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They touched rims again and sipped.
Kate beamed. For all her worries over what may or may not transpire with Sophie, she could at least take solace in knowing this incredibly momentous life-occasion could be pulled off without a hitch.
Except that Nikki wouldn’t be there by her side. Or Charlotte.
And Jude wasn’t exactly getting the traditions he was trying to set as precedence in his own life.
This gave her pause.
But he was already on his laptop, using the flight’s wifi, pulling all the pieces together. The way he so expertly did.
And Kate had to admit, this was the proper path for them at this very moment.
If Jude felt compelled down the road to fulfill conventional ideals… Kate would say hell, yes to every single one of them.
In fact… Perhaps when all was resolved in Mexico City—for better or for worse—she’d enlist Nikki and Charlotte’s help in planning a surprise wedding and reception that might sweep Jude off his feet.
The man certainly deserved it.
And Kate found it was precisely the favor she wanted to return to him.
She’d say life couldn’t possibly get any better. But then she r
ationalized that she had her family to contend with today. And there were absolutely no guarantees that the Mexican government would grant her and Jude custody or an official adoption of Sophia-Maria Santos.
Kate accepted a fresh mimosa from the first-class flight attendant and sipped, willing her pulse to slow a bit and telling herself that she literally had to take this all one minute at a time. So that none of the balls in the air she suddenly juggled would drop. So nothing would come crashing down around hers and Jude’s ears…
29
OMG—who are you?
Kate laughed. The text came from Nikki—following the photo Kate texted her of the gorgeous six-carat, pear-shaped diamond ring Jude had slipped on her finger just minutes ago.
She’d selected a stylish titanium band for him that she would eventually have inscribed, but for today’s purposes, she’d simply told him—with the deepest sincerity and love, “I am forever yours.”
As she’d slid his ring on, she’d also added, “There’s no accounting for how I got this lucky, Jude. I am literally the happiest woman in the world. I want to tell everyone how amazing this feels…being your new wife.”
“Soon. We’ll tell them all soon, Kate,” he’d said before kissing her so deeply, so passionately, she was certain she’d heard the lovely female officiant sigh.
Jude had further avowed, “We will overcome any obstacle, Kate McMillan. Together.”
Hearing her new name, which felt like her truest identity, brought tears to her eyes. Kate was a strong, independent woman who’d only ever envisioned helping others to heal, not being labeled as a wife, a mother, a certain so-and-so’s significant other, etc.
Yet it occurred to her as she and Jude scrawled their names on the dotted lines that Kate had been destined for more than she’d ever realized. It’d taken Jude’s persistence, his love, his guidance, his empathy and patience—perhaps even his pain—to lead her to this stunning revelation.
She belonged to an even higher purpose. To a continued pursuit of helping others, of course. One-hundred percent. But she was more than just a psychiatrist. She was a woman in love, a best friend and…God- and legal affairs-willing, the guardian of someone who had lost so much.
Granted, if there was some way to be the daughter her parents had always wished her to be, that’d be astounding, too. Yet her mother and father had never really wished for a daughter, Kate knew. Raising sons who followed in their father’s footsteps was their thing.
Kate could accept that. And they had to accept that she was going to continue to be her own person.
Yes, they’d be eternally distraught she’d gotten married without telling them. But she had to admit, there was something so delicious and revitalizing about committing herself to Jude and having no one else know it aside from Nikki. A woman who was more like a sister and who would understand and support—not to mention be absolutely ecstatic over—Kate’s impromptu decision.
Charlotte would be over-the-moon, too, no doubt. Unlike everyone else, she would grasp why Kate had married on the sly. Why, when the whim and desire had struck her, she’d appealed to Jude and had let him know she was full-on ready to be everything to him.
Sometimes that was how things came about in life.
Like with Sophie. From tragedy, hope sprung eternal. Kate’s sudden yearning to step in as a parental presence was completely shocking to her—as much as it would be to anyone else. However… That was how the universe worked on occasion.
