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Our friends and family cheer, all knowing we have been through hell and back to get here, but we can finally have the life we deserve. Heath kisses me again, and I block them all out so I can remember this moment with him and how truly happy I feel.
"You guys are embarrassing," Connor tells us, heading toward Summer for some cake.
We laugh, knowing as much as he says it, he loves us together. He and Heath have their own little language and have been spending a lot of time together while Heath teaches him to play guitar. Heath is the best dad my kids could have asked for, very supportive and caring, and he has stepped in to help in whatever way he can at home so I can help Summer in the expansion of my business.
My sisters are the first to congratulate us, all so happy for our new life together, followed by Heath's mom and sister. Part of me still struggles with Mom being so far away now that she's living in Australia again. She should be here tonight, but I know how happy she is there, so I have to let it go. She deserves happiness now more than ever. And as for my father, we haven't heard a thing from him, and I don't think we will. He's disappeared off the face of the planet. Even the Riveras haven't heard from him. That they tell me, anyway.
"Congratulations, you two. I knew I saved your asses for a reason." Kobe laughs, kissing my cheek, then giving Heath's back a hard whack.
"I think I saved both your asses." I laugh, knowing I would have been fucked if it wasn't for the two of them that day. Leo and Kobe are here tonight as well. Our lives have become very entangled after what happened with Julian. Kobe and Heath have been hanging out a lot. I think with Brandon away in New York and all Heath's friends back in LA, they have found a new friendship together. Kobe is teaching him how to train in his MMA gym. He's there at least four times a week, if not more. I think it's helped him deal with all the stress he had after the craziness. And I'm so glad he's found an outlet.
Leo shakes Heath's hand and comes to stand with me. "Congratulations," he says with a nod, like he approves. Leo and I have some weird understanding that even I don't totally get, but it works. He doesn't seem to like many people around him, but he has respect for me or something.
We wander a little farther away from the party while Kobe and Heath are left talking shit about some MMA fight coming up involving Jett. "Have you ever thought that if I were born a boy, your life would have been very different?" I ask him. It's just one of the thoughts that have been playing on my mind since we found out everything. Unlike Heath, I'm still processing it all. I have thrown myself into work even more than normal, but I have so many unanswered questions that still plague me.
His dark glare flashes with something that shows me he's not as dead inside as everyone else around here would have me believe. "So would have yours," he says pointedly.
"Exactly," I agree. The first time I met Leo he scared the shit out of me, but he doesn't anymore. I mean, I know one wrong move with this crazy motherfucker and you're dead. Everyone knows that, but I feel like I understand him now. I could have been him. I probably should have been.
"Amelia, I don't waste time with what-ifs. This is the life we have been handed, our choice or not. I take from it what I need and discard the rest. There was a time when I could have wished for something else, a lighter existence, where I could have found what you have, a family to love. But that part of me died a long time ago, and now the only hope I have for the future is getting revenge on the people who took that life from me."
I'm sad for him, that he thinks he doesn't deserve more or that he won't even let himself try. Deep down I know there is more to this man, and something in my gut tells me his happily ever after isn't all that far away. Even if it doesn't look anything like mine.
The End
