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I grinned at him. “Thanks for giving me away. It means a lot to me.”
It did mean a lot to me. Everything that Holden had done for me. If he hadn’t convinced Parker and me to relocate, I wouldn’t have even met Weston. I’d still be that lonely, sad woman I’d left back in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Is that what I’m doing here?” Holden asked, pretend shock on his face. “I’m outta here!” He pretended to head for the door with a laugh.
When he stood next to me again and threaded his arm back through mine, I said, “Seriously. Thank you. For everything.”
“No problem, Ems,” he said simply. “It’s my pleasure.”
But it wasn’t so simple. I knew how hard it had been on Holden when Weston had entered the picture, but over the last few months, he’d really turned it around.
He’d been helping us put a crib together, buy the safest car seats, and show us how to install them. He’d been there for both me and West.
I figured when we told him we were having a baby, he figured we were in it for the long haul and he’d finally stopped giving Weston so much shit.
“Here comes the bride” started playing from the other side of the doors and I let out a nervous breath.
“You good?” Holden asked, straightening that damn tie once again.
“Yep.” The double doors in front of us started to open. “It’s showtime,” I sang.
Once the doors were wide-open, we stepped forward to the music. Holden squeezed my arm and we were off and down the aisle.
It was a small wedding with just Weston’s family and a few of our favorite coworkers and friends.
We’d wanted to keep it small and intimate. After all, this was our second go-around.
I looked down the aisle and spotted Parker first. She looked beautiful in a pale purple off-the-shoulder gown, a bouquet of different color lilies in her hands like my own.
She was so excited about having a baby brother. I knew she was going to make the best sister and I was so relieved I’d be living close enough to where she would go to school so that she could come home and visit often.
Miranda stood next to Parker in the same style dress, holding her and Holden’s baby boy, Andrew. Drew for short.
He babbled as we walked down the aisle and Holden gave the few-month-old baby a small wave that made him smile all gums.
I heard a sniff from the pews beside me and turned to my right to find ole Scoots’ mom bawling her eyes out. I smiled at her and she cried even harder.
I’d known this was coming and made sure to place some tissues in the pew where she would sit before the ceremony. I’d come prepared. Because when we’d told her we were pregnant, she’d done the very same thing.
Like us, she couldn’t wait to meet her grandson in a few weeks.
I pulled my eyes away from her and they finally landed on my man. He looked so damn handsome in that stinking tux, I wanted to run to him, but right now I was doing my best to try not to waddle, so I thought running was probably a bad idea.
He grinned as Holden and I made our way toward him, his eyes shining, his father standing next to him.
He was so happy about this baby, the wedding, it all. He’d moved in with me and Parker shortly after we’d found out I was pregnant.
He said he wanted to be there for every first, even the pregnancy ones and he’d kept true to his word. He never missed a doctor’s appointment and he rubbed my aching feet every night. He was an exemplary father already.
Shortly after the day my crazy ass had also walked through fire for him, he’d told me that he’d decided to leave the fire department and move over to Emergency Medical Services.
Right away, I’d felt guilty and begged him not to leave the fire department on my behalf. I didn’t want him to change careers for me. But he’d quickly eased my conscience by touching my growing belly and informing me that his decision had nothing to do with me and everything to do with him. He had too much to live for now, he’d told me.
He’d been a paramedic the last six months and he liked it a lot. It was also a lot safer job, so it eased my mind quite a bit.
It seemed like I was living in a dream lately and when I finally arrived down the aisle and Holden passed me off to Weston, I felt like my heart could have burst wide-open right then. If you’d told me a year ago I’d be pregnant and marrying the man of my dreams, I’d have called you a fucking liar, with a capital F. But here I was.
It seemed like a miracle. But isn’t that what second chances really were? A new beginning when all hope was lost.
