Page 108 of Edge of Heaven

“I’m not?” He sounds confused.

“You’re going to be his dad. His sperm donor died before he was born. Toby’s never had a dad. My father died when he was still a toddler, so he doesn’t remember him. You’re going to be the only dad he’s ever known.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“God, yes. I couldn’t ask for a better man to be the role model in my son’s life.”

“Even though I’m going to raise him to be a morning person?”

I burst out laughing. “Toby is already a morning person, so yeah, it’s too late for me in that regard.”

“Good thing—because I’m not going anywhere.”

I gaze over at him. “I know.”

“We took the long road in getting here, but you were worth the wait, Taryn.”

“That might be the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Epilogue

Mick

My wedding dayis nothing like I thought it would be—and nothing like the low-key event Taryn and I tried to plan. The first roadblock came from Toby. His doctors asked us to wait as long as possible before taking him anywhere public, so we had to delay until the beginning of September since his presence was important to Taryn.

Then Angus got wind of my plans and said there was no way in hell I was getting married without the band. And Taryn wanted Ryleigh to be her maid of honor, so our guest list basically tripled.

Somehow, through the grapevine of her girlfriends, Alexa Humboldt got involved and donated a dress for Taryn to wear, and she made it clear she planned to attend. Then Hettie heard about it and said she was going to create a leather suit for me, and of course, she also wanted to be there. Sasha lives in Las Vegas so there’s no way to leave her out, and that forced us to pivot.

Our private elopement turned into a small but significant event and we were a little worried at first because we truly didn’t want to spend a lot of money. My debt to Sasha is paid since she took the money I borrowed out of my first payment, but between paying Toby’s treatment and some follow-up testing that required additional out-of-pocket payments, we were stressed about the idea of wedding costs.

Luckily, I have a really rich bandmate who offered to pay for everything as our wedding present. And then Sasha offered to let us have the wedding and a small reception at her house, which is a huge, beautiful mansion.

I’m a little awed and humbled by the outreach of love and support for Taryn and me, considering everything that’s happened in the last six months. Now that everyone knows the truth—and we have Ryleigh to thank for that because she did an expose on Karnal Death, delving into the band’s reputation and escalating bad behavior, and then interviewing Taryn to get her perspective. It just came out two weeks ago and I think it’s been cathartic for Taryn, even if there are always haters who say she’s lying.

“You ready?” Angus asks me as I put on the pale pink—Taryn said it’s called white blush—tie that goes with my all-black suit and dress shirt. Hettie did a great job in my opinion because I look pretty chic, if I do say so myself.

“So ready.”

“I have another wedding present for you guys,” Angus says quietly.

“Oh?”

“My attorney did some digging for us, and it looks like Callum pleaded to a lesser charge, so there isn’t going to be a trial. Between the aggravated assault charge and the drug charges, he’s going to do time. It’s not as much as we would have liked—just eighteen months—but Taryn won’t have to testify, and you guys can put this behind you.”

“You’re a good friend.”

He grins. “I try.”

“All right. Let’s get this party started.”

We walk into the great room that’s been completely redecorated for a wedding, with a small pedestal set up by the fireplace where we’ll say the vows we wrote, and chairs set up facing the pedestal. There are balloons, flowers, and candles decorating the room, and everything looks amazing.

I just hope this is at least some semblance of the wedding Taryn wanted.

My proposal wasn’t all that romantic, but our friends helped make our wedding special without putting us in debt. I hope I can repay them someday, even if it’s not monetarily.

The music starts and I turn, my breath practically leaving me when I catch sight of Taryn.

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