There are three things in this life I love with a strength I would never have believed existed inside of me.

The dark, because it represents the closure of another day I’m here, blessed to be surrounded by the people I love who love me best.

The scar that bisects my hairline is a permanent reminder I’m standing here. Alive. Whole. Healthy. A year after my surgery, I hardly notice it unless I brush too hard. A minimal price to pay for the rest of my life.

And the thing I love the most with all my heart and soul is Colby Hunt. The man who never gave up on me, despite all the perceived roadblocks. He fought for me. For us.

Recovery wasn’t easy. I was an emotional yo-yo between purging the anesthesia from my system and my physical weakness. I was so out of it at the hospital, I didn’t remember any of my discharge instructions. Especially the ones about getting confused and distressed easily.

Thank God, Colby did.

The first night we were home, I panicked because I couldn’t remember where I put an old UConn hoodie he’d given me. It took a call to Ali to remember I’d packed it away long ago. The pain that settled in my heart when Ali told me was devastating to my befuddled mind. I gave myself a brutal headache from crying. It hurt so badly that I thought I might have to go back to the ER until the meds kicked in.

Colby held me through that first storm, reassuring me with soft words, all while he had someone run to his apartment to get one of his sweatshirts that smelled like him to slip over my heaving body.

Through the weeks that followed, Colby centered me. When I began to get restless halfway through my recovery, Colby carefully carried me into the field of wildflowers behind my house for a surprise picnic amid the fall foliage.

Colby arranged for me to call Brendan—something I’d forgotten to do prior to the surgery. I felt so bad that I’d forgotten all about Joey’s cupcakes. I figured Brendan would be pissed. He was, but for a completely different reason. “All this damned time, you were fightin’ for everyone else but yourself?” His fury was a living thing over the line.

“B, it wasn’t intentional. I just ran out of time,” I whispered helplessly. Colby rubbed my shoulders as I sat on FaceTime. Through the camera I saw Dani doing the same to Brendan.

Brendan ran his hands through his hair, visibly agitated, before freezing. “Wait. If you haven’t been working, who’s been sending the cupcakes?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Cori, they’ve been coming in every week like clockwork. Granted, Joey said they’re not as done up as usual, but I figured that was due to them just gettin’ dinged in the mail or something.”

Colby crouched down beside me so he could peer into the camera. “She was never supposed to know, Brendan.”

I must have looked like a fish. “You…?”

He shook his head. “Not me, baby. You have a whole family who knows what this means to you.” I emitted a choking sound. “You know the rest of your cake orders had to be directed to other bakers.” I nodded. Colby brushed his fingers against the back of my neck. “Well, Phil, Cass, Em, Ali, and Holly just couldn’t let this go to someone else. They figured if you could coach Brendan through your recipes, maybe between the five of them they could figure cupcakes out on their own. Though they admit, they’re shit with decorating,” he joked.

Overwhelmed, I buried my head in Colby’s shoulder, and I remember him telling Brendan we’d call back. Strong arms held me as I wept over my family’s constant support, love, and understanding. Over Colby’s.

During my time away from the kitchen, when I was banned from lifting more than a container of milk, Colby was there. When I was frustrated over trying to remember a recipe, he told me I’d remember them. When I felt like I’d break, he’d remind me I was invincible. And so was our love.

Throughout this experience I learned I’m here by a blessing. I’ve had a lot of time to think in between watching episodes of the Food Network On Demand. I realized the past is what it is. So, it’s time to forgive the most important person in the fiasco of the last ten years.

Myself.

Why should I hold a grudge against the girl I was, or the woman I am, because I was built differently than everyone else? This body of mine—this fucking beautiful body of mine—just survived one of the most harrowing experiences a human can live through. Each breath I take is a damned miracle. So, I have more curves than the woman walking down the street. Who cares? If the way my man worships every inch of me when he makes love to me is any indicator, he loves it too.

What matters is that I’m healthy. I’m alive. And tomorrow, I’ll wake up from another night to see the bright sun in the sky. I’m strong enough to put in a full day of hard work and then some.

What matters is family. Mine. Colby’s. Zachary came to visit during my recovery, making good on his promise to start getting to know his grandson all over again. Now he’s a frequent visitor at our farm table. And just like I’d predicted, his belligerent attitude forged a truce between Keene and Phil, as they took on the cantankerous senator as a united front in verbal warfare. It adds a whole new dynamic to our family dinners when he’s visiting.

What matters is love. If love could be measured like a recipe, the love I have for my family would need to have the Earth on one side of the scale to balance it out. The love I have for Colby couldn’t be measured, even if the universe could be placed on the other.

This life, this family, this man—they are my everything.

I need nothing more.

Brendan’s playing at Madison Square Garden tonight. This time, Jason, Caleb, Keene, and especially Colby argued there was no way they were letting us get away with the antics we pulled at last year’s show.

I laughed but agreed to ask Brendan for extra VIP passes. When I think back to that long-ago night, all I can remember is being overwhelmed with so many emotions. Now, I’m in such a different place, it’s like there was this invisible plane I passed through where I found the strength in myself I was missing to make me complete.

