Page 68 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

Epilogue

“There you are, brother!” Beckett felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder. He pressed his hands against the edge of the counter, standing to his full height. Graham stood just behind him and blinked in surprise catching Beckett’s face in the bathroom mirror. “Whoa, Beck. Everything okay?”

Beckett didn’t look okay. Well, his black suit looked fantastic, perfect for the occasion. Graham had chosen a dark gray suit, but they both had on matching deep blue ties, a few shades darker than their eyes. His face, though, showed his fragile emotional state. He was feeling a cocktail of positive and negative emotions, but the one that registered most clearly on his face was sheer panic.

“I’m going to screw this up. I know it.”

Graham tugged his arm so that Beckett was facing his brother, not his terrified image in the mirror. “Hey, I know you. You are not going to screw it up.” He cocked his head to the side, looking thoughtful. “I take that back. You are without a doubt going to screw this up.”

Beckett’s mouth fell open. More worries than before crowded his mind. “I can’t believe you! On today of all days, you’re going to tell me that!”

“Beck, listen. You’re going to screw this up because we all do. Look at me. You’ve seen me make a thousand mistakes. But she forgives me. We work through it. I try to do better the next time and you better believe that I rely on God’s help to do just that.”

Beckett’s mouth felt so dry that it took effort to swallow. As though Graham had anticipated this, he handed Beckett a water bottle. After taking a few swallows Beckett cleared his throat. “Thank you. For the water. And the pep talk, though I’m not sure it made me feel much better. I was afraid of failing her. You just confirmed it.”

Graham rolled his eyes. “I’ll try a gentler approach. You can’t be perfect. You can only love her with all that you have. I’ve seen the way she looks at you and she loves you just as much. You are her world. That’s so much pressure, which gets me back to the failing part, which apparently you’re not ready to hear. Yet.”

Beckett punched Graham in the arm, but he was starting to smile. “A little better. Good thing you’re not a doctor though. Your bedside manner could use some work.”

“But I’ve got you hurling insults, don’t I? So clearly you’re feeling better. Now, come on. You’ve got two beautiful ladies waiting for you.”

“You go ahead. Just give me one more minute in here.”

Graham hesitated. “You sure? I don’t want you getting sucked down into your head again. This is a day for celebrating. Okay?”

“You’re right and I will celebrate. Just one more minute.”

“Setting a timer now.” Graham ducked out of the public restroom, the noise from the courthouse buzzing through the open door for a moment before it whooshed closed again.

Beckett threw a little water on his face and patted it dry with the scratchy brown paper towels. He leaned his hands on the edge of the counter again, meeting his own eyes in the mirror. The panic he had seen just a few minutes earlier had been replaced by determination.

He had the bathroom to himself, which was shocking given the public space, and he took advantage of the moment. Closing his eyes, he uttered a quick prayer. “Lord, I know I’m not enough, but you are. Let me be what I can for her. For them. Be my strength, so I can be theirs.”

When he opened his eyes again, the determination was still in his eyes, but alongside a shining joy. He was more than ready, even knowing that Graham was right—he would make mistakes and let Madi and Becka down. There was something freeing in knowing that he couldn’t even try for perfection. He could only love them the best way he knew how and trust God.

Back in the hallway, Beckett searched the small group standing before the courtroom door until his eyes met Madi’s. His shoulders relaxed and his face broke into a smile. Six months of seeing her face every day and he still couldn’t get enough of her rich, brown eyes and her smile. She looked beyond beautiful in a light-colored dress that fell just above her knees, giving him a glimpse of her legs. For a moment he remembered the day he found her trying to mow the lawn at her rental house and how he’d first admired her legs.

When he had told her about that, he remembered how she had doubted him and smacked him on the arm. But her smile had been huge and Beckett had noticed that since then, she had started wearing more shorts and skirts. He didn’t think they needed any improvement, but since she joined a gym and started running again, the muscles had grown more pronounced. She said that she felt stronger and happier as well, which he could see in her face when she was playing with Becka or just coming back from a run, still high on endorphins.

By now, Beckett had seen most of Madi’s expressions, but what he saw today was something deeper. As he crossed the hallway toward her, the love shining in her eyes almost overwhelmed him. There was something else too, that looked like a sense of pride as she watched him move toward her. When he was a few steps away, her smile broke into a wider grin just as Becka noticed him and let go of Logan’s hand to run for Beckett.

“Papa!” she cried as she ran. In the past months her awkward toddler run had moved into a much faster, less awkward gait.

Beckett was laughing as he picked her up, the layers of her soft peach dress tickling his neck as she burrowed into him. It never got old hearing Becka call him Papa, the same name he and Graham called their father. Though he still missed his original nickname, It, Becka would have outgrown it soon anyway. Her talking had increased fiftyfold in the last months as well and she waited every day to see him coming home to tell him everything about her day.

Closing his eyes, Beckett breathed in the scent of his little girl. Madi stepped up beside them, resting her head on his shoulder. “My girls,” Beckett said, placing a kiss on Madi’s temple.

She smiled up at him, putting her hand over his on Becka’s back. “Are you ready for this?”

The only doubts Beckett had were about his ability to be enough. These two deserved the world and he wanted to give it to them. He had never known the kind of joy that he felt when he brought them joy. Whether it was something big, like buying Madi a new car, or a small thing like picking a flower from the yard for Becka. They made it so easy to love them and they loved him just as much in return.

Though Beckett had given him a hard time, Graham’s talk had helped and his quick prayer only firmed his resolve. “The only thing I was more ready for was our wedding day.” With a teasing gleam in his eye, Beckett said, “And night.”

Madi laughed and he watched the column of her throat, thinking about how he wanted to trace a path of kisses up to her mouth. Later. Not while in the courtroom holding Becka. Her sapphire engagement ring and diamond-studded wedding band sparkled as he kissed her hand instead.

They had gotten married three months almost to the day after their first official date and first kiss. Though it might seem fast to some, it hardly seemed fast enough to him. Because it had been mid-summer, they had nixed Madi’s dream outdoor wedding. Instead, they had a simple affair with only family inside Beckett’s house, which more and more every day was becoming infused with the life and light and color that Madi brought. It was hard for Beckett to even think about how he lived in such a cold, empty space before she put her mark on it. Just like it was hard to remember living before Madi and Becka became his life.

Graham and Courtney stood by, smiling with Logan and Selena, all of whom had insisted on coming to the courthouse for Becka’s adoption. Any minute now the bailiff would open the doors and call them in for a quick proceeding that would complete the process. His lawyer, George sat by, looking slightly less bored than usual. Even he seemed to be thawed by the high emotions around him.

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