“When?” he asks, breaking our kiss. “When do we make this official?”
“I’ve never really wanted a big wedding. Not since my parents passed. I just want to be Riley Fleming.”
“Fuck,” he grumbles. “Plan it. I don’t care where. Just try to make it soon.”
I hold my hand out to admire my ring. “We’re really doing this? We’re getting married?” I ask, just to make sure I’m not dreaming.
“It’s not a dream, baby. It’s a fairy tale. Our fairy tale.”
EPILOGUE HUDSON
Hudson
It’s hard to believe that my little slugger is turning one tomorrow. This past year has been better than I ever could have imagined that it would be. Riley and I married nine months ago. We had a small ceremony in our backyard. It was simple and elegant and one of the best days of my life.
For a wedding gift, I received a copy of Hayes’s birth certificate with my name listed as his father. I cried like a baby, not gonna deny it. We’ve been living life in wedded bliss ever since. Our boy grows more each day, and the little guy started walking a few weeks ago. We can’t keep him out of anything. Riley and I took him to Raven one weekend and then spent all damn day baby-proofing everything we could.
He’s such a happy little boy. He has my eyes and his momma’s smile, and that’s perfectly fine with me. I’m hoping the next one is a little girl who looks just like her momma. Speaking of my wife, I know that tomorrow has been weighing on her mind. She left to take a walk about thirty minutes ago, and she’s not back yet. Lucky for me, Uncle Brett showed up, so I left Hayes with him so I could go find my wife.
I take the trail that leads to the lake. I know it’s one of her favorite places on the farm. Sure enough, as I reach the lake, I see her sitting in the grass, staring out at the water. I give myself a minute to take her in. It’s sometimes still hard for me to believe that she’s mine. That after all the years I spent wanting her from afar, we’re finally together. She’s my wife. Even after nine months of being married, I continue to call her my wife instead of her name as much as I can. I can’t help it. I love that woman with every fiber of my being.
I approach her slowly, not wanting to scare her. “Fancy meeting you here,” I call out to her.
She turns to look at me and smiles. “I’m not very good at hiding, huh?” she calls back.
“Is that what you’re doing? Hiding?”
“No. Not really. Just clearing my head.”
“Can I join you?” I don’t want to intrude on her me time, but then again, I do want to intrude on her me time. I want us time twenty-four hours a day.
“Always, you know that.”
I take a seat behind her and pull her into my arms. “Much better,” I say, kissing her temple. “Talk to me, baby.” She turns, and her emerald-green eyes find mine, and she lets it all go.
EPILOGUE RILEY
Riley
“It’s hard not to think about what tomorrow represents. The birth of our son and what I took from you.”
“Hey.” He rests his forehead against my temple. “We talked about this, baby. That’s behind us. We’re in a good place, and we’re about to celebrate our boy.”
“I know. It’s just hard not to think about it. A year ago today, I thought you didn’t want us. Now here we are happily married and celebrating his first birthday.”
“Things always have a way of working themselves out.”
“I love our life, Hudson.”
“I love our life too.”
“Is Hayes with your parents?”
“No. Brett showed up, and I asked him to sit with him while I came to find you.”
“We should relieve him.”
“He’s fine. It’s good for him to see what he’s missing out on. Besides, you know our friends love our little guy as much as we do.”
“That’s true.”
“One day, he’ll understand how lucky he is.”
“Do you think he would understand us telling him that he will be a big brother?” I ask him. I debated on when to tell him, and something about this moment just felt right. I didn’t get to do this last time. I thought about something like a onesie or a cake, but I know my husband. He just wants our son and me, so I didn’t need all the fanfare to tell him we were growing our family.
A big brother.
It’s sooner than what we had planned. We thought a solid two years between them would be ideal. I talked to Dr. Moore about stopping birth control and letting nature take its course. She advised me not to get discouraged if it didn’t happen right away. Here we are two months later, and I’m pregnant.
“Wait. What? Please tell me this isn’t another misconception.”
“Nope. I’d say this conception is pretty factual, considering Dr. Moore confirmed it this morning. I’m right around six weeks if our calculations are correct.”
His hold on me tightens. “A little girl,” he says, his voice cracking. “She’s going to look just like her momma.”
“Or maybe another little man who looks like his dad and older brother.”
“Fuck, Riles. How is this our life?”
“It’s your love, Hudson. You fought for us. Thank you for never giving up on me.”
“Never, baby.”
THANK YOU
Thank you for taking the time to read Misconception.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you, Adriana Locke for inviting me to be a part of the Coming Home Series. I’ve enjoyed being a part of this project.
To my family:
My support system. I could not do this without you in my corner. Thank you for taking this wild ride with me. I love you.
Regina Wamba:
Thank you for the perfect image to bring Hudson and Riley to life.
Integrity Formatting:
Thank you for making the paperbacks beautiful. You’re amazing, and I cannot thank you enough for all that you do.
Kari March:
It was a pleasure working with you on this project. Thank you for a beautiful cover.
Lacey Black:
My dear friend. Thank you for always being there with life and work. I value our friendship and our working relationship more than you will ever know. I can’t wait to see what our co-writing journey takes us.