only reason I came to the funeral at all was because Cally thought it would give me some closure. All I felt instead was numbness. I couldn’t wait to leave. Cally squeezed my hand tightly, looking up at me from underneath her umbrella. Even in a somber black dress and no makeup, my girlfriend looked beautiful. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have had the heart to step out of the house each morning. Cally inspired me to work hard, play hard, and make an honest living. She was the best goddamn thing that ever happened to me. I shot her a small, grateful smile that said, I owe you my everything.

Inky storm clouds were gathering, and thunder occasionally rumbled across the sky. I intended to leave before it started pouring.

A few people made short speeches about Dad. Commended him for being a great leader, an excellent politician, and a dear friend who would be missed.

Thomas Ainsworth destroyed my life, yet in death, everyone remembered him fondly, as a hero and a gentleman. I didn’t have the heart to contradict them. No one knew him as well as I did. As well as Nica and Ori did. I was so relieved that they didn’t show up to the funeral. The last thing I needed was to confront them again. Last I heard, Paul had sent Cally a few photo postcards from Brazil. They had been on a family vacation. I was just glad I never had to see them again. So far, they’d kept their promise and left Cally and I alone. In return, I stayed away from anything and anyone associated with Paul Rayner. Other than Cally, of course, who had since quit her job and opened up her own restaurant three blocks away from Mahoney’s West.

Dad terrorized me my entire life and never let me forget who was in charge. But now that he was a corpse in the ground, I only felt pity for him. He never loved anyone and was never loved in return. He was a miserable man who wanted to abuse and imprison his family. A coward who ruled with violence because that was the only language he knew. While everyone placed flowers on the casket, I walked up to it and whispered, “Say hello to Satan for me, old man.”

A stroke had finally claimed Dad’s life, and I was glad to see his suffering end. The last few years of his life had been damn humiliating, torturous, and undignified.

Now it was all over.

During the drive home, Cally was quiet for a long time. I thought it was because she wanted to give me some space. What she told me when we got home changed my whole world.

“I’m pregnant, Ryder,” Cally said softly, while she was cutting up potatoes for dinner.

I thought I misheard. “What?”

Cally paused, looked up at me, and smiled. Tears welled up in her eyes. “You’re going to be a dad.”

I leaped off the sofa. “Holy shit, are you kidding?”

“Wish I was. Unfortunately, I’ve been puking my guts out every morning for two weeks now.” Cally fixed her fringe, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked, rushing over to hug her. “I didn’t suspect a thing.”

“I wasn’t sure. I’m still not sure. But I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I booked a doctor’s appointment for tomorrow.”

I squeezed Cally tight, breathing in her cherry blossom perfume. Suddenly she wasn’t just my girlfriend. She was the mother of my child. My. Child. Twenty-three years ago, I thought I was going to be a father, and I had been terrified. I didn’t want to end up like my dad. I was clueless and unprepared. Now that I was forty, I realized that starting a family wasn’t scary at all, as long as it was with the one you loved. With Cally, everything was easy. We’d had a rocky start, and never in a million years did I think I’d end up starting a family with her. But we did it. I was so happy I could burst; so proud I could cry.

Cally put down her knife and hugged me, squeezing me as hard as she could. “We’re going to be parents,” she murmured. “How do you feel, babe?”

“I feel like I’m the luckiest man alive, Cally, that’s how I feel. You’ve given me everything I’ve ever wanted. A second—no, a third chance. A home. Your heart. And now a baby. My life is complete.”

Cally’s fingers ran down my arm. “I thought you might be upset. Or scared. I wasn’t sure if you were ready.”

“Of course I’m ready. I love you, Cally. With you by my side, nothing is impossible.” I kissed Cally with every ounce of passion I had, relishing her taste as if for the very first time. I’d contemplated about proposing to her for almost two months. I’d been working hard at Mahoney’s West, trying to save up for a ring, but I also didn’t want to blow all my savings on a rock. But now that Cally was pregnant, I didn’t want to wait another second to make her mine. Forever.

Once I pulled away, I immediately knelt on one knee and asked, “Callista Rayner, will you marry me?”

Cally pulled me back up and smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“So, it’s a yes?”

“Definitely.”

I kissed Cally again, more slowly this time. Her lips were the softest I’d ever felt. “You just made me the happiest man alive,” I whispered, tilting up her chin. “This is what paradise looks, feels, smells like.” I couldn’t stop smiling.

“I love you, Ry.”

“Love you more, Cally,” I said, peppering her cheeks with more kisses. “You’re going to make an amazing dad.”

Cally was the stronghold I’d sought my entire life. Shelter from the never-ending tsunamis that battered my shores. She saved my life, multiple times, and risked her life to redeem a man that seemed to be beyond saving. She nurtured me, took me in, challenged me along the way, and held true to her values. She grounded me in a way that no one else did because she was my soul mate. I didn’t think anyone could care for a villain, a playboy, an ex-con. I was a bad man with ignoble intentions. Once the scum of the earth. I didn’t think anyone would learn to love my hideous scars and my damaged past. But somehow Cally did all those things. She accepted me, despite my flaws, and made me want to be a better man. And I intended to be the best damn husband to her, because she deserved nothing less. She helped me move on, and she taught me the meaning of forgiveness. Now I intended to spend the rest of my life repaying her love and kindness.