Chapter 10
One year to the day since I’d walked into that living room and seen Elena in the coffin.
It was Liam’s first birthday party.
Our backyard was decorated with blue and yellow balloons, a small bounce house, a cake shaped like a lion—his favorite stuffed animal. Clara and her family were there, Maria and her kids, our new neighbors, even Mom.
The judge had lifted the restraining order the week before, after her therapists said she’d made exceptional progress, that she was no threat to anyone. She’d been coming to supervised visits once a month for three months, and Liam adored her. He’d crawl to her the second she walked in the door, his little arms out for a hug.
Ethan had sent a letter from prison a week prior. A real apology. He said he was getting his GED, going to anger management classes, that he knew he had no right to ask for forgiveness, but he wanted me to know he was trying to be a better man. I hadn’t written back yet, but I would. One day.
After everyone sang happy birthday, Liam smashed his cake into his face, frosting in his hair, his eyelashes, up his nose. Everyone laughed, taking a hundred photos.
I pulled Elena aside, under the big oak tree in the backyard, away from the crowd.
I got down on one knee, pulled a small velvet box out of my pocket. Inside was a ring I’d designed myself: three stones, her birthstone, Liam’s, and mine, all set in white gold.
We’d eloped at the courthouse two weeks before I left for the UAE. No rings, no family, no party, just us, in a hurry before my flight. I’d always promised her I’d do it right, one day.
“Elena Marie Carter,” I said, my voice cracking, tears in my eyes. “I know I already asked you once. But I want to do it again. Properly. In front of everyone we love. I want to spend the rest of my life making up for the time I was gone. For every bad thing that happened because I wasn’t here to protect you. I want to grow old with you. Watch Liam graduate, get married, have kids of his own. I want a million more birthdays, a million more quiet nights on the porch, a million more moments just like this. Will you marry me? Again?”
She cried, nodding so hard her hair fell in her face, and pulled me up to kiss her.
“Yes,” she said, laughing through her tears. “A thousand times yes.”
Everyone cheered, clapping, as I slipped the ring on her finger.
Later, when the party was over, the guests gone, the balloons deflating in the grass, I sat on the porch swing with Liam asleep on my chest, Elena curled into my side.
The sun set, painting the sky pink and orange, the same colors as that day outside the jail, the day we’d moved into the house, all the good days we’d had since.
I held them tighter, my boys, my whole world, and felt completely, utterly at peace.
We’d been through hell. We’d lost so much. But we’d found our way back to each other. We were safe. We were loved. We were whole.
May you like
The bad days were behind us.
And every day from now on? It was just going to get better.