Tonight, we stand as one family, while Brendan’s singing his heart out to his fans. His latest ballad about loving someone as fiercely as the sun just made it to number one on the country charts. He strums his guitar a few times at the end before the arena erupts.

“Thank you!” Brendan calls into the mic. Just as he starts to talk, a member of his security team walks directly over to me. I experience a moment of déjà vu. “Ms. Freeman, can you come with me please?”

Here we go again.

Turning in Colby’s arms, I give him a lingering kiss before yelling in his ear, “I had no idea!”

He grins. “I know. Go on up. I’ll see you soon enough.”

I smile and follow the beefy security guard up the side stairs so I’m hidden in the wings. I run a hand over my short hair and take a few deep breaths. Someone approaches me with earbuds so I can hear Brendan over the noise of the crowd. They quickly help me slip them in, just before I hear Brendan say in my ear, “…my good friend Corinna Freeman. Let’s bring her out here!”

“Be careful of the cords, Ms. Freeman,” the roadie warns me as I’m about to step out on stage. Nodding, I step out with a huge smile on my face. I catch a glimpse of Dani’s beaming face in the other wing. I give her a quick wink as I make my way in dark-wash jeans, a black low-cut shirt, and pumpkin-colored, studded Valentino heels toward her boyfriend.

Just like last time, Brendan holds out his hand, and pulls me close but doesn’t spin me around. “You know, I think we should bring up another one of my friends too. Colby? You up for joining your woman up here?”

Shock almost has me falling as my gorgeous boyfriend strides out from the same place I was standing just a few moments before. What on earth is going on?

“Surprise, baby,” Colby says into his own microphone as he reaches me. I feel Brendan step back. Fumbling, I lean over into Brendan’s mic.

“I call shenanigans.” The crowd roars. I’m frozen by Colby’s words though.

“I call it love,” Colby counters.

My head whips back toward my boyfriend to find him holding a small velvet box in the palm of his hand. Suddenly, the world disappears. Brendan. My family, who are likely jumping up and down in a frenzy. And the almost 21,000 people in Madison Square Garden.

The world has narrowed to me and the man who has moved to stand next to me. I stumble before I catch myself. The tender look on Colby’s face stabilizes me like nothing else. Pressing one hand against my stomach, the other lifts to my mouth. I shake my head back and forth.

Is this really happening?

“I was born to love you, just as you were born to be mine. I need to know you’re going to be in my life for the rest of our lives, Cori.” He doesn’t get down on one knee, and I’d never expect him to. He did enough of that during my recovery to tie my shoes, shave my legs, or just give me a hug. Instead, he cups my chin in his hands. “Wake up with me every morning. Give me the first breath I need to start the day. Come home to me and go to sleep in my arms. I can’t promise it will be perfect.”

I drop my hand from my mouth so I can touch him. “I don’t need perfect,” I say shakily.

“I can promise I’ll love you and whatever family we create more every morning we’re together.”

“That’s all I need.”

“Tell me you love me,” he demands. “Tell me you’ll love me forever.”

“I’ve already loved you forever. That will never stop.” The tears are pouring down my face.

He opens the box. Pulling out the ring, he tosses the box behind him. Hopefully, one of my family members catches it. Sliding the symbol of his love on my finger, he lowers his head to seal our engagement with a kiss. “Then, soon-to-be Mrs. Hunt, get ready for the rest of our lives.” Colby pours every ounce of his love into a kiss that seems to go on forever until Brendan breaks it up despite the screaming crowd so the show can go on.

I’m still walking on air as we make our way into our suite at the Hilton Midtown. I’m keeping the party going in my head by humming every tune from the concert that comes to mind. Colby’s shaking his head, laughing as we move farther into the suite, smiling the entire time.

“I want to keep dancing,” I announce as I kick off my shoes. They fly through the air, and I hear a thunk and a crash. Oops. I’ll worry about that tomorrow. “I want to celebrate us.”

“I think that can be arranged.” He shrugs off his jacket, casually tossing it on the low-lying couch. His smile is nothing less than predatory as he makes his way toward me.

“I think there’s a music channel on the TV, fiancé.” I tack on the last word just to try it out. He just shakes his head with a smile.

Colby turns on the first music station he finds. Turning, he tosses the remote back on the table. The slowest, sexiest version of “Time After Time” begins to play. Tears prick behind my lids as he slides his arms around me and begins to sway.

I lay my head on the chest of the man I’m going to love forever and let out a small sigh. “All those years ago, in your wildest dreams, did you ever believe we’d be this happy?”

The man I love, the man I’m going to be with for the rest of my life whispers, “It’s terrifying to realize the love I had for you back then isn’t comparable to the love I have for you now. Every morning I wake up shaken because the intensity of my love for you causes me to stop breathing.”

Shaken, I pull back. My mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. My chest feels like it’s going to explode. Not long ago, I wasn’t sure if I’d live to see another year, and now the years stretch ahead with nothing but promise. I choke on my tears.

Pulling me close, he says, “I’ve got you, baby. Just breathe.”

How do I explain this? How do I make him understand how beautiful it feels to have been broken inside for so long and to have been healed. My head. My heart. My soul.

“Every time I take a breath, I inhale your love into my heart. Of course I’ll breathe.”