Page 71 of Until Waverly

“You’re going to have so much fun. Like Mack said, I’m kind of envious.” Ireland laughed. “I’d tell her before you get there though.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “I already planned to.”

“We’re going to have so much fun together,” my mom said, talking to Alandria. “Say bye-bye to Mommy. Say Grandma and Grandpa are going to spoil me rotten.”

“Not sure how I feel about that part…”

Ireland snickered. “They do the same with Mack Junior-Junior.” She huffed a breath. “We need a better nickname for him. This is getting ridiculous.”

I cackled. “The curse of naming your kids after their father.”

“At least our first boy doesn’t have to be called Mack. That would get confusing really fast,” Jackson said, before peering at his watch. “Right. We need to leave now if we’re going to make it in time.”

“Right, the secret you promised to tell me about.” I eyed him suspiciously.

With a last kiss and farewell, Jackson and I walked out of the courthouse, husband and wife. That thought made me smile wide enough I thought my cheeks would get stuck in place. Once we were in the car, ready to leave, he motioned to the glove box. “Open it.” He lifted his chin as he backed out of the parking space.

“Okay.” I did as he asked and found an envelope with the Amtrak logo on the front of it. I frowned again, not sure why we’d have train tickets. “Where are we going?”

“Gatlinburg for three days and two nights. A mini-honeymoon for us,” he said as he pulled out into traffic, heading toward the train station. “My wedding present to you. I remember before my parents passed, they went to Gatlinburg. They had an amazing time. I thought going would bring us a little close to them too.”

Biting my bottom lip, I didn’t know what to say. He thought of everything. The envelope blurred as I sat there. “You’re amazing.”

“You are,” he said, taking my hand. “Every day, you astonish me with your determination and resilience. When I see you with Alandria, my heart melts. You’re a damn good mother, sunshine. Learning how close I could have come to losing you both, I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me. I fucking love you, Waverly. My wife. Fuck, that has a fantastic sound to it.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was going to be a blubbering mess when we walked into the train station because he turned me into a weepy puddle. “I love you so much, Jackson. I can’t express how sorry I am enough. I—I wish I could go back in time and start over. I—”

He squeezed my hand and shook his head as he we pulled into the long-term parking deck. “You don’t have to apologize anymore. We have our lives in front of us. Forever, sunshine.”

I swallowed the lump of emotion clogging my throat. “Forever, my husband.”

“Damn right. Now, let’s go catch a train. Mack and I planned everything for this trip. We’re going to have so much fun.” He kissed my knuckles before pulling into a spot near an elevator. “I hope you like being naked in a Jacuzzi.”

Laughter bubbled up within me. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll be naked with you all the time.”

“Fuck,” he said. “I can’t wait to get you alone, Mrs. Banks.”

“Ditto, Mr. Banks.”

Epilogue

Waverly

Five years later…

“Okay baby girl, let’s finish getting ready for school.” It was Alandria’s first day of the first grade. Ireland and Mack were going to meet us at the elementary school, since Alandria and Mack Jr were attending the same school.

“I’m excited, Mommy!” Alandria’s giggles echoed down the hall as she ran for her room, giving me just enough time to check the test I’d taken when I got up this morning.

Obviously, I already knew the answer. While Jackson and I weren’t trying to get pregnant, we also weren’t not attempting to either. Both of us were stable in our jobs. Our house was big enough for us, and we were happy. Glancing down at the strip, I grinned before shoving it back into the package. I’d surprise Jackson later once we dropped Alandria off at school.

“How do you want to fix your hair today?” Alandria was already putting on the clothes I’d laid out for her while she ate breakfast with her father.

“Piggy tails,” she squealed, then snorted like a pig. She looked more and more like her auntie Ireland and her father every day. From her glossy red curly hair to her bright blue-green eyes and a dappling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Even her temperament matched them.

“Piggy tails it is.” Once she was dressed, I guided her into the bathroom next to her room. The bedroom on the opposite side would be converted into the new nursery soon for her sibling. My heart fluttered with happiness at the notion we’d be going from a family of three to a family of four before the end of the year.

Unlike with Alandria, I wasn’t sick per se. Instead, I had cravings. I should have known when I went to the fridge in the middle of the night, looking for some weird concoction of stuff we didn’t have. Something was up. Although, when I’d found out I was pregnant with Alandria, I’d also been given the trifecta of viruses from my study group in college too.

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