It had been six months since her accident, and she hadn’t yet gone back to work. To be honest, I wasn’t ready for her to. Her physical therapy had been frustrating and even disappointing to certain level. Maddison would always have a small limp now, I didn’t notice it as much as she did, and I could see the frustration in her eyes with each step.
I wasn’t joking when I said I would carry her everywhere we went. If she’d let me, I would gladly.
We were getting married in less than a month in Gran and Gramps’ backyard, near the garden surrounded by all the flowers that were in bloom. All our family and closest friends would be there to share our day with us, and I couldn’t wait to see her walking down the aisle toward me.
The day she’d read the text I sent as I sat in the waiting room on the day of the accident while the doctors diligently worked on her, she cried. I’d forgotten all about it until I came home from work to find her on the couch holding her phone in her hands while staring down at the screen. I’d practically planned our entire wedding while sitting at the side of her hospital bed while she lay before me sleeping. I never imagined she’d hear me, but she had.
The best part about it was she took those visions I had and made them a reality. Not many guys could say they planned their entire wedding, and to be honest, I never thought I would plan mine. But I also never thought the woman I loved would come so close to death before I got the chance to say, “I do,” either.
Our life was about to begin.
“What are you thinking about?” I tipped my head back as she stepped up behind the couch. Leaning over, she gave me a sweet kiss before I took her hand in mine and guided her to walk around and join me.
Mad sat down as my side, and instantly, I pushed up her shirt and exposed her flat stomach. Placing my palm against her, I smiled, thinking about the fact that within the next few months she would no longer be able to hide the fact that she was carrying our baby.
“Every single time you do that, it gives me goosebumps.”
“Me too,” I confessed, moving in closer to kiss her just below her belly button. She was only eight weeks along, and neither of us planned for it to happen this soon. We’d thought with her being on birth control for so long that it would be months before we’d conceive, at least maybe not until after our wedding, but we’d shocked ourselves.
On the day that we get married, she’d be moving out of her first trimester. We’d decided to wait until she was past the twelve-week mark to share our news. I loved that it was our little secret, one that we could talk about and dream about. I knew that moment the family found out, it would be chaos, as most things were in our massive group of crazies.
“I decided to wait until after the baby was born to go back to work.” I looked up at her to read her expression. I was happy to see a genuine smile on her face. “Maybe wait until he or she is at least six months old.”
“That sounds like the perfect plan.”
“I was also thinking that maybe I would step away from surgeries.” This was a little bit of a surprise. “I’d like to get more of a part-time nursing position, maybe at a doctor’s office.”
Maddison loved surgery.
“Surgical is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but I want to be home as much as possible with our kids, with you. I don’t want to look back ten years from now and be sad about all the things I missed. I don’t know, I guess after everything we went through, it made me appreciate life more, the memories we create, the people we share our time with.”
“That sounds perfect. I just don’t want you waking up one day and regretting that choice.”
“I would never regret time with you or with our children.” And with that, she placed her hand over mine, where they rested on her stomach. The smile on her face told me all I needed to know. This was what she wanted, and I would give her anything to see that smile on her face.
Prologue
Chloe
“How many is this?” Even I could hear the slur in my voice as I reached out to wrap my hand around the glass placed on the bar top.
“I have no idea.” Stephanie giggled and lifted her own glass, downing the shot without a second thought. She hissed, offered a little shiver, and performed some insane dance before pointing to my still-full glass. “Bottoms up.” She bumped her hip to mine, watching me with eager anticipation. She grinned like the Cheshire cat. She was so wasted. Who was I kidding? I too was wasted. If my father could see me now, I knew without a shadow of a doubt he would give me shit. Well, not too much because the man’s wrapped around both mine and my momma’s fingers.
I was so gonna regret this tomorrow.
I hated tequila on a normal day, but tonight was a celebration. My very close friend was moving to Houston. Her fiancé was just offered a promotion, and he was whisking her away; hundreds of miles would be placed between us. Though I was happy for her, I’ll admit I was going to miss her like crazy, too. No more late-night drives when things were on our mind or playing hooky from work so we could lay out and drink margaritas in the sun.
