As Tears Go By (45 page)

The
horde moved into the house where Kelly cracked open some of the liquor he’d
supplied. Everyone raved about the house and as the whiskey bottles emptied the
laughter followed. Mallory and Ashlynn—once she’d successfully distracted
Carla—offered plenty of warnings about McCullough weddings. “The aunts will
make you insane, but the men make up for it, because they all wear kilts,”
Mallory warned with a wink.

The
aunts, Colleen and Rosemarie, overheard their names and sidled into the
conversation. “You’ll not have to lift a finger, dearie. Like true clansmen,
the groom and his kin come dressed in tartan with nothin’ but a breeze and
their
bagpipe
under their kilts.
You’ll be needed to save your strength for the honeymoon,” Rosemarie teased.

“That’s
the truth!” Colleen laughed.

At some
point, when the liquor had gone to everyone’s head, it began to set in that she
was actually getting married again. Becca sensed this time would be different.
This time, she was madly in love with the groom and he happened to be one of
the most honorable men she’d ever met.

Three
things were for sure. One, the new Becca would have no regrets. Two, Becca
McCullough sounded much better than Becca Stevens, especially when the word
McCullough represented love and family, something she’d gone too long without.
And three, she was definitely having smurf sex tonight.

A glass
clanked, drawing everyone’s attention. Luke stood, holding his beverage high
and wearing a great smile on his face. “Eyes up here, maniacs.”

When he
had everyone’s attention, he winked at her. “First, I’d like to congratulate
Bray and Becca for finally getting their shit together.” He tipped his glass
toward his brother. “Bray
,
you built an incredible
home. It’s almost as beautiful as your future wife. I hope these walls hold
many happy memories for you and our new family, Becca and Hunter.”

Everyone
cheered, and Luke remained standing. “I’m not finished. Since it’s almost
impossible to get all of us together at once, I figured I’d seize the
opportunity and borrow a little of my brother’s thunder. You don’t mind, do
you,
Bray
?”

Braydon
raised his glass in good spirits. “Have at it.” It was apparent how much he
adored each of his siblings.

Luke
nodded and returned his attention to his enormous family. “As most of you have
already heard, Tristan and I were turned down for adoption.” Everyone booed.
“But when God shuts a door he opens another. Pennsylvania
finally
passed
the vote and next week I’ll be making an honest man out of him.”

The
room erupted in applause. Braydon beamed at Becca. There was so much joy within
the house she felt as though her home was being christened.

“One
more thing,” Luke announced. “I’m sure it’s no surprise that Sheilagh is
plastered and it’s not even dark yet.”

“Whoooooo,”
Sheilagh cheered with a delayed, “Hoo!”

Alec
hugged her close and signaled Luke to continue with a nod. Luke’s smile turned
contemplative. He actually looked on the verge of tears, which quickly silenced
the room. When he spoke again, the room was still.

“We’ve
all had an incredible past few years. I consider us beyond lucky, because
through all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we remained a family.
Sammy, Mallory, Ashlynn, Alec, Becca…Tristan, you complete our family. It took
me a long time to understand how deep the love of family goes, but I’ve looked
and decided it’s unending.”

“Here!
Here!” someone shouted.

“The
last few weeks were trying for many of us. Everyone here has fought some sort
of battle, and in those moments, when all seems lost, we somehow find each other
and new solutions present themselves. That’s what family is all about.”

He
turned to his sister. “Devil, will you come up here?”

Sheilagh
stumbled to her feet, her face a radiant rosy pink. She smiled and skipped over
to Luke who wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave an affectionate
squeeze. “Are you enjoying yourself, Devil?”

“When
do I not enjoy myself, Luke?”

“Should
you tell them or should I?”

“I
think Tristan should do the honors.”

Everyone
looked to Tristan, who wiped under his eyes before standing and joining the
others. “Family,” he greeted in a thick Texan draw. “Alec, you wanna get up
here?”

Becca
leaned over and whispered to Braydon. “What’s going on?”

“I have
no idea.”

Alec
joined the others and together they faced the room anxiously waiting to find
out what this was about.

“Well,”
Tristan began. “As it turns out, we had two goals today. One, to wrangle Becca
into saying yes to Braydon, and, two, getting She-Devil nice and drunk. You
see, after next week she won’t be able to drink for some time.”

Becca
frowned. What were they talking about?

