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Alex nods, seeming to think things over before turning back to me. I hold my breath, watching him closely to see what's on his mind.
"I like him," he says simply, and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. "Can we have pancakes now?"
I laugh in relief and Evan stands up, ruffling Alex's hair. "You got it, buddy," he says, and heads back to the stove.
As he starts cooking, I feel a sense of warmth spread through me. This is it--we're a family now. It's not going to be perfect, and there will be bumps along the way, but we'll work through them together.
And as I watch Evan and Alex chat while flipping pancakes, with Tasha and Chance joining us for breakfast, I know that we're going to be okay.
This is our family.
Forever.
Epilogue
Ineverexpectedtowalk down the aisle again--and for a long time, I would've preferred not to--but the Harts talked me into it.
I'm so glad they did.
I walk down the aisle with my son holding my hand, Alex looking nervous with all these eyes on him. It's a small wedding, but Alex is shy, so I lean down slightly and whisper to him as we walk.
"You're being so brave," I say.
He looks up at me. "Only for you, mom," he whispers back.
Evan is waiting for me at the end of the aisle, his hands clasped in front of him. He always looks a little unkempt--that's Evan, and I wouldn't change a thing about him--but he still looks dashing, my knight in shining armor.
I love him so much.
I can't believe we're all here.
As I approach Evan, I feel the warmth of his gaze on me. He's grinning from ear to ear, and I can't help but smile too. My heart feels so full, I'm not sure it'll fit inside my chest for much longer.
As Alex hands me over to Evan, I feel tears streaming down my face. I know that I'm a mess right now, but I can't help it. I'm just so happy. I never thought that I would find love again, but Evan came into my life and changed everything.
Evan takes my hand and Alex scurries off to stand with the rest of the wedding party. Evan's thumb rubs small circles on the back of my hand, and I feel my nerves start to ease.
"I love you," he whispers to me, and I can feel his breath against my ear.
"I love you too," I whisper back.
The wedding ceremony seems to fly by in a blur of happy tears and laughter. Evan's whole family is here, cheering us on, and it's already hard to keep it together...
...then we get to the vows.
Evan starts to tear up as I say mine to him--something about how I never thought I'd be this happy again, how he woke me up to the fact that my life wasn't over...that I had a lot of life left to live. He squeezes my hands and nods along with me, supporting me every step of the way.
Then I finish up...and he takes a deep breath.
And I know I'm about to sob.
"So," he says, "to start off...I want to apologize to Alex. Alex, I promised you when me and your mom started dating that I would never make her cry again...and I have this feeling I'm about to make her cry. Happy tears, though, I promise."
I'm already getting choked up, and I let out a tearful laugh. Evan keeps hold of me, staying steady.
"Sam," he says, "when I met you, I didn't anticipate settling down. I never thought I would meet you and that you would change my life...but you did, and I've been thanking God every day for it ever since."
His fingers find my wedding band, and a few more tears burst out. I never wanted to be here--not if I could help it. I wanted to spend my whole life with David Valdez.
