Page 68 of Ever's Last
“Shall we go?” He asks.
“Dad?”
“Yes, baby,” he takes my arm and we walk downstairs.
“Thank you for everything. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I gasp when we turn the corner and I can see outside. The yard is lit up with twinkling lights and candles. There is a pergola with lilies and lights. It’s breathtaking.
“Ready?”
I nod.
We walk out the door and I see Memphis watching us walk towards him. I can feel it in my bones that he’s the one for me, always has been.
My dad hands me off and Memphis takes my hands. He mouths that I look pretty and I can feel my cheeks heat with a blush.
“Dearly beloved…” I drown out the words of the preacher and take in the love of my life.
He will always be my first and will be my last. He’s it and I’ve never been happier.
Epilogue
Memphis
“One more time, Grandpa.”
“Sure, Champ, one more time.” I watch my grandson run off through the carnival to ride the Ferris wheel again. His fifth time. I can’t say no as I follow.
The town has a tradition that every Friday night is family night. It’s grown over the years, but it’s still all about family. People bring their favorite dishes, grills start going, and the town has raised money to buy a few rides. Linc’s son brings his horses for rides. Others bring wagons for hayrides. I stare out at everything, the families interacting, people laughing and smiling. I feel happy.
Our family has grown. Soon after my fight with Brick, I knocked Ever up. She wasn’t too thrilled even though she wanted children.. She hated the way I told everyone. I thought I was being funny by blurting out she was knocked up at family dinner, she didn’t like the joke. Shane was over the moon. It was a horrible pregnancy, many hospital visits. But it was worth it when, nine months later, Wren was born. And she looked just like her mother. Ever will say differently, but Wren is the spitting image of her before the accident. Ever was beautiful before and after, and she passed that on to Wren.
A year later, Lark was born. Yeah, she was obsessed with bird names for some reason but whatever made her happy. I’m always okay with her happiness. And a year after Lark, she finally gave me a boy we named Hawk. I named him and she gave in to me, but I stuck with her theme.
She filmed her show up until Hawk started school. She and Anne still cook together almost every weekend. Ever is always big on the family being together, so we always made sure to eat as a family, even during school when the kids had games or recitals.
Our children grew up to be awesome human beings, no thanks to me. That was all her. Wren is a lawyer. She took over Natalie’s business, representing athletes. And despite my warning, she fell for a fighter. Can’t complain, though, he’s an okay guy. He’s alright in the ring as well. All I care about is that he treats her right. And he does.
Lark is an Emergency Room nurse at a hospital in Atlanta. The big joke in the family is that Wren ensures Lark still has a job by sending her victims.
And Hawk is a teacher. I wanted him to follow my footsteps, but he found he liked teaching and coaching football. We always told our kids to follow their hearts, and as long as they were happy, we were happy.
“Did you and Auntie Skye really hurt grandma?” River, my granddaughter, climbs into my lap.
“We did. But we made up for it.”
“Why did you hurt her?”
“It was an accident. Auntie Skye was driving and I grabbed the wheel.”
“You were mean,” River huffs.
“I was. But we both have made up for it. One thing about your grandma is she loves everyone with a huge heart. She forgave us.”
“So, all that was true? All of that story.”
