“Mom, I’m fine. I swear. The MRI even proved it. Clear bill of health. I may resume all activities except those that could cause a head injury. Lucky for us, I have no plans to learn how to box, so I’m fine.”

I was sitting next to my mom in the private residence. On the very couch I’d cuddled to her side and bawled my eyes out after Lisa Howell told me no one was going to ask me to my senior prom because everyone thought I had a stick up my ass. The same couch I used to lay on when I had the flu, and my mom would sit beside me on the chair next to the sofa and watch me sleep. I would have known if she’d left the room, because sometimes I wasn’t asleep. I’d close my eyes and pretend, just to see if she’d stay—she always did.

“What about another MRI? When is your follow-up appointment?”

“There are no more. Today was the follow-up.”

I was done talking about my concussion. Colin had already grilled the poor doctor at Walter Reed this morning. We’d stayed almost a full hour in the man’s office after the results came back, discussing every possible scenario. I was so over people talking about my head. I felt fine and hadn’t even had any headaches or dizziness after the initial impact.

“I owe you an apology, Mom.”

“Why on earth would you owe me an apology?”

“For starters, I’ve been a pain in the ass to you and Dad over the last year.” I smiled when my mother’s lips flattened. A lady doesn’t curse, after all.

“Erin, sweetheart—”

“Mom, you know it’s true. I just want you to know I’m embarrassed over how I behaved. I also need to acknowledge I’ve been rather selfish.”

“Selfish? There is not a selfish bone in your body, dear. You give of yourself more than anyone I know. We are very proud of you.”

“No, Mama. Selfish in the way I felt about you and Dad and the time you both spent working.”

My mother’s face fell, and she looked at her lap. Damn this was not going the way I’d hoped.

“What I mean to say is, you and Dad have set an example that I could not be more grateful for. Mama, please look at me.” She lifted her tear-filled eyes to mine. “I’m blessed to have a mother who has taught me the importance of family, community, working hard, and service to others. Through your actions you’ve taught me all I need to know about being a wife and mom one day. How to be a strong person. I am so proud to call you my mama. I’m proud of you, for all you’ve accomplished. But most of all, I’m honored to have you as a friend. I won’t squander our time together ever again.”

My mother carefully patted her cheeks, brushing away her tears. I couldn’t help but to giggle. Always the lady, even in private. There would be no streaks on my mother’s face—ever.

“Maybe I should have—”

“Done nothing differently. This is on me, Mom. Me behaving like a spoiled brat.”

“Sweetheart, every daughter needs her mama.”

“And, thankfully, I had you. You were there for me every time I needed you. Any time it mattered. You have a tough job, tougher than Dad does. You’re the one that holds this family together. You support Dad in every way and give him the strength he needs to run this country. You’re a wife, a mom, and a Halloween costume designer.” I smiled, remembering all the dress-up clothes she’d made for me. “You’re a cook, a party planner, and a homework checker. I can’t even list all your jobs. And I haven’t even touched on your duties as the first lady.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“It’s the truth.” She opened her arms, and I gladly leaned into her embrace—Clarissa Anderson gave the best hugs. They were warm and heartfelt. She’d never withheld her affection. Not from me or my father. They were demonstrative when we were in private. There was no doubt my parents loved each other deeply, and me as well.

“I love you to the moon, little rabbit,” my mom whispered and kissed my head.

I sighed at the old, familiar nickname and cuddled in closer. My parents had called me, little rabbit until I’d become an obnoxious teenager and deemed myself too old for the name. I think my dad started it after I asked him to read me Guess How Much I Love You for the five hundredth time.

“And all the way back,” I finished.

There was a knock on the door, and my mom slowly pulled back, straightening her skirt before she turned in the direction of the sound.

“Yes?”

“Excuse me, ma’am. Miss Anderson,” the secret service agent started. “Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Cain, Mrs. Lewis, and Mrs. Gillonardo are here to see you. They were not on your schedule but they are on your approved list. Would you like me to send them up?”

“Yes, of course. And would you please ask Betty to send up some refreshments. Oh, and make sure there is a can of Dr. Pepper included.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Dr. Pepper?” I laughed. “You don’t drink soda.”

“No, but I know poor Olivia would like one. You know when I was pregnant with you, I still drank coffee and had iced tea everyday. I don’t buy into this whole no caffeine thing. Look at you, you came out perfect.”

