Chapter 73
Colby
I survey my parents’ living room. It’s filled with a whole bunch of people I love the most. My entire immediate family and Zander, of course. Fish and Colin—the two dudes who’ve been in 22 Goats with Dax since high school. There are also about ten members of my extended family here who made the three-hour drive from Portland, including my cousin Julie with her husband, Travis, and stepdaughter, Coco. And, last but not least, Josh’s twin brother, Jonas, and his wife, Sarah—who’s also my sister’s best friend since college—are also here. In other words, it feels like a pretty big crowd to get up in front of for a guy who hates talking in front of a crowd.
I touch the ring box in my pocket. Holy fuck, my heart is thumping a mile a minute. I absolutely hate talking in front of large groups of people and avoid it at all costs. Except today. Because when I thought about how to ask Lydia to be my wife, there was no scenario I could envision that felt more right to me than doing it here, like this.
Speaking of which, it seems to me it’s about time to get this show on the road. We’ve eaten dinner. Dessert is laid out. People are feeling loose from the booze that’s already flowed but not yet drunk from the booze that’s yet to come. And, most importantly, there’s been plenty of time for everyone to fawn all over Dax and his bandmates, as they should, and to gush over Gracie Louise and the sonogram image of Baby Rum Cake. At this point, I won’t be stealing anyone’s thunder.
I gaze across the room at Lydia. She looks absolutely radiant as she chats with Kat and Kat’s best friend, Sarah.
I look at Theo, hoping to catch his eye. A couple times today, he’s flashed bug-eyes at me when our gazes have met, like, Do it now, dumbass! But each of those times, I’ve subtly shaken my head like, Not the right time yet, dude. I’m kind of hoping he’ll catch my eye now and give me that same look to give me a much-needed shove. But, nope. Theo’s too enraptured by the conversation he’s having with Dax and Jonas Faraday to pay me any mind. I’m guessing they’re talking about music.
I let my eyes wander to Izzy. She’s playing some sort of playground-style, hand-slapping game with Coco. I smile to myself. I knew those two would hit it off. Hey, I just realized they’re about to become cousins. Awesome.
My eyes wander to Queen Beatrice sitting on Zander’s lap on the couch. Not surprisingly, Bea’s cheek is pressed against Zander’s broad chest as he talks and laughs with Josh and Ryan. Uh oh. Bea looks like she’s on the cusp of nodding off. Well, shit. If I want my nemesis to be awake for this proposal, I guess I’d better get a move on.
I quietly slip into my mom’s nearby office, grab the poster board I’d stowed there yesterday, and return to the living room. “Hey, can I have everyone’s attention, please?”
Everyone stops what they’re doing and stares at me, surprised. I don’t think they’ve ever witnessed me uttering those particular words in my entire life.
I clear my throat. “Can everyone gather around, please? I have a little story I want to tell you.” I catch Theo’s eye to find him bursting with excitement. I wink at him. “Lydia, sweetheart? Can you come over here and stand next to me while I tell everyone a little story?”
As Lydia works her way to me, the energy in the room noticeably elevates. Clearly, my family knows what’s up. Colby Morgan has asked for everyone’s attention and for Lydia to stand next to him? There’s only one thing that could mean.
“Hey, baby,” I say when Lydia reaches me. I kiss her on the cheek. “Everyone, I want to take this opportunity to tell you a little something about Lydia Decker. The woman I love more than life itself.”
Everyone exchanges excited glances with each other.
“I met this incredible woman right after experiencing the worst, most horrific catastrophe of my life. To be honest with you, when I met Lydia, I felt a darkness inside me the likes of which I’d never felt before. I felt hopeless. And then she walked into the room and she was hope for the hopeless. Her very presence was a torch of light that chased away the darkness.”
Everyone in the room swoons.
I face Lydia. She’s teary-eyed. “Lydia, as you know—but not everyone here does—during our first encounter in the ICU, I was quite the charmer: broken bones, busted spleen, burns down my side, high as a kite on painkillers, singed lungs, and breathing on a ventilator. Unfortunately, as a result of all that, I can’t remember much of what transpired between us during our first encounter. I wish I could—it’s not every day a guy meets his future wife.”
Mom squeals.
I glance at my siblings and they’re all chuckling at Mom.
