Page 27 of Forged By Sacrifice

CHANGE

“For all the brave and the souls who went before us.

Stand tall, then proudly lift your voices,

Let 'em know who we are and our choices.”

Performed by Christina Aguilera

Written by Aguilera / Hagood / Reutter

When we left the office and the bathroom, I couldn’t help the grin I had on my face. For Eli. He was going to be a dad. He’d already acted like a dad since I’d known him, but now he was going to be a real one. With a real kid. He’d be awesome at it.

Ava frowned at my smile. “You’re a shit,” she said before heading to the stage where Brady was just finishing up a song and calling for her.

Ava still looked pale, but she climbed onto the stage and joined him while they sang the song that was about Eli and Ava when they’d first met and then left each other to follow their bigger dreams. I turned to watch Eli at the bar as Ava sang. He’d stopped to watch her like he had every time since I’d known them. He couldn’t help himself. It was like the world drifted away when he was watching Ava sing. I had never really gotten it until I’d kissed Georgie. The whole world had receded when our lips had touched. Just like it had receded when we’d been squeezed into the bathroom together, a few moments before, with my hand on her leg.

When the song was over, Ava spoke into the mic.

“Fourth of July might not be the start of a new year. It might not be your typical resolution type of day, but it’s certainly a day that began this amazing country of ours. And recently, I had some good news. News that will change things for me.”

Eli was frowning and making his way from behind the bar toward the stage.

Ava was watching him. “I wasn’t going to say anything today. I was going to wait, but then someone found out my secret, and he can’t keep his mouth shut,”—she threw a glance my way—“so I better get it over with.”

Eli stood on the floor in front of her while she looked down at him.

“Doodles, do you remember when we met, and I started calling you Dad?”

Eli’s hands went to her bare legs, pulling her closer to the edge of the stage.

“Well, congratulations. You’re going to be a real one.”

It took a minute for him to get what she was saying. Then, his face broke into that huge smile that Eli rarely wore unless he was around Ava. He pulled her from the stage and was kissing her before anyone could have said two words.

Behind the bar, Lacey pulled out a mic they kept back there for just these sorts of occasions. “This round is on me! I’m gonna be a grandma again!”

Cheers for the free drinks. Cheers for Ava and Eli’s parenthood. Cheers for Lacey saying she was a grandma when she really wasn’t either of their parent. I couldn’t help it. I turned to Georgie who’d been standing next to me the whole time and hugged her, picking her up off her toes and hugging tight.

It was such good news.

Georgie didn’t even resist; she just hugged me back.

But then I realized whom I was hugging and set her back down. She brushed at her star-spangled dress and moved away toward Ava and Eli and the crowd who was clapping them on their backs and hugging them.

Ben and the band sang a cover of “Life Changes” by Thomas Rhett, which was such a perfect reflection of this moment, while Brady quietly disappeared down the hall to the back door and the dark SUVs, heading on to Phoenix.

The air felt jubilant, because it was.

? ? ?

It was late, but everyone was still wired by the time we got back to the house after closing down the bar. We made our way down to the firepit with a bottle of champagne and the fixings for s’mores.

Truck raised his glass and said, “Here’s to having a little Eli running around in less than a year. May he have all of his mother’s spunk and none of his father’s grumpiness.”

“Asswipe,” Eli griped, but he was grinning. He hadn’t really stopped since Ava had broken the news at the bar.

“You aren’t going to be able to continue to cuss like that anymore,” I said, smiling. “You’re going to be just like me, modifying your language.”

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