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“Yes,” she whispers again, this time interrupting me, and I feel a hitch in my breath when I realize what she just said.
“What?” I don’t know why I question her. But my eyes go wide and a smile spreads across my face as she allows me to slide the ring onto her finger.
“I said yes!” she shouts a little louder this time as she wraps her hands around my neck and leans up to kiss me.
The whole room explodes into cheers as they all stand up and applaud.
But even still, the only person I see is her.
Thirteen
Sterling
“Did you know?” Dakota asks me as we line up at the dessert table.
“Of course I knew. And if anyone was going to get engaged on my wedding day, I’m honored it was my best friend.” I grab her arm and bring her in for a hug.
“I can’t believe it.” She’s still in shock. She keeps looking down at her ring which is exactly how I was when I got engaged. And now look where we are.
“I love him, Dakota. He’s a great man and he’s fucking fantastic with those kids.” We both look over to where he sits at the table with the others.
“I know,” she boasts and we just giggle before picking up one of each dessert option to bring to the table.
The DJ dims the lights and signals for the disco lights to display across the dance floor and as soon as we drop the desserts on the table, the DJ starts playing Yeah by Usher.
“Oh my god, this is my jam!” Dakota shouts as she reaches for my hand.
“Mine too!” Hollis jumps up from the table.
“I am not too fond of this song, actually,” Jaxon says. I then catch Hollis give him a devilish grin and I sense there is an inside story behind this song. But that doesn’t stop him from getting up at her plea to join her.
I look over and see my mom and brother sitting at table in the corner. I smile over at Callan who is still seated.
“You all go ahead, I’ll join you in a few,” I tell everyone.
“And I’ll watch the kiddos,” Cal offers.
“Call us if you need us,” Dakota says before the four of them head over to the dance floor.
“I never said thank you,” I walk over to the side where Callan sits and lean down to kiss him.
“You never need to say thank you, Little Rose.” He smiles at me, and I feel it in my tummy. The love I have for this man runs deep to my core.
I take a deep breath and head toward the direction of my mom and brother.
“Hey,” I say as I sit down across from them. “I wanted to say thank you for coming. I know it has to be a little weird and all but, I never expected to have you two here. And I wouldn’t have blamed you if you chose not to come.” I recognized months ago that the damage to our relationship was not just all on them. I had parts to play as well.
And after talking to Callan about it at the restaurant all that time ago, I knew that he was right. I reacted one way to protect myself but my reaction was most likely triggering for my mom. And my brother was simply looking out for her.
“Sterling, I’m sorry for-” I stop her short from finishing what she was going to say.
“No. Please. Not today. I don’t want to bring up anything that could upset anyone. I know we need to talk. But right now, I’m just so happy you’re here no matter what the outcome of our relationship is to be. And right now, today, I just want to hold on to that. If that’s okay.” I look between her and Graham. I can tell Graham is a bit more apprehensive and rightfully so. I’m sure it was hard for them to be here only because our relationship has been strained for so long. He might never forgive me no matter how hard I’m willing to try. Which honestly, wasn’t ever on my mind until they showed up by myside today.
“I actually made a promise to facetime Mira and the girls, so…” Graham stands up and kisses our mom on the cheek. “The wedding was beautiful, Sterling,” he tells me before turning around and walking away.
“He has daughters?” I whisper to my mom, feeling a slight pang in my chest.
“Two. Adopted. But they're his world. This is the longest his been away from the three of them,” my mom tells me and I realize just how much we’ve both missed out on each other’s lives.
