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“Last week Memphis asked if I thought it would be weird if you were in the wedding, onherside. As in a fucking bridesmaid. If that doesn’t make you family, I don’t know what does.” I saw his face drop in horror and laughed. “I told her I thought it was a great idea.”
Knox laughed easily and shook his head. “This already feels more like family than anything we ever had before. It was always just the three of us kids. Now look at us.”
“Wells is getting Jack on a video call, too.” I tried not to run to get back to my soon to be wife. It was hard, though.
The look on Memphis’s face when she saw her little brother walk into her room made everything worth it. Everything. Even back to Don’s bullshit—and his maybe not bullshit. I would’ve moved the whole world to see that look on her face again.
She went back and forth between sobbing and accusing Knox of breaking out of prison. When we explained that he was a free man, she cried even harder.
I handed Maggie to Jake while the siblings got out all of their tears and watched him stare down at her with wide eyes. “We made that.”
He laughed gently and swore when her little fingers grabbed at his. “Oh, shit. I’m not going to cry. I said I wouldn’t and I’m not going to.”
“Just do it. Maybe if I see you doing it, I’ll be able to quit.” I looked around the room filled with my family and couldn’t stop smiling. Memphis had brought so many people together by just existing. She was amazing and I’d never stop telling her.
The door opened and I laughed as I watched Bea and Pete try to sneak in. Looking every bit the secret agent reject, Bea tiptoed over to Memphis and threw up her hands while doing what looked to be a silent scream. Pete caught me looking at him and froze until I motioned him over. Since finding out he had no interest in Memphis, I actually liked the guy. Not that he seemed to know it.
His eyes were on Maggie as he got closer and he covered his mouth as he shook his head. “She’s a mini-Memphis! May God be with you.”
Jake sniffed and shook his head. “Take her. Take her before I lose it.”
I nodded to Pete and watched as he cradled her in his arms with the biggest smile on his face. Boone stood next to me and clapped me on the back. Before he could say anything, I cut him off. “She’s clearly mine.”
The energy never dropped. Our friends and new family were more supportive and happy for us than I’d ever imagined possible. Everyone took their turn holding Maggie, most of them more than once. They also spoiled Memphis with praise, telling her how she’s made such a perfect baby, all by herself.
I finally took my daughter back to her mother and hovered, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. The nurses were slowly running everyone off, telling them that Memphis needed to rest. When just Jake and Knox remained, Wells cheered into his phone and we all held our breath as we watched him hand it off to Memphis.
Seeing her see Jackson for the first time since the night things had crumbled was beautiful. Her eyes lit up and she stumbled over her words telling her little brother how healthy he looked and how proud of him she was. He cut her off, though, and asked about her and Maggie. Memphis laughed through her tears as she tried to tell him how happy she was. Jackson cried plenty of his own tears when he saw Maggie for the first time.
Knox settled next to her on the bed and they took some time talking to their little brother while my brothers, Jake, and I stood on the other side of the room, watching with full hearts. Seeing their love for each other, despite all odds, made me appreciate Memphis even more.
Another hour passed before we finally got Memphis to ourselves. She was exhausted, but she was fighting sleep. Her eyes were heavy and her head would tip to the side every few minutes, but she still clung to us. “I don’t like sleeping alone anymore. Can we go home?”
Boone kissed her gently. “Tomorrow, love. Tomorrow, we’ll take our daughter home and crawl into bed just to get up every couple of hours for the next five years or so.”
Wells looked down at Maggie as he rocked her. “It won’t be so bad. Look at her.”
“Maybe twins. Twins would be faster.” With a big sigh, Memphis finally let her head drop back on her pillows. “Seeing y’all with Maggie gave me Remy’s butterflies.”
I stroked her hair out of her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “Those weren’t my butterflies, sweetheart. I’ve still got mine.”
68.
***Memphis***
Epilogue
5 years later
“Memphis King-Hawke.”
Mine was just one name in a long list of names, but from the reaction my section of the audience gave, you’d think the whole day was about me. I focused on climbing the stairs and tried my best to ignore the obnoxious amount of screaming the men in my life were doing. I didn’t want to be bright red from embarrassment in my pictures.
“That’s my wife!” Boone’s voice was clear above everyone’s and I knew he’d snuck in the wireless microphone that we’d mistakenly bought Maggie for Christmas. We’d been sure that it couldn’t bethatloud. Wrong. Itwasthat loud and then some. “That’s my smoking hot wife!”
I cut a glare at him and gasped when I saw that Jackson was sitting with them. We’d saved him a seat, but none of us thought he’d make it. He’d helped start a drug program back in Georgia and it wasn’t easy for him to get away. I waved at him and felt the same happy thump in my chest that I always felt when I got to see him those days. He was five years sober and he looked better than I’d ever seen him.
“It doesn’t count if you don’t finish crossing the stage, love.” Boone’s loud voice gained my attention and I waved a hand at him to be quiet and finished crossing to shake the hand of the president of my college.
