When I had gotten off the plane to Vegas, I made sure that my first and only stop was to my father. I had somehow managed to sleep on the plane, so I knew when I got to the cemetery that I must have looked ridiculous. I was in a dress and boots, not something I would have worn out here on the West Coast Larry had given me a concerned look, but I brushed him off as I made my way to the grave.

The undertakers had made sure to put in a bench for me years ago after having slept here a few times. I had a feeling though that I was going to need it now.

I laid down on the bench beside my father’s grave. That was the last thing I could remember. I was embraced by a warm blanket across my body, causing my skin to be warmer than usual in the Vegas heat. I was hearing things also. Max’s voice filled my ears, and I thought it was a dream, but I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes to see. Especially not with what I was hearing.

“Hi, sir.” I could hear the laughter in his voice. I wasn’t sure if he had ever talked to a grave before, but I knew his hesitancy, because I had had it the first time I talked to my father’s grave too.

“I don’t really know where to start, but your daughter is lying next to us, so I’ll have to be quick about it.” I heard him sigh and strained not to open my eyes. I wanted to know what else he had to say. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her, but I did. But here’s the thing, sir. I wouldn’t change a single second of it. I don’t care if how we came together was unconventional. I love your daughter more than life itself and would give my whole heart to her if she let me.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I peeked one eye open just a little to be able to see Max as he sat in front of me. He was kneeling down on the ground in his dark blue jeans and white T-shirt that fit him perfectly. God, I had missed him and it hadn’t even been one full day since I had last been in his arms. I tried to keep my breaths even as he continued.

“She’s not just smart, no, she challenges me in ways that no one else has before. I can tell you, sir, that she keeps me on my toes at all times.” I heard a sniffle and knew immediately it wasn’t coming from me. Max was crying, and my heart broke, because I knew deep down inside, it was because of me. “I just don’t know what I need to do though. This woman is everything to me, and for the first time in my life, I feel complete with her by my side. I wouldn’t want anyone else there. But she ran. She ran from me.”

I stopped breathing. I had run, but I hadn’t run from him, but then again, I also never told him when I ran. I left, just like my mother used to do. And if there was anything in my life that I didn’t want, it was to be like my mother.

“I don’t know why she ran, sir. I want to know, but I don’t want to push her away. I’m not sure what I’ve done, but I know I need to fix whatever it is. This ring in my pocket is burning a deep hole, and has been for a few weeks now.”

At Max’s last words I shot up on the bench. Max stared at me, wide-eyed, clearly not expecting me to have been listening, and especially not me sitting up abruptly. We both sat apart, staring at each other, the tension growing between us.

“Why did you run?” The look on Max’s face turned to anger.

“Do you really have a ring in your pocket?” I wasn’t dodging Max’s question, but before I told him anything, I wanted to know how serious he was, because what I was about to tell him was something only Adam and I knew. He didn’t answer me verbally but instead took out a box from his front pocket. He opened it to me, revealing a simple Claddagh ring.

“Platinum,” he whispered. My eyes shot to his and away from the ring. “A precious metal for a precious woman.”

I was speechless. I stared at the ring again as Max took it out of the box and reached for my left hand. I didn’t pull back or stop him as he slipped the ring on my ring finger. The traditional hands on the Claddagh ring were tilted, with another piece of metal mimicking the tilt in the opposite direction. It was almost like an X encompassing the crowned heart.

“I can’t have children.” The words spat from my mouth faster than I wanted them to. I shot a hand to my mouth, covering it. I was trying to put back in the words that had the ability to change my world, but Max would have none of that. He took my hands in his, bringing me to the edge of the bench.

“So?” His kissed my hands like the words I had just said meant nothing to me. He looked up at me, but the excitement I had just seen slipped away, and I knew it was because of the tears coming from me.

“Didn’t you hear me?” My voice rose as I tried to explain it all to Max. He just didn’t understand what I said, that was it. “I can’t have children. Ever.”

“And didn’t you hear me?” Max was on his feet now. I felt so small with his shadow cast across me. He pulled me up to stand in front of him. We were facing my father’s grave, Max’s arms around me. He wasn’t just holding me to him, I felt like he was protecting me. “We don’t need children for me to love you as much as I do. Kids don’t make our relationship, Alexa, we do.”

Tears streamed down my face. If there was something I wasn’t expecting today, it was Max saying he didn’t need children. This was the one thing that Adam had held against me, even if he never verbalized it.

“By the way you’ve relaxed into me, I bet that wasn’t what you expected me to say.” He hugged me closer.

“It wasn’t. None of that was what Adam used to say about it.” Max turned me around, cupping my cheek.

“I’ve told you before.” The words came out gritty. He crushed his mouth to me, not letting me breathe until he was pleased with how heavily I was panting. He laid his head against mine. “I will never be like that scum of an ex-husband you had. You will always be my priority, Alexa, above anyone else.”

He kissed me again and lifted me up. My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively. He continued his rant. “So, I don’t need a child to bring into the family. No. I need you, and only you, for the rest of the time that I am living.”

“Max.” I knew what he was saying, but I still felt like he didn’t know exactly what he was agreeing to. “Adam is—”

“I know.” He cut me off immediately. “I saw the announcement. But what I don’t understand if why you ran. Why you didn’t come to me, Alexa.”

My answer was right there on my lips, but the words didn’t want to escape into the world.

“Please tell me.” Max’s words encouraged me, and I let him have it. Exactly what he was asking for.

“I didn’t think you would want me.” That was the truth, but not all of it, and he knew it. Max waited for more. I pushed at him to put me down. When I was on my feet, I took a step away, and could see the hurt on Max’s face. “I’ve been hiding this for years now. Not just from you Max, but from my whole family. The only people who know what happened are Adam and me.”

Max waited for me to continue. He tried to grab for my arm to pull me closer to him, but I only took a step back. I needed space.

“I had no idea what you would have thought of me.” I silenced him with a hand as he tried to answer my statement. It wasn’t a question. I needed to get this all out now or I had no idea if I ever would. “I was scared, so I ran to the one place where I knew I would be accepted. I’ve run here a lot over the years, and when I did, never once did Adam follow.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, because I was about to make a promise not just to me, but to Max as well.

“Oh, how wrong I have been about you, Max.” I wiped away a stray tear. “You came. You’re here right now, and I never thought you would be. I never thought a day would come that you would meet my father, but you did today, and I couldn’t be happier. You are in no way like Adam, and I promise to never compare the two of you again.”

I let him take a step towards me, diminishing the empty space between us.

“I promise to take you as you are, but only if you can take me as I am.” I put both of my hands on his chest, not to push him away, but to pull him closer. “I may not be able to have children, but I do want to have a family together, Max. I want to spend forever with you.”

I waited for him to say something as he searched my eyes.

“Forever and always.” His words rang in my ears, and I jumped into his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. My lips crashed to his in an answer of love. This man was someone I had never thought would come into my life, and if you had asked me when I moved to Georgia if I had been in love, I probably would have said yes, but now? Now I knew what true love was, because this feeling in my heart, in my soul, that I had for Max was one that I knew would last a lifetime.

“You’re coming with me.” I grinned, not at his words but at the fact that he always loved getting the last word.