Chapter 9
The next year was the best of my life.
Jake moved into the house officially in September.
He brought his old box of Lila’s things with him.
We put her photo on the mantel, right next to Leo’s kindergarten graduation picture and a photo of the three of us at the beach that summer.
She was part of our family.
Always would be.
Leo started first grade that fall.
He was at the top of his class in reading and math.
He joined the local T-ball team.
Jake was his coach.
He was terrible at it, honestly.
Half the time he spent more time chasing the kids around the bases than teaching them how to catch the ball.
But Leo loved it.
Every time he hit the ball, he’d run straight to Jake, jumping into his arms, yelling “Did you see that, Daddy? Did you see?”
Jake would cheer louder than anyone else in the stands, holding him up like he’d just won the World Series.
I got another promotion at work that winter.
Vice president of the company.
The same job I’d been toasting the night everything fell apart.
It felt like a full-circle moment.
I’d gotten the job I’d worked so hard for.
But this time, I had people to share it with.
People who were proud of me, not jealous.
Jake threw me a surprise party at the house, inviting all my friends and family, hanging banners that said “WE LOVE OUR VP” and buying me a cake shaped like a briefcase.
Leo made me a card at school, covered in glitter, that said “MY MOM IS THE BESTEST EVER.”
I cried when I read it.
Happy tears.
The good kind.
We started talking about getting married that spring.
Not a big wedding.
Just something small, in the backyard, with the people we loved.
Jake said he wanted to wait for the right moment.
Said he wanted it to be perfect.
I told him any moment with him and Leo was perfect.
But I let him plan it.
I knew whatever he did would be wonderful.
We took a family trip to the coast in July.
Rented a small cottage right on the beach.
We spent the week building sandcastles, collecting seashells, walking along the shore at sunset.
Leo learned how to skip stones.
Jake taught him.
He was terrible at it at first, sending every stone straight to the bottom of the ocean.
But by the end of the week, he could get three skips out of the flat ones.
He was so proud he told every stranger we passed on the boardwalk.
One night, after Leo was asleep, Jake and I walked down to the beach alone.
The moon was full, reflecting silver on the water.
The waves crashed soft on the shore.
Jake stopped walking halfway down the beach, turning to face me.
He took my hands in his, his eyes bright in the moonlight.
“I’ve been waiting for the right time to do this,” he said, his voice a little shaky.
“I wanted it to be somewhere special. Somewhere we’d remember forever. This feels right.”
He let go of one of my hands, reaching into his pocket.
He pulled out a small velvet box.
He opened it.
Inside was a simple, beautiful ring.
A small diamond set in white gold, with a tiny blue sapphire on either side.
“Blue for Lila,” he said, when he saw me looking at them.
“I wanted her to be part of this too.”
He knelt down in the sand, the box held up to me.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love Leo. I love our life. I want to spend every single day for the rest of my life making you both happy. Making you both feel safe. Making you both feel loved. Will you marry me?”
I didn’t even say yes at first.
I just cried, nodding so hard my hair fell in my face, and pulled him up to kiss me.
“Yes,” I said, when I could finally talk.
“Of course yes. A million times yes.”
He slipped the ring on my finger.
It fit perfectly.
We stood there for a long time, kissing in the moonlight, the waves crashing around us.
When we got back to the cottage, Leo was waiting up for us on the porch, his dinosaur pajamas on, holding a sign he’d made with crayons.
It said “WILL YOU MARRY MY MOM?” with a big box to check yes or no.
He’d already checked yes in bright red crayon.
“Jake told me he was going to ask,” he said, grinning.
“I helped him pick the ring. I said the blue ones were pretty. Did you say yes?”
I held up my hand, showing him the ring.
“I said yes,” I said.
Leo cheered, running over and tackling both of us in a hug.
“Yay!” he yelled.
“Now we’re a real family forever!”
We planned the wedding for two months later.
Small.
Simple.
Perfect.
We got married in our backyard, under the old oak tree, surrounded by 30 of our closest friends and family.
Lila’s mom was my matron of honor.
Leo was the ring bearer.
He walked down the aisle with the rings tied to a satin ribbon around his T-Rex’s neck, beaming the whole way.
Jake cried when I walked down the aisle.
I cried when he said his vows.
We both cried when Leo said his own special vows, promising to always share his dinosaurs with Jake and to help him take out the trash every week.
The judge who’d sentenced Ethan married us.
He’d become a friend over the last year, coming to Leo’s T-ball games, bringing us jam his wife made every Christmas.
He said it was the happiest wedding he’d ever officiated.
That after all the pain he’d seen in his courtroom, getting to marry us was the best part of his job.
We danced under the fairy lights strung between the trees after the ceremony.
Jake danced with me first, slow, holding me tight.
Then he danced with Leo, spinning him around until he was dizzy, both of them laughing so hard they could barely stand.
Then he danced with Lila’s mom, soft and slow, while her husband took photos.
I stood to the side, watching them, my heart so full it felt like it might burst.
This was my family.
Messy.
Perfect.
Ours.
We’d been through hell.
But we’d come out the other side.
Stronger.
May you like
Happier.
More loved than I ever thought possible.