“After
much discussion and careful consideration,” Alec took over. “My wife has
consented to be a surrogate. We know it’s not the traditional way of doing
things, but that’s how things seem to work in this family. Next week Sheilagh
and Tristan will be seeing a specialist and if everything goes accordingly,
this time next year we may be welcoming another McCullough to the clan.”

Becca
gasped and everyone started talking at once. Sheilagh stepped forward.

“Quiet!”
she shouted, demanding everyone’s attention once more. “The embryo will be part
of me and part of Tristan, but the child will be all of ours. He or she will
have a hyphenated name and, of course…” Her teeth flashed with a grin of pure
elation. “
We’re moving to the mountain!”

Everyone
jumped to their feet and cheered. Ashlynn, Sammy, and Mallory raced to Sheilagh
and squealed as they swallowed her in a group hug. Becca’s heart pinched at
such a show of love.

Braydon
took her hand and squeezed. She slowly appraised the people filling the room.
Frank smiled into Maureen’s eyes as he wiped away her tears and she laughed
with unveiled joy.

Tristan
brushed a hand lovingly down Luke’s face and smiled. They turned to Sheilagh
and hugged her, then Alec. The two couple’s approached them.

Luke
smiled. “Bray, we know you spent a fortune on this house to get it perfect,
which, of course, you nailed.”

“He is
the golden son,” Sheilagh teased and Braydon blushed.

“Well,”
Luke continued, “we have an offer for you.”

His
brows perked up. “I’m listening.”

Alec
grinned. “Sheilagh and I would like you to build us a house—”

“Right
next to ours,” Tristan added.

“With
an adjoining nursery,” Luke explained. “Sort of an en suite set up. We know
it’s different, but we all agree you’re the guy to make it flow and think of
all the details we might overlook.”

Becca
thought it was a brilliant idea. Braydon’s smile widened. “I’m honored. I’d
love to build something like that for you guys. But what about Alec’s job in Princeton?”

Alec
kissed Sheilagh’s cheek. “I’ll still be a professor at the college, but I’ll be
running the online philosophy courses now, only traveling to New Jersey on an
as needed basis.”

They
seemed to have everything planned. Braydon affectionately whacked his brother
on the shoulder and pulled him and Sheilagh into a hug. “I’m really happy for
you guys.”

Luke
met Becca’s gaze and said, “We’re happy for you too.”

She
nodded, overwhelmed by the family’s welcome. As they continued to discuss
future plans for the next house Braydon would be building on the mountain, her
attention snagged on Finn. He approached Mallory, arms weighed down with
laughing children, pure worship in his eyes. Pressing a kiss to his wife’s
lips, Finn laughed and pulled his family into a group hug as the little ones
squirmed and giggled.

Tallulah
chased baby Liam as he ran for shelter between Sammy’s legs, interrupting Colin
as he attempted to kiss his wife. They laughed and scooped up the children,
tousling their hair lovingly.

Kate’s
kids dashed around the house as Anthony smiled at his preoccupied wife and
slowly walked to her, surprising her with a slow kiss. She melted in his arms
and the evident affection they shared took Becca’s breath away.

Kelly
passed Nate to Sheilagh who blew raspberries into the baby’s tummy. He then
snatched his wife’s hand, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes, and raced out
of the crowded room with Ashlynn skipping behind him.

In the
corner Italian Mary spoke softly to Braydon’s grandmother as she helped her
into a chair. The gentle assistance spoke of timeless friendship and priceless
tenderness.

The
aunts cackled and teased the uncles as the cousins congratulated the soon to be
parents. There wasn’t a single face in the room without a smile.

This
was family.
This was love. This was McCullough Mountain.

“You
okay?” Braydon whispered, stealing her attention from the unforgettable display
unfolding around her.

She
nodded, her eyes weepy with more joy than she’d ever experienced. “I love
this.”

“I love
you. Only one thing’s missing.”

Yes.
Hunter should have been there.

Braydon
checked his phone and grinned. “He’ll be here in a little bit.”

Her
heart jumped in surprise. “What?”

Braydon
smiled. “It’s his home too. I wanted him here, but I also wanted to show you
the house first. I arranged everything with Kevin and he’ll be dropping him off
in about an hour. We’ll get everyone cleared out by then so things are
peaceful, and then we’ll welcome him to his new home.”

