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Jamey climbed his way up to the high-top seat, setting up his teddy bear on the counter so it was sitting facing us. “Daddy, I was thinking. A lot. Now that you and Sophie are engaged, like for real this time, I want to know when the wedding is.”
“What?” I laughed, leaning onto the counter to get closer to him. “What do you mean, bud?”
“You haven’t told me and I don’t know why.”
“That’s ‘cause we haven’t decided yet, squirt,” Sophie yawned. She pulled a bowl from the cupboard, sorting out Jamey’s breakfast cereal before I’d even had the chance. It made the warmth in my chest swell and spread to see her mothering him like that already. “You’ll be the first to know. Promise.”
“I don’t get it,” Jamey pouted, turning his little bear toward himself. “Do you get it, Mr. Ted?” He nodded as if he were listening intently to nonexistent words coming from a stuffed animal. “Mr. Ted says he thought that the government decided when the wedding would be.”
Laughter peeled from my chest at the same time as Sophie, the absolute ridiculousness of a four-year-old’s logic too much to handle. “No,” I chuckled, reaching over the counter to ruffle his messy mop of dark hair. I almost wished he looked a little like Sophie. “That’s not how it works. Sophie and I will pick a date, and then you’ll know. You can even be in the wedding if you want, bud. Ring bearer, maybe?”
“Oh, I love that idea,” Sophie cooed, plopping Jamey’s bowl of cereal in front of him before sliding one over to me as well. “Maybe we can do it next summer? That’ll give me time to fit into the dress of my dreams since the baby will be, like, four or five months old. Ooohhh, I could even make my own dress!”
“That sounds perfect, angel.” Sophie’s cheeks heated as I leaned toward her and pecked her on the cheek.
“Yeah! Ring bearer and summer wedding,” Jamey chirped, his mouth full of cereal and milk, little droplets leaking out the sides of his lips. “Daddy, what’s a ring bearer?”
“Only the most important job of the entire wedding.” I made my eyes widen, trying to look as serious as possible. “You’d be bringing me and Sophie our rings. They’re what makes the whole thing possible.”
Jamey looked up at me in shock, his spoon falling into his cereal bowl. “I get to do that?”
“You sure do, bud.”
“A summer wedding, a new mommy, and I get to do the best job ever?” His feet kicked against the marble breakfast island, his hands gripping the edge in excitement. “This is amazing.”
Just the idea that Jamey was genuinely thrilled to have Sophie stepping in as a parent was enough to make my eyes burn with tears. It was something I’d wanted to give him for far too long, something he deserved, but something I hadn’t given myself enough grace to find until now. The three of us—soon to be four—would be an actual family. My unit would be whole once again, and I had the most amazing woman I’d ever met by my side to bring that to fruition.
Heaven knows she’d already made my heart whole again, too.
Chapter 40
Sophie
One Year Later
“Mom. Mom, calm down, you’re going to ruin your makeup,” I groaned, hastily grabbing some tissues and wadding them up beneath her eyes. “Alice spent so much time doing it for you. Don’t make her regret it.”
“I know,” she said through choked sobs, her lower lip quivering. “I wasn’t expecting to be this emotional.”
“It’s just a dress.” I chuckled as I wiped away the little beads of black tears where they gathered in her ducts. “Save your tears for when I actually walk down the aisle, okay?”
“Come on, Leslie, pull yourself together,” Lisa quipped as she gently slapped my mom on the back. “Time to put your strong pants on and face what’s about to happen head-on, momma.”
“I know, I know,” Mom sighed, taking a deep breath and fanning her eyes. “I’m good. I’m alright. Does Jamey have the rings? Lisa, did you check?”
“Of course. As long as he hasn’t lost them, we’re good.”
“Who has Madeline? Sophia, where’s your daughter?”
“Oh my god, Mom, calm down. Hudson’s mom is watching both of them for the next…” I checked the time on my phone, my hands going clammy as I realized there were only five minutes until we were supposed to begin, “…five minutes. Oh, fuck, it’s only five minutes. I can do this.”
I double-checked my hair and makeup in the vanity, fixing any little imperfection I could find before stepping in front of the full-length mirror to get one last look at myself. The dress I’d made fit me perfectly—the deep V of the front sat flush against my skin, the lace sleeves hung loose and cinched in at my wrists. Lace over white chiffon hugged my waist before flowing out, the long slit up my front left thigh giving a little peek of a garter belt Hudson had insisted on. I don’t want to tear it off with my teeth in front of everyone. I want to do it alone with you in our suite afterward.
I’d settled on having my long, wavy hair down in curls. I always felt more comfortable with it down, and Hudson liked it better that way too.
“You look beautiful.” Lisa stepped up behind me, one hand on my shoulder as she looked at my reflection. “But it’s time to go.”
I nodded more to myself than to her. “How’s Hudson? Have you seen him?”
