Page 144 of Rumor Has It

“So, what I want to know is will I still be your Boo Baby or will the new baby be called that?” She fists her hands on her side.

“How did you know?” I gasp.

She rolls her eyes. “Y’all aren’t as quiet as you think you are, and you’ve been puking all the time.”

“So, you’re okay with being a big sister?” Boone’s face is scrunched up.

“Yeah, I’m getting older, and you need to stop carrying me.” She giggles, making us all laugh with her. Boone throws his arm over my shoulder as Rumor studies her paper, officially making her ‘Boo Baby’.

He leans in, kissing me. “What are you thinking about?”

“Life! I’ll never understand why people judge others by the way they live theirs. If I hadn’t made so many mistakes, we might not have her or this incredible love. Mistakes don’t have to define a person; I learned that the hard way. Sometimes, they make the person. Whether it’s for the better or not is what you do with them.”

Never let anyone tell you your mistakes are who you are. They are but a small part of an incredible life. If gossip and rumors follow you around, hold your head up; you’re in damn good company.

Live your life. It doesn’t matter if it takes you twenty years to begin to love yourself or fifty-one. All that matters is that you do. You will make a million mistakes in your life, and if you’re like me, you’ll make a million and one.

Hold your head high, you’re a queen, and you will determine your own path, on your own terms, and in your own way.

The beginning, because true love never ends.