Page 136 of Forever

I was glad we’d decided to do our rehearsal dinner tonight and our wedding tomorrow. It felt like we were fixing a wrong from out past. I didn’t regret what I’d done in my time apart from Matt. But I wanted to fix this wrong for him. I wanted to erase the last words he spoke to me back then. I wanted to erase all the hurt. I wanted to move forward.All four of us.I couldn’t stop smiling.

And Rob hadn’t even texted me once about the silly prank he said he was going to pull. So hopefully that meant he was ready to move forward too. There was no way I still owed him a favor from back when we were teenagers. There were time limits to that kind of thing. And this favor was expired.

I quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth. Matt had a cup of tea waiting for me downstairs on the kitchen counter. Jacob was sitting on the counter next to the cup.

“Mommy, Mommy!” he said. “We get to go to Abuelo’s castle!”

“Yes we do.” I tickled his side. I was very curious about Tanner’s apartment. He must have had very medieval decorations or something.

“We can still play football today, right?” he asked and looked up at me.

It was a family tradition. And I wanted to keep those traditions alive. But this Thanksgiving was a little different from most. “Tanner doesn’t have a yard to play in,” I said.

“Yes he does.”

I shook my head. “He lives in an apartment.”

“No, he lives in a castle.”

I smiled. “Okay, but…”

“We are going to play,” Matt said. “It’s tradition, after all. And we’re not leaving for a few hours. We’ll play right now.” He smiled over at me.

I’d told him about our tradition of playing football all morning, eating way too much turkey, and watching the football games.

“Just you and me though, kiddo. Your mommy needs to drink her tea.”

I laughed. “Oh, I’m playing too.” I took a quick sip of my tea and helped Jacob off the counter. “Race you to the back yard!”

Jacob started running, but Matt stopped me, pulling me into his arms.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” he asked.

I shook my head. “And miss out on one of my favorite traditions? Never.”

“You sure?”

“I promise that I’m fine.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. “Now you better bring you’re A-game. Because we take our Thanksgiving football very seriously.”

“Oh, game on.”

I patted his chest and spun around, making sure to sway my hips.

He groaned behind me.

I laughed and sprinted the rest of the way to the door.

***

“You look beautiful,” Matt said when I walked into the living room. He stood up from the couch. He was wearing a fitted black suit. We were dressed way too fancy for Thanksgiving dinner. But we’d agreed to go all out for the rehearsal dinner. And Matt looked so yummy.

“You said the same thing a few hours ago when I had leaves in my hair,” I said.

“Well you were beautiful then too. But this dress.” His eyes scanned down my body in that way that heated my skin.

Justin had convinced me to buy a white dress for tonight too. This one was short and made of a satiny material that made me feel all fancy. It flared out at my hips and when Matt grabbed my hand and twirled me around, the skirt lifted and fluttered.

I stopped when I saw all the books on the couch. “What are all of these?” I let go of his hand and lifted one of the books up that already had a bookmark.

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