I return to Lydia. “But even though the details of our first encounter are blurry at best, I do remember a few things about it. I remember the way you made me feel when you held my hand and talked to me. That the sound of your voice was a balm for my broken body and a salve for my aching soul.”
Lydia’s face contorts with emotion.
“And I also remember, quite distinctly, that the minute I saw you, I knew in my heart and soul and bones that I loved you.”
Lydia blinks and the tears welled in her eyes squirt down her cheeks.
“Now, to understand what a mind-blowing statement that is, you need to realize I’m not a guy who’s ever believed in love at first sight.” I look at my parents. “Sorry, Mom and Dad. I know you’ve always said it happened to you, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.” I return to Lydia. “So I didn’t trust my feelings completely. I figured they had to be the result of my vulnerable emotional and physical state. And, of course, the fact that you were so frickin’ gorgeous, you took my breath away.” Movement out the corner of my eye catches my attention and my gaze flickers momentarily to Izzy. She’s standing a few feet away, wiggling in place with excitement. I wink at her and she squeals loudly.
Everyone laughs.
I look at the crowd. “Now, some of you might be skeptical about love at first sight, the same way I used to be. You’re thinking people fall in love and then look back and claim to have fallen head over heels right out of the gate, just to make their love story sound more poignant and magical. Well, to all you doubters, here’s what I say: Ha! Love at first sight is real and I’ve got objective proof!” I turn the poster board around to reveal a blow-up of my handwritten note on the white board. “These are the words I wrote to Lydia within minutes of meeting her.”
Lydia puts her palms on her cheeks—a gesture mirrored by several other females in the room, including sweet little Izzy.
“How did you...?” Lydia whispers. “I didn’t know you knew about that!”
“I saw it on your phone at the Climb & Conquer party,” I say, and Lydia palms her forehead.
“Way back then?” she whispers.
“Sorry I didn’t mention it. I thought you’d be annoyed I looked at your phone.”
She laughs. “It’s okay.”
I look at the crowd. “I was sneaky and saw this photo on Lydia’s phone a while back and that’s when I knew she’d fallen in love at first sight with me, too. Or else why would she have snapped a photo of this and saved it?”
Lydia nods effusively and giggles through her tears.
I take Lydia’s hands in mine. “Lydia, my love. I’ve now shown the world proof positive I loved you at first sight.”
“I loved you, too. From the minute I saw you.”
My heart leaps. “And my love for you only grew from there. I fell in love with you at second sight, Lydia. And then third, fourth, twentieth, and one-hundredth. And I know without a doubt I’ll keep loving you for the rest of my life to infinity. You and your three beautiful kids. I want to love and protect all of you for the rest of my life.” Slowly, I kneel and everyone titters and gasps and ooohs and aaahs. With a shaking hand, I pull out the ring box. “Lydia Decker, will you please make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” I open the ring box and Lydia gives me the exact reaction I’m hoping for: she completely loses her mind.
“Yes,” Lydia says, putting her shaky hand over her mouth, her eyes watering. She nods effusively. “Yes, yes, yes!”
As everyone claps and cheers, I slide the ring onto my future wife’s finger and stand to kiss her, but just as my lips make contact with Lydia’s, Izzy barrels into my legs and hugs me with all her might, practically knocking me over. Of course, not one to be shown up, Beatrice leaps off Zander and joins her sister in hugging me, which prompts Theo to stride over and join us, too. It’s by far the best moment of my life. And there’s not a dry eye in the place, including mine.
Wiping my eyes, I say, “I’m just getting started here, folks. There are three other people I need to get yeses from, too.”
Everyone shares huge smiles and swoons.
I look at the three kids staring up at me. “Theo, let’s start with you, bud. You’re my boy. As a symbol of my love for you and my promise to take care of you and your sisters and love you, always, I hope you’ll accept this gift.” Ryan appears from the hallway holding a gleaming electric guitar with a bow on it and Theo whoops with joy.
When the guitar is slipped into Theo’s hands, he sees it’s covered in signatures and he whoops again.
“Those are the signatures of the guys from 22 Goats,” I say. “Plus, thanks to Josh and his connections, those are the signatures of all four members of Red Card Riot and a whole bunch of other bands signed to River Records, too.”
