Page 113 of Xander
“To the man that captures my daughter’s heart, she’s hell on wheels, you're welcome.” Soft laughter sounded at that.
“She might be hell on wheels, but with that comes the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched her when she moved to help older couples. I’ve watched as she smiled at mentally disabled kids her age and helped them with a smile on her face. I’ve watched that big heart of hers welcome everyone. But I’ve never watched her love someone.”
I looked down at my woman, who was sniffing, and tightened my hold on her.
“And I know that if you’re lucky enough to be standing beside her right now, that you feel it. That you feel that big heart of hers welcoming in every single jaded part of you and doing its best to help keep those parts safe and treasured. Because those jaded parts of you, those are the parts you might not like, but to her, they make up you.”
I swallowed as I buried my face into the top of her head, taking in his words, and knowing that they rang true.
Every single noun, consonant, and syllable.
“I might not be there to kick your ass if you fuck up, but Merlin is there. And I know that he will. To my daughter, when he fucks up, and he will, because he’s a man, give him the silent treatment for forty-eight hours. Brings me to my knees every single time your mother does it.”
“I love you, Nola girl. I know with the man you chose, you're going to shine so bright that even the stars in the night sky will wince.”
At those words, I inhaled a sharp breath.
I had thought the same thing.
Never before had I believed in fate.
But hearing his words, written before I ever met her, over a decade ago... were the same words I had vowed to Nola.
Fuck. Me.
I was now a believer in fate.
That things happen for a reason.
And maybe... just maybe the reason I was slated to be my mother’s son, to have gone through what I had, so I could be the perfect man forher.
For my baby.
My heart.
My wife.
My life.
‘Never miss an opportunity to tell someone how much they mean to you.’
– Nola’s Life Lesson.
Chapter 20
Nola
After my Uncle Merlin read what my father had written, I smiled as I leaned even more into Xander’s side.
He didn’t hesitate to tighten his hold on me as he held me even closer.
Then he whispered, “Never believed in fate before. Now I do.”
I looked up at him and asked, “What do you mean?”
He turned me so my body was facing his, then he stared into my eyes as he said, “That night, when I realized I was being a fucking idiot, I had made a silent vow to you. That together, we could make the stars wince from the shine we were about to create.”
At his words, I felt my breath catch, then I asked, “Really?”
