Not Alone (24 page)
Authors: Amber Nation
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Contemporary Fiction
Rolling to my side and cradling her against my chest, I could feel her heart beating frantically and her heavy labored breathing begin to subside. I basked in the contentment of the moment. Everything was finally right in life, where everything should be, both of our hearts completely whole.
I was glad that we both finally faced reality and I thanked my lucky stars that I had my Emmalynne.
My hand was trailing gently up and down her back as she whispered, almost inaudibly, “Grady?”
Looking down into her eyes, which were still glistening with unshed tears, my hand stilled. “What sweetheart?”
“I just wanted to thank you for making me realize that I’m not alone anymore. I’ve been alone for far too long, and it’s nice to feel wanted and loved.” She then settled back down into my arms, and I resumed rubbing her back.
“It’s my pleasure, sweetheart,” and it was. It was absolutely my pleasure to be the one to show her, her worth. Even though she doesn’t see it, she’s always been the worthy one. It was me who was lucky, the one deemed unworthy. But she saw something in me and chose to love me, and I was not ever going to let that go. So, I not only showed her that she was not alone any longer, but she returned the favor tenfold.
Epilogue
Fall Soccer Season
Grady
It was the final game of the fall soccer season and our team was currently undefeated. I was confident enough in my boys to know they had this in the bag. It was a rather warm and windy day for it being fall.
It didn’t take Tucker very long to warm back up to me and now we had an inseparable bond. It helped that he was on my side, with wanting to make his mother happy. That was what mattered to him the most in life, to see his mom happy. Well, that and to always have the most up-to-date video games. And if I must be honest, both of those ranked high on my list as well, but Emmalynne the highest.
Tuck had approached me cautiously to ask about becoming his soccer coach for the fall season. I didn’t even hesitate in taking him up on his offer. I was completely overjoyed that he came to me.
Emmy Lou’s
bar had even sponsored the team. It was nice being the boss from time to time.
It had officially been a year since I’d met my Emmalynne. Sure, we’d definitely had our ups and downs but we had overcome all of the obstacles and came out on fucking top.
In the end, we may have a happily ever after, but I loved our version so much more.
“Are you ready for our surprise?” I asked, looking down at Tucker.
“Yeah, dad.”
“Oh sorry.” Tuck tried backtracking his words and looking downright scared. “I asked mom if she thought that it’d be alright if I called you that, and she thought it would. I mean you are more like a dad to me than Bryce ever was. My mom is happy around you and doesn’t cry tears of sadness on a daily basis anymore, not like it was with Bryce. He bullied my mom and I don’t even have a positive memory of him. And he wouldn’t ever coach my soccer team let alone come to a game, and you didn’t bat an eye. So if you’d rather me call you Grady that’s fine too…”
My chest tightened and I felt my stomach knot up at his words. And I had to forcibly fight back tears. I knew Bryce was a dick, but for Tucker to have absolutely no positive memories of the man at all… Tucker was too smart for his own good. “Tucker I would be honored to call you my son, so as long as that is alright with you, then I think we have a deal.”
“Cool,” he exclaimed as he clung to me in a hug. I was visibly shocked at his display of affection considering usually all he gave me were fist bumps.
My son
. Holding onto him, I looked across the field and caught Emmalynne’s eyes, much like I always did. I saw that she was wiping away tears while holding Brock and Tessa’s four month old son, Blake, and I smiled in her direction.
“So, do you think this will be corny enough for your mom?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Tucker said, “You know her, she’s a sap, loves the romantic stuff, she will eat it up. Of course that’ll be after her embarrassment fades and her tears dry up. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Of course, well, go gather up the team and let them know it’s almost show time.”
Taking a deep breath and feeling deep within my pocket of my jeans, I grasped what I was looking for. My heart was pounding relentlessly against my ribs. I didn’t think that I’d ever been so nervous before. And I was in the Special Forces, we went on missions all the time, and I never once got nervous. Not. One. Time. So this just emphasized how important this was to me.
Everyone was attending the game and at halftime they would get the show of a lifetime. At least it would hopefully be, for Emmalynne.
The boys huddled around so I could assign them their positions and dish out their pregame talk and strategy. It seemed that Toby has rubbed off some of his fabulous speech mojo to me, because I can give a pretty kick ass pep talk.
The boys jogged out and took their assigned positions within the field and the referee blew the whistle, starting the first quarter of the game.
My mind was completely occupied throughout the first half and I wasn’t as vocal as I normally was. We were up by two when the ref blew the whistle, indicating it was halftime.
