Page 75 of Beneath the Midnight Sky
“Do you really believe any of your new friends and family would act that way about it if she didn’t come?” Harper shot back.
I thought back over the guest list of all the incredible humans Ro and I were inviting into our space and shook my head no, confident in that decision.
“I want you to do whatever you’re comfortable with, and you don’t even have to decide now. You have time before you’re even sending out invitations, right?” she asked, and I nodded again. “Exactly. So while we ponder, I want you to journal about this and really dig into what you’re scared of, Aspen. I think you may surprise yourself with what you find.”
I smiled sadly. “I hear ya, Doc. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good, then I’ll see you in a few days.” She stood up and gave me a gentle but quick hug before I walked out of the office.
The drive home was quick, and I walked in to find Rowan leaning against the counter, a smile on his face. It was only midday, so I was surprised to find him home right now.
“How’d it go?” he asked as he held his arms out for me. I walked over and leaned against his chest, inhaling his scent and closing my eyes for a moment. We’d been through so much over the last two months together. Growth, change, and he’d been so steadfast through the entirety of it.
“It was good, I guess. We talked about my mother again. Harper asked if I was going to invite her to the wedding, and apparently, she wants me to journal about it, try to figure out what about it is truly bothering me.” I shrugged, trying to accomplish an air of nonchalance, which just made him chuckle. He pulled me into a tight hug, burying his face in my hair.
“Well, I think that could be a good idea. Tell ya what, you journal, and I’ll reward you per page you get done,” he whispered against the bare skin of my neck.
I pulled my head back and looked up at him, brows arched. “What is my reward?”
“An orgasm per page, little angel,” he said with a smirk.
I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “Deal.”
He smacked my butt and gave me a quick kiss. “It’s on. I’ve got to get back to work. I just saw you were on your way back and wanted to see your beautiful face. But I’ll be back before dinner so we can get ready together.” I nodded and let him head back out. We were having dinner tonight with his family to celebrate the engagement. Apparently, they’d all been in on it and helped Rowan set the entire thing up, so they’d had this dinner planned for over a month.
Over the last few months, I’d become insanely close with his mom and Payton, and his brothers and I even have some inside jokes and banter. Most nights we spent all together. Bonfires, drinks at The Raven, dancing, or just dinner at Abby’s house. Hudson, his nephew, was probably one of my favorites, though. He was really into comic books right now, so we talked about art for hours sometimes.
I walked upstairs to our bedroom and picked out my clothes for dinner tonight, then changed into my painting clothes.
With Rowan gone, I figured I’d be able to get a few hours of painting done. Walking down into my studio, I pulled out a blank canvas to get started on a new piece. I set my phone to the side and started sketching the work I’d done on the ride up the mountain onto the canvas. I’d been having a bit of luck selling a few paintings at different local craft fairs recently, and I’d had a couple of people start requesting commissions.
It started after I’d done a piece for Ember, and then people were eager to find the artist. I didn’t think it was what I wanted to do long term, but it was something until school started in the springtime.
After a great deal of time talking with Rowan and Harper, I decided I wanted to get my teaching degree and work with kids as an art teacher. Maybe not fully helping with trauma—I was still trying to deal with mine—but maybe I could make a difference for someone, open their eyes to how art could heal and help you through anything in life, big or small.
So when spring classes started, I was fully enrolled in the local college to get started. It had been a long time since I’d been this excited about something, maybe I never had. But life was going well, and I wasn’t afraid anymore to be hopeful. I wasn’t constantly forcing myself to focus on tomorrow being better, because today was already really damn good.
We wereall sitting around the massive table in Abby’s dining room, a glass of wine in everyone’s hand. Each taking turns doing toasts, and basically just shit talking Rowan the entire time. All of Rowan’s siblings, Abby, and Ivy had been invited too.
I set my free hand atop Rowan’s, which was currently squeezing my leg beneath the table, his thumb rubbing small circles along my inner thigh.
“Once upon a time,” Abby started, her eyes already tearing up. “My little boy looked at me—although truly he wasn’t little, he was almost sixteen and towering over me. But he looked at me and told me that I would be the only woman for him for his entire life. I remember thinking what a crazy thing for a teenage boy to say, and when I voiced as much, he said it was because I’d always need his protection and love more than any other woman out there.” She wiped her face before her eyes met mine, a knowing look behind them. “I’m so happy he found a woman who needed love just as much as I did, and I’m happy I could keep plenty of space for you here with me, Aspen. To the happy couple!” she said as she lifted her wine glass into the air with the rest of the table. I let out a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay before they rushed down my face and ruined the makeup Ivy had meticulously crafted mere hours ago.
Payton reached over from next to me and kissed my cheek. I’d noticed she got extra lovey when she was tipsy—which made me happy because so was I. Oliver, clearing his throat and standing from his chair, had everyone quieting down. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or respect that had us quieting down so quickly.
He lifted his glass into the air and looked over at Rowan and me. “This won’t be long, so no one has to start preaching that the pigs’ll be flying tomorrow because I had a whole ass speech.” Ivy and I started giggling, but everyone else looked around sort of wide-eyed. “Watching you two fall in love has given me…hope. Thank you for letting me be a part of this,” Oliver continued, and after a brief raise of his glass, he sat back down.
“Does this mean I can start searching again?!” Payton hollered. I swear if hearts could appear in her eyes like the old cartoons, they would right now.
“Oh, I want to help!!” Ivy said from the other side of Payton. Oliver just glared at the both of them, and Hudson chuckled beneath his breath.
“Okay, let’s leave my big bro alone, y’all. I’m next,” Theo said as he stood from the table. “Thanks to Aspen, I now know there are indeed women out there to match all of our crazies, and I couldn’t be more excited about it! Everyone pray to the gods above that when I find her again, she’s as tolerant of my insanity as Aspen is of yours, Rowan!” Theo laughed and sat back down.
“What in the world are you talking about, Theodore?” Abby questioned.
Theo looked over at her, eyes wide like he’d just been caught red-handed with his hand deep in the figurative cookie jar. “Nothing, Mama. I just want a love as thorough and deep as Ro and Aspen,” Theo said with a shrug as he sat back in his chair and attempted a sheepish look.
The tips of his ears were turning a bright red, and Rowan reached across the table and smacked him. “Shut the fuck up, Theo. I hope she has your ass arrested,” he muttered.
