Two Years Later
Tyler
SNOW FELL AGAINST THE windows of our house in Beacon Hill, the streets of Boston sporting a fluffy white coat.
“I have no idea how you suffer through this, Mack,” Brayden’s boisterous voice cut through all the laughter and frivolity surrounding us as we celebrated Charlie’s second birthday. I couldn’t believe two years had passed since he entered this world in what I thought would be the worst night of my life. Instead, it ended up being the night I received the two greatest gifts a man could ask for…a son and a second chance – or third, depending on how you looked at it – with the woman of my dreams, my lightning strike.
About three months after Charlie was born, Mackenzie was finally cleared to travel and she couldn’t wait to get to Boston. We finally got the new start we both needed and left the past in the past. True, everything Mackenzie had endured made her into the person she was today, but she stopped living in the shadows.
For the first time in her life, Mackenzie finally had everything she ever wanted. Her father was back in her life. In fact, he had been recruited by one of the top private security firms in the country…mine. Now that his name was cleared, he was more than eager to get back into investigations. Plus, he was close by so he could spend as much time as he wanted with Mackenzie and Charlie.
Even better, Mackenzie finally had Damian back in her life, who came up to visit as much as he could. The sound of her laughter echoing through the house as they reminisced about their childhood always brought a smile to my face, knowing I was able to give that to her.
Jenna and Brayden remained in South Padre, where she continued looking after the restaurant operations, although she had been spending quite a bit of time in Boston to prepare for the opening of a second location of their restaurant in the Financial District. She seemed to have forgotten all about Richard, although it was hard to tell with her.
“Daddy!” a small voice called to me, breaking me away from the snow and my thoughts. Charlie ran into my arms and I swung him around, making him squeal with delight. “Presents?” he asked.
“Did you ask Mommy if it was time yet?” I replied, glancing up to see Mackenzie laughing with Jenna and Olivia. A warmth spread through me as I caught sight of the little bump on her that was starting to show. I missed the early stages of her first pregnancy and was thrilled that I would be here every day of this one, morning sickness and all.
“She said to ask you.”
I chuckled at what had become our parenting style. “Do you want to open presents?” I asked in hushed tones.
He nodded, his eyes growing wide.
“Then you can open your presents.”
When he squirmed, I put him down and he darted from me, shouting, “Daddy said it’s time!”
Meeting my eyes, Mackenzie smiled and sauntered across the room toward me. “You’re incorrigible, you know that? You do understand you’ll be up all night long assembling all the toys, right?”
I pulled her against me, raising my eyebrows. “Well, if I’ll be up all night, I’m sure we can find something more constructive to fill our time, rather than putting together a bunch of toys that will just be destroyed in two days.”
“Oh, really?” she replied, pulling on my blazer jacket, leading me toward the bay window in the formal sitting room of our house.
“Mmm-hmm…”
“And what would that be?” she asked as I folded my arms around her, both of us staring at the snow falling at a steady pace.
“I have a few ideas,” I murmured, kissing her neck.
“I don’t know. I’m exhausted from growing a human inside of me. You could rub my feet and tell me a bedtime story.”
“What kind of story?”
“A good one.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Anything for you,” I said, savoring the warmth of her body next to mine. “Once upon a time,” I began, planting a kiss on her forehead, “there was a little girl who stopped believing in fairytales. She had been hidden away for years, always holding out hope her Prince Charming would come and rescue her from her self-imposed prison. Then, one day, a man appeared. He was a little rough around the edges and may not have had the purest of intentions to begin with, but he fell in love with the woman that little girl had turned into.”
I glanced down to see her eyes closed, a look of serenity on her face. I began to rock her back-and-forth, almost swaying to the music in both our heads. “But there was an evil dragon who tried to keep the prince from his love. The prince knew he had to protect this woman from the monstrous beast who was trying to tear them apart, so he set upon a quest to slay the dragon and free his love.”
“And did he?” she asked, turning to me.
Grabbing both her hands in mine, I simply nodded. “Yes, with a bit of help. And he used his powers to return all the people who had ever been taken from the princess to her so she could finally have the family she had been yearning for her entire life.”
“How did it end?”
“Like all fairytales should,” I said, raising her hand to meet my lips. “They lived happily ever after.”
Losing Your Memory - Ryan Star
Cannonball - Damian Rice
This Woman’s Work - Greg Laswell
Sideways - Citizen Cope
The Space Between - Dave Matthews Band
Your Ghost - Greg Laswell
If You Love Me Let Me Go - Colbie Caillat
Gone Away - Lucy Schwartz
Between The Lines - Sara Bareilles
I’m Through - Ingrid Michaelson
Over You - Ingrid Michaelson, featuring A Great Big World
Everything’s Not Lost - Coldplay
The Lonely - Christina Perri
Cold Blooded - The Pretty Reckless
1000 Times - Sara Bareilles
Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons
You Make It Real - James Morrison
All Of Me - John Legend
Boston - Augustana
Breathe Me - Sia
Apologies - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
I Do - Susie Suh
Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald
Tamacún - Rodrigo y Gabriela
Magic - Colbie Caillat
In The Embers - Sleeping At Last
Nothing But The Water (I) - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Weapon For Saturday - LOLO
By My Side - William Fitzsimmons
Future Days - Pearl Jam
The One - Kodaline
The Luckiest - Ben Folds
The Beautiful Mess Series