I took in another massive breath and nodded my head towards my team. They scattered quickly throughout the field taking their respective places, standing at attention with their hands secured behind their backs. Once I gave a nod of my head, they immediately dropped down to a knee. In soccer this was a sign of respect you showed to an injured player, but today it meant so much more.
The signal was given so Tessa and Toby went into action. Their job was to get Emmalynne to walk across the field toward me.
Her confused eyes locked with mine as she skeptically started making her way across the grassy field. Her limp was more prominent today. She’d been doing way too much lately, constantly on the go.
This was it I thought, between this moment and Tuck wanting to call me dad, this was what I’d been waiting for my entire life.
She stopped a few feet in front of me, her gaze warily assessing the situation. “Grady, what’s going on?” She looked around to each of the teammates, ready to take on an injury if need be. “Is anyone hurt?”
Closing the distance between us, I took her hands in mine, and intertwined our fingers together. I took one final deep breath before I took the plunge, the only logical step in the right direction. Moving in closer to her, so that our faces were mere inches apart, I could hear her breathing deepen.
Locking eyes with hers I begain, “Emmalynne Morgan, I didn’t know that I was looking for you and here you come knocking me straight onto my ass. Here I was just going through the motions of life, not really living and you opened my eyes to endless possibilities. You have taught me the true meaning of love and life and for that I will be eternally grateful.” Reaching for the small square box deep within my pocket, I went for the traditional route and got down on bended knee. Immediately her eyes widened, shock running through them, and she let out as gasp as her hands started to visibly tremble and her eyes glistened with tears.
“Emmy Lou, my beautiful, sweet Emmalynne. You are the most amazing woman and mother I’ve ever met. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how special you are to me. I want to help raise Tucker and hopefully a few more kiddos along the way. My love for you is endless, more than breathing, it is absolute necessity.” I popped open the ring box, showcasing what was inside. “So would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
--~--
Emmalynne
Nestled in the confines of that small box was the most gorgeous princess cut diamond ring I had ever seen. It wasn’t outlandish or over the top, it was exactly me. Grady knew me perfectly.
Looking into the depths of his eyes, I was completely stunned, but could feel tears pooling in the creases of my eyes. “Grady,” I whispered, his name was barely audible.
Searching the field for my son, I took a second to thank God on taking a risk and not closing myself off from something that proved to be amazing. If losing Bryce had taught me anything it was to live each day to the absolute fullest and to never settle on anything other than what I deserved. And I was doing just that.
“Sweetheart, don’t leave me hanging here,” Grady called, pulling me from my thoughts of the past.
“Oh, sorry.” Feeling chastised, but upturning my mouth in a mega-watt smile.
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!!”
He stood from his position on the grass and slipped the diamond ring to its rightful place on my left hand. Instantly, I was pulled towards Grady and his mouth came crashing down on mine. He raked his hands through my windblown hair, his fingers firmly holding me in place, taking full control of the kiss. My body pulsed with desire as I pressed myself to him. I felt my second favorite part of him, the first being his heart of course, press against my belly and it caused a rush of liquid heat to my core. I had to remember that we were indeed in public, at my son’s soccer game no less. I would never tire of Grady’s amazing mouth but reminding myself where we were, was like a bucket of ice cold water to my system.
Unwillingly pulling myself away from Grady, I brought my mouth towards his ear, and whispered, “I hope you were serious about having more kids, because we will be experiencing that in about seven more months.” A growl erupted from deep within his chest which made me remind myself again that we were in public.
Placing his hands on my shoulders to bring me back into the path of his eyes, he said, “Thank you for making me the happiest man on the fucking planet. You and Tucker both are my world.” Then he grabbed hold of my waist and swung me around in the air, he did this wearing the biggest smile I’d ever seen come from him. He knew I wasn’t very keen on him picking me up, but he seemed to make a habit of it, and for today, I let it slide.
Tucker came running up to us and enveloped me in a strong embrace. I could tell by the expression he wore that he was ecstatic. I remembered him asking me that morning about calling Grady ‘dad’ and if he would have any objections about it. I burst into tears, of course, but I thought it was a wonderful idea, granted Grady thought so as well. Tuck was one of the bravest kids I knew, and now he had one hell of a male role model to call dad.
“I love you mom,” he said looking up to me. Then looked towards Grady and said, “I love you dad.” Tears continued to roll down my face as Grady and I both replied, “We love you too, son.”
I don’t know how I deserved this life, but I would never ever take it for granted. My life used to be predictable and lonely, but not anymore, and not ever again. I was elated to know that Grady had guided me to follow my heart and had shown me that I was
not alone
.
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