Page 73 of Until Waverly

A shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Hell yeah, we are. I can’t wait to be a dad again.”

* * *

Eleven years later…

“I’m nervous. I have no reason to be nervous.” Alandria stared at her reflection in the mirror. “It’s prom. No big deal.”

“It’s a huge deal,” I murmured, making a few last-minute alterations to the dress she wore.

The bodice of the strapless princess gown was covered in crystals and beads and fitted to Alandria’s slim frame. The skirt fell in layers of multicolored tulle, giving her a fairy quality. We’d put her hair up in a braided bun with wisps of curls falling around her face. She was gorgeous. I couldn’t believe my baby girl was growing up right before our eyes. Pretty soon, Alandria would leave for college, and the boys would be in high school and middle school.

My heart.

If it hadn’t been for a complicated birth with Wilder, our youngest son, I’d have asked Jackson if we could have one more. As it was, every year, I lost another of my firsts with each of our children. Though I was excited to see who each of them would become over the years, I also had a longing for additional time.

“Mom?” Alandria glanced at me. “Are you done?”

I knotted the thread then snipped the strings, almost like symbolically cutting those ties of Alandria being a child to her being almost an adult. Oh, that thought frightened me.

“Done.” I stepped back, swiping at tears I hoped Alandria didn’t see.

“Do you think Rowan is going to like it?” The anxiousness in her voice along with the worry creasing her brow had me flying back into mom duty.

“If he doesn’t, it’s his loss. You’re gorgeous.” The doorbell rang, and I squeezed Alandria’s shoulders. “Should be your aunt with the Macks, Rory, and Cal.”

“The Macks.” Alandria snorted and giggled. “I can’t believe we still haven’t come up with a way to distinguish them.”

“I guess when it works, it works,” I said with a laugh. “Do you need me for anything else?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be down when Rowan arrives.” Rowan was the captain of the football team and quarterback while Alandria was the co-captain of the cheer squad. He was a good kid with a great head on his shoulders.

I kissed her cheek, then went down to greet my brother and Ireland, along with the kids. I don’t know how we timed our family planning as well as we did, but somehow we did. Our kids had grown up together, and I was grateful for that, too. Wilder and Calhoun ran off to the living room while Rory and Kasey conspired while they stared at their phones, probably playing some game. Mack Jr. stood to the side, looking very uncomfortable but so handsome—a spitting image of my brother—as he waited for his date to arrive.

“You clean up well,” I teased. Instead of the traditional black and white tux, Mack Jr. went with soft gray and white. In his hands was the corsage for his date, and I suspected she had his boutonniere.

“Thank you, Aunt Waverly.” The bridge of his nose pinked, exposing the light dappling of freckles he’d inherited from Ireland.

“You’re very welcome,” I replied. “I can’t believe you and Alandria are all grown up.”

“Not yet,” he said with a bashfulness I utterly enjoyed. One day, that too would be a distant memory. “I can’t believe we’re going to graduate soon.”

Neither could I.

“We’re too young for this,” Ireland said, joining me as she wiped her eyes. “Alandria is beautiful. That dress is perfect for her.”

“The minute she tried it on, I knew it was the one.” I hugged my sister. We didn’t believe in the whole “in-law” thing. “Where has the time gone?”

“I ask myself that every morning,” I said on a sobbed laugh.

“They’re here,” Wilder and Calhoun said, running into the living room. “All of them have arrived.”

Jackson went to open the door while I returned upstairs to let Alandria know her date had arrived. She sat in her room, staring out the window, a vision of beauty and grace. I still couldn’t believe how lucky I’d been to be her mother. Even when things were tough, she was the best thing I’d ever done.

“Rowan’s arrived.”

She turned, inhaling as she blinked several times. “I’m anxious.”

“I was nervous too, the first time I met your dad.” I sat on the edge of her bed. “It was the best day of my life.” We hadn’t explained the Boom to the kids, opting to let them find their own paths.

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