Page 221 of A Curse On Black Lake
“What?” he asks, grabbing my hips.
I lean back and look him in the eye, guiding his hand over my stomach.
“You’re going to be a father, too,” I whisper.
His eyes widen, and his jaw drops. He looks down at my stomach and back at me. “Really?” he asks, voice full of awe.
Our foreheads press together, tears building in our eyes.
“Oh, darlin’. I’m going to be a dad?” he yells and picks me up, spinning me around.
“Thank you, my love. Thank you,” he says gently, placing me on the floor, resting his hand on my stomach. “Thank you,” he whispers.
“I love you.”
Killian drops to his knees and presses his face into my dress. “I love you both so much.” He kisses my stomach and gets to his feet. “Let’s go get married because now I really can’t wait.”
I laugh, and he grabs his blazer and dress shirt, with a new pair of cowboy boots, and hat before running down the stairs.
I can’t wait to marry him either.
Our wedding was simple. No frills, just me and Killian. That’s all either of us wanted. It was a bittersweet moment because I wish my Grams were here, and I know Killian wished his parents were too. It’s a hard thing to be so overwhelmingly happy even when you carry so much grief in your heart. I’ve learned that there is room enough for both. And we know without a doubt that our families would want us to be happy, which helps.
When you’re a rancher, there are no days off or honeymoons, especially when you don’t have ranch hands. The day after we got married, we got up and got our chores done, and checked on the animals.
“I’d like to go visit my parents. Do you want to come with me, Mrs. Greer-Lennox?” Killian asks.
“Yeah, that sounds good. It’s been a while. I want to talk to Grams for a bit.”
When we finish up, we head for the graveyard.
It’s only mid-afternoon, and the sun is shining high in the sky. It was a hot one today, and both of us are stinking up the truck. Killian parks near my gram’s grave and leaves me to it, walking up to his parents.
I brush a few leaves and sticks off her cement coffin and sit down next to her, and stare at my wedding ring.
Even the graveyard doesn’t feel as dark as it once did. I can still sense the other things around, but it doesn’t have a vengeful air to it … for now.
The curse may have gone, but there are still things happening in Black Lake.
“Yes, I know. I can only hope they have nothing to do with me.”
Time will tell, as it is already written.
I don’t respond to the Spirits and lean my head against the cement.
“I miss you, Grams. I wish you were here to see me get married, but I’m sure you saw it anyway. I was afraid to come because I failed you. Our home, our gardens, burnt to a crisp. I’m sorry. I wish it was different, but I have a plan to build it back. It’s going to take some time, though. I hope you understand.” I pause and wipe a tear away.
“You would love him. He’s everything you hoped for me to have, and more.” I smile to myself, thinking about what Grams told me so many years ago. “I know you were never concerned about my route to finding love. For a while, I didn’t believe you. He’s the one who helped me bloom, who loves me without hesitation. He wants five kids, and I laughed at him, but … why not? Number one is already baking. We never had a big family, and I know there’s always the possibility of loss, like you went through, but things are different now. I want to be in a house so full it’s bursting at the seams with love and laughter and chaos all around us.”
I rub Grams’s pendant in my fingers. “I know you’re happy and thriving in Heaven’s gardens, but I wish you could be here to see these milestones. To see that you were right, you held onto hope for me when I couldn’t do it myself. You showed me that no matter how hard it gets, how much you lose, there is always hope. I know I’ve been messy these past few months with everything that’s happened, but it’s over now, and I’m going to make you proud. I’m going to be the woman you raised me to be. I love you. I’ll come visit again soon.”
I kiss the cement and start up the hill to Killian.
Killian
Coming up on both of my parents’ graves, set side by side, with matching Bible verses inscribed in the granite, I take my hat off and kneel in front of them. “Mama, I’m a husband now, and you’d love my wife.” I chuckle to myself.
“I love calling her my wife. She’s everything you wanted for me. And I’m going to be a father. We want to fill the house with kids. I know that’s what you and Dad had dreamed for me. Well, it’s coming true.”