She
wasn’t sure if a heart could break from happiness, but hers was so tight in
that moment she feared it might burst like a star turning into a supernova,
more brilliant than a thousand suns and powerful enough to outshine an entire
universe. That’s what he did to her.

For
years, time passed with tears, but with Braydon, moments went by in brilliant
flashes of joy. The tears had gone by and now the sun was finally shining as if
to say there would be no more rain.

She
took Braydon’s face in her hands and smiled up into his incredible eyes, so
full of vitality and ideals. “Thank you. Somewhere along the line I forgot
heroes existed in real life, but you reminded me. You saved me from myself,
Braydon. I can’t imagine my life without you. I just wish there were words for
how much you make me feel.”

His forehead
pressed to hers as he whispered, “You don’t need to explain it, angel. I feel
it too. It’s messy, unconditional love.” And with that, he leaned close and
kissed her deeply.

Epilogue

“Fourteen
chocolate chips!” Hunter shouted
,
his smiling face
smeared with melted chocolate.

“I
thought there were sixteen,” Braydon said, flipping the pancake on the griddle.

Hunter
rocked and gave a hardy laugh. “I ate two.”

Braydon
smiled at him, head over heels for the delightful ray of light Hunter was in
their world. “Okay, we’re ready for the next one.”

Braydon’s
hand curved over Hunter’s as he lifted the ladle full of batter and carefully
poured the next pancake onto the griddle.

“Careful
hot,” Hunter warned.

“Right.
It’s hot so let’s be careful,” Braydon agreed.

They
were still settling into the house, but Hunter had made the transition
beautifully. He came home every day, energized and full of different
experiences from his new school. The family had welcomed Hunter and Becca with
open arms, each relative taking the time to get to know them.

At
first, he and Becca feared the McCulloughs would overwhelm Hunter, but as it
turned out, he was more than capable of adapting to their presence. He even
seemed to thrive under all the energy they supplied to his daily life.

Braydon’s
mum had reintroduced herself to Hunter, as Nanna, and he adored the woman who
had once given him blue gloves. With innate affection, his mum managed to
slowly breach Hunter’s physical limits and they were all amazed at how quickly
his tolerance for physical contact began to change. Though Hunter still
couldn’t be held or hugged, he was learning to tolerate touch, slowly grasping
that contact was a show of affection. This moved Becca in immeasurable ways.

“Okay,
drop the chocolate chips in. We’re about ready to flip this one.”

“Only
ten, Braydon,” Hunter said as he fisted the morsels.

He sent
him a sidelong glance and smirked. “You get your sweet tooth from your mother.”

“These
are my teeth,” Hunter said, giving him a cheeky grin.

Once
the chocolate chip pancakes were complete, Braydon shut off the griddle and
pushed it back on the counter to cool. He carried the plate to the tray waiting
on the table, already set with chocolate milk, flowers, and silver wear.
“Where’s your card, bud?”

Hunter ran
into the playroom, his footfalls heavy with excitement. When he returned he
held a handmade card. The front showed an origami pinwheel incorporating every
color of the spectrum. “Can I see?”

Hunter
handed it to him. Pulling the card open, Braydon found a picture inside with
three people and a yellow house. “Is this us?”

“Yeah.”

He
smiled, noting that each person had a heart drawn on their chest. A family.
“She’ll love this, Hunter. You did great.”

“Hearts
for Valentine’s Day.”

Braydon
nodded.
Hearts for Valentine’s Day.

As he
carefully carried the tray upstairs, Hunter already bouncing by the bedroom
door, he took a moment to let his gratitude sink in.
 

It
seemed like yesterday that he’d come home from college for summer vacation with
expectation of his future falling into place like a perfect puzzle. As the
years passed, he’d lost a bit of faith in himself and the happy future he’d
hoped for. But meeting Becca and Hunter had changed that.

They
redefined his purpose, brought him more joy than he ever assumed possible.
Though Hunter seemed to embrace their new home, there were still curious
moments of silence. Those moments would always be there, but underneath it all
would be the foundation of their love and family. Of all the things Braydon
could build,
this
was where he
defined his pride. Not in a house, but in a home.

And
through all the spins and twirls and laughter and tears, he’d come to
understand that, sometimes, love spoke without words, and if one listened to
the silence they could catch glimpses of all the colors that painted the world
as an exceptionally beautiful place.

Giving
Hunter a nod, he whispered, “Let’s wake her up.”

*The End*