“Thank you!” Theo says, furiously looking at every square inch of the autographed guitar. “Oh my God!”
“Thanks again, Josh,” I say.
“You bet. Enjoy it, Theo.”
“Oh my God!” Theo shouts, perusing the various signatures on his gift.
“So is that a yes?” I say. “Did I effectively buy your affection?”
“Yes!” Theo says, laughing. He gives me a hug. “Thank you.”
After my embrace with Theo, I turn to my little wiggler next. “Isabella,” I say and the sight of her smile makes my heart melt. “From day one, you’ve been buyin’ what I’m sellin’, sister.”
“It was love at first sight,” she says, and everyone chuckles.
“For me, too,” I say. “One look at you, and I was a goner, Izzy Stardust. So to show you how much I love you and to symbolize my vow to take care of you and our family, I got you this.” Ryan hands me a small box and I hand it to Izzy. With an anticipatory squeak of excitement, she takes off the top of the box to find a dainty gold-chain necklace with a tiny diamond-star pendant dangling from it.
“Is this a... diamond?” Izzy chokes out.
“Yep. And you know why it’s a star? Because you’re my Izzy Stardust.” I secure the necklace onto Izzy’s slender neck and she wiggles and prances like her pants are on fire, making everyone guffaw. “Thank you for always showering me with your infinite and indivisible love, Isabella. One smile from you and I always feel like I’m wearing a jetpack on my back.”
Izzy does a little dance of joy and everyone laughs.
I peel my eyes off Izzy, though it’s hard to do, and move along to my former nemesis. “Beatrice,” I say. “Newman.”
Everyone laughs.
I look at Bea sideways and she mimics my gesture, making me laugh. “Man, you’ve made me work for it, haven’t you?”
Everyone chuckles again.
“But it’s okay. It’s made winning you over all that much sweeter.” As I’ve been talking Beatrice’s eyes have wandered to the pendant around Izzy’s neck and I’m getting the distinct feeling she’s about to demand rather loudly that it be hers. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” I say quickly. “I got you a present, Queen Bea.”
Boom. Miss Bea’s hazel eyes are back on me.
I put out my hand. Ryan places a medium-sized, purple-wrapped box in it, and I hand the box to Bea. When she opens the lid and sees the sparkling tiara inside, her jaw goes slack with awe. The thing isn’t made of diamonds, of course. They’re cubic zirconia. But to this three-year-old’s eye, this tiara might as well be the crown jewels.
“Queen Bea,” I say, placing the sparkling tiara on top of her head. “I promise you’ll always be my Bea and I’ll be yours.”
“Bea-Bee!”
“That’s right. You and me, kid.”
I bend down and hug Beatrice at eye level and she grabs my cheeks in her little palms, pulls me by the scruff toward her, and lays a little kiss on my lips. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Thank you, my baby,” I say, nuzzling her nose. “I love you, too.”
My mom makes a sound that can only be described as losing her shit and everyone laughs and wipes their tears.
I stand, take Lydia’s hand on one side and Izzy’s on the other, and say, “And that’s a wrap, folks! I give you... my family!”
Everyone cheers and converges on us. There are hugs all around. Dad grabs the bottles of champagne and sparkling apple cider that have been on ice in the kitchen and Ryan quickly opens them and passes around plastic cups. Once everyone’s got their assorted bubbles, Ryan says a quick toast, and we all drink.
“Can I say a toast?” Theo asks. But it’s clear nobody has heard him but Keane and me.
Keane sticks his fingers into his mouth and whistles like he’s calling a faraway dog and everyone abruptly stops talking.
“Yo. The brahito burrito has something he’d like to say,” Keane explains.
Theo raises his cup. “I just want to say I’m really happy to be a Morgan.”
Oh my God. The kid just hit a grand slam homerun with this crowd.
“Talk about playing to your audience,” Ryan says, and everyone laughs and cheers.
“I have a toast!” Izzy yells above the din. “I’m really happy to be a Morgan, too!”
More cheers and whoops.
Of course, Beatrice mimics her brother and sister and everyone turns into a puddle at her cuteness.
I look at Lydia and what I see on her face reflects back to me exactly what I’m feeling. Joy and Love. That’s all I’m feeling in this moment. Joy and Love. And absolutely nothing else.