“Thanks, Mom. What else did you do? Smoke a pack a day?”

“Erin! I’ve never smoked a day in my life. Though I did try one of my daddy’s cigars once. My girlfriends and I snuck into Daddy’s study and got into his bourbon.” My mom chuckled, and her slow Texan twang came out. “We were drunker than Cooter Brown. Molly Hayworth thought we should smoke a cigar. We were sophisticated ladies, you know.”

“How old were you?” I couldn’t help but laugh at my mom.

“We were sixteen and tying one on for sure. Anyway, we finally got it lit, and I was getting lightheaded from trying to inhale. We were a mess.”

“What happened?”

“Daddy came home early and caught us. He was madder than a wet hen.” My mom was grinning ear to ear. “Not because we were in his study smokin’ his cigar, but we’d drank his expensive, sixteen-year-old bourbon.” My mom stopped to laugh some more. “Daddy was yelling the house down about how a bunch of girls had wasted a bottle of twenty-four-hundred-dollar whiskey. He wasn’t wrong, the whole bottle was gone, and we spent the rest of the night taking turns in the bathroom upchucking.”

We were both laughing at my mom’s retelling of her wild years when the girls walked in.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Liv said.

“Nonsense. Come in.” My mom waved them into the living room.

“What’s so funny?” Jasmin asked, pushing a stroller.

“My mom was just telling about her drinking her—”

“Erin Lynn Anderson. Hush up now.” Boy, it was easy to ruffle my mom. “Bring those babies over here and let me see them.”

Jasmin pushed the huge contraption in my mom’s direction. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get this up here? I was worried, Asher and Robby were going to need a full cavity inspection. Sheesh.”

“She’s not joking. Everyone is a little uptight today. Everything okay?” Violet asked.

“Yes. Yes. You know how it is. Now, what did you bring?”

My mom pointed to the box in Olivia’s arms.

“Wedding magazines.” She smiled.

“And I picked up a planning book, just in case Colin gives you time to plan. Though Zane said Colin said he wanted to marry you, like, yesterday.” Ivy pulled a spiral organizer out of her bag.

“And Leo told me last night that Colin said he would marry you today if you’d agree,” Liv threw in. “Oh, and he does want kids. Like, a lot.”

“Today?” The four women standing in front of me all nodded. “That’s crazy.”

“Let’s all sit down,” my mom offered. “What kind of wedding do you want, Erin?” She cut straight to the chase.

“I don’t know.”

With everything that had been going on, I hadn’t begun to think about planning a wedding.

“Big? Small?” Violet asked.

“Small. Just us. I don’t want any publicity. No reporters or gossip rags. I don’t want anyone outside of this room even knowing. Except Colin’s family, of course. The media has made my life hell, I won’t let them ruin this.”

“Small then. Would you like a long engagement?” my mom inquired.

“No. I want to marry Colin as soon as possible.”

“Your dad and I would like that very much. We discussed it last night. Of course, you can have any size wedding, and at any venue you’d both like, but we knew you’d want a small gathering. We were thinking the Blue Room would be nice—”

“No. Not the Blue Room. I want to get married here, in this room.”

“Here? In the living room? But there are so many places—”

“Here is perfect. Here in this room where you are simply my mom, and dad is just dad. Here, where we’re a normal, everyday family. This is where I want to do it. I’ll talk to Colin tonight.”

“You don’t have to, he says yes,” Jasmin said as she rocked one of the babies.

“No, he doesn’t. I have to ask.”

“No. You don’t. Zane said Colin said he’d marry you any time, any place. So, he says yes to getting married here.”

“There sure is a lot of he said, he said going around the office for a bunch of badass commandos.” I laughed.

“Please. They gossip more than any women I know. There are no secrets with them.” Ivy shook her head. “So, now that we know the where. Let’s plan. You need a dress, flowers, a cake . . .”

Ivy prattled on, but I no longer heard what she was saying. Not because I didn’t care, but because it was like I was living in a dream world. A world I never thought I’d have. I had friends. Real friends who liked me for me. A handsome, strong, smart man who loved me despite our rocky start. And my mom. She looked so happy I couldn’t stop staring at her. If I end up living my life half as well as her it will have been a life worth living.