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Two years later…
“I’m so freaking excited I’m shaking. Look!” Everleigh shows me her hand which is trembling a little. “And I’m not even the one in the show. How are you keeping it together?”
Oh, I’m definitely not keeping it together. I feel like I could throw up at any moment. There’s been lots of hype behindEnemy Mineand the reviews so far have been mostly favorable, but tonight we’ll get a real taste if the show succeeds. It’s all in the hands of the viewers now.
“I’m giving the performance of a lifetime. I’m acting like I’m not a hot mess inside,” I say as I pick up the bottle of wine I just opened and pour myself a generous glass.
Everleigh’s eyes fill with longing. “Oooh, can I smell it? I miss wine so much.”
I laugh and slide the glass over. She dips down and takes a huge sniff. An elated sigh escapes her as she rubs a hand over her rounded belly. “Oh, that smells wonderful. I don’t know which I miss more coffee or wine.”
“It won’t be long now. Only three more months.”
She cradles her belly as she nods. The smile on her lips is part eager, part anxious. Since Everleigh lost a baby with her ex-husband, she’s been super worried about this pregnancy. They had a heavy spotting scare early on, but thankfully things have been status quo ever since. “I’m definitely ready to meet this little girl.”
Me too. I’ve already declared myself an aunt and have bought way too many baby outfits that I’m dying to give Everleigh. We might not be related, but we’ve become sisters at heart. Gage and Everleigh got married only a few months after their engagement then another three months later, they told us they were pregnant. Apparently, it was a very successful honeymoon. Jackson and I were shocked, but they were overjoyed. They’d already decided they wanted to start a family but hadn’t expected for it to happen so soon.
The microwave dings and Everleigh goes to grab the bag of popcorn and pours it into a bowl. Gage comes over with a fancy looking drink in a highball glass. “Here, babe. Your pomegranate smash.”
She takes a sip. “Yummy. Thanks for being my mocktail maker.”
“Always,” he says as he places a quick kiss on her lips. “How are you holding up? You’re up way past your bedtime.”
It was past my bedtime too. It’s almost midnight. We wanted to catch the premiere as soon as it released before the internet started slinging its opinion.
“I’m surprisingly good. I think all the excitement has kept me going.”
“T-minus two minutes!” Jackson calls from the living room.
We all grab the snacks and drinks and head into the living room. Jackson is standing with the remote in his hand, intently looking at the TV, as if he’s afraid something is going to go wrong.
“Jackson, it’ll show up at midnight.”
He blinks out of his stare and looks at me. “I know.” I swear a blush seeps into his cheeks.
We set up our snack bar on the coffee table. Everleigh grabs several pillows to put behind her back as she settles into the corner of the sectional. Gage sits and pulls her legs over his lap, one of his hands coming to rest on her belly.
I hand Jackson his glass of wine as we snuggle next to each other on the other side of the sofa. He takes his hand in mine and gives it a little squeeze. I look down at our intertwined hands, and though it’s been a month already, the sight of the platinum band around his ring finger still makes my heart take flight. This man is all mine. And I’m all his.
From the moment I moved to Austin, we were planning our future. We talked about how we weren’t in a rush to have kids and if we didn’t, we’d be okay with that. And if we did decide to have kids, adopting is something we’d really like to do. Jackson really loves the idea of giving a child a home who doesn’t have one. Marriage was always a given even if we never discussed when we actually wanted to do it. Then one morning we were sitting in bed, sipping coffee and scrolling on our phones while we talked about the premier ofEnemy Minefollowed shortly behind the movie Kyle wrote. It hit how much we were about to be under the spotlight again and I knew if we wanted a wedding without all the hoop-la, we needed to get married now.
“Let’s get married this weekend,” I blurted out, my heart jumping to my throat as soon as the words left my mouth.
“Okay,” he said, not even looking up from his phone.
“Okay?”
He looked up then, an amused smile on his lips as he tossed his phone aside. He leaned in close, rubbing a thumb along my cheek. “Wildcat, I told you I would always go all the way with you. I love you and I’d be honored to be your husband. The sooner the better.”
I kissed the hell out of him then we went at it like bunnies. Afterward, he pulled a ring box out of his nightstand. He’d had it for months. We invited my parents and a few close friends to our house then surprised them with a backyard wedding. We haven’t even released a statement, it’ll become known soon enough.
The screen on the television blips andEnemy Mineis available to stream. My stomach clenches and it’s suddenly hard to breathe.
“Hey,” Jackson says as he brings my hand to his lips, giving it a quick kiss. “Are you okay?”
“Nervous. Really really nervous. What if everyone hates it?”
“Fuck them.”
