Page 97 of Worth the Vow

“I thought true love was a fallacy,” I admit. “That I’d never find someone who would love me in spite of all my faults, and I for sure never thought I’d love someone through theirs. And here comes this complete spitfire with multi-colored hair and a sassy mouth, bound and determined to bulldoze into my heart. She’s everything I didn’t know I wanted.”

“True love is knowing the good, and the bad, about someone, and choosing to still love them. Still choosing them. No one is perfect, but a perfect partner makes each day better than the last.”

When I notice my dad look over my shoulder, and a peaceful smile comes over his face, I know my mom is walking toward us. I’m pretty sure I smile at Kate the same way. “I never noticed how you smile at Mom. It’s like the sight of her calms you.”

“She does. Don’t get me wrong, Dominic. We argue. We fight. She irritates me over stupid stuff. But I would walk through fire for your mother. She is the best part of me.” He motions for my mom to wait by holding up a finger, then turns to me. “I hate that you thought I was disappointed in you, or that I didn’t think you could take over from me at Everlasting. I don’t tell you enough how proud I am of you, Dominic. I don’t think anyone else could do anywhere near as good a job as you do here. And now that I know your sadness was due to your heart, and not this job, I’m handing over the kingdom to you, and officially retiring.”

“I’ve heard that before,” I joke.

“I’m serious. All I ever want is for my kids to be happy. Four of you are content. Three to go,” he says with a furrowed expression. “And that one needs to be next.”

“Who?” I ask, turning to see my older brother Alex, stomping toward us with a furious expression. “Oh. Good luck with that one.”

Dad sighs. “I’m going to need it.”

Kate,

Four years later

“Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?” Dominic whispers into my ear, making me shiver. His arms tighten around me when he feels the movement course down my spine. My graduation cap falls from my head, but neither of us move. I needed this hug as much as he did.

Four years passed in the blink of an eye. If I wasn’t with Dominic or the kids, I was in class or studying. At first, I only intended to get my associate’s degree in something child development related, then look for a job working at a daycare, or preschool. But once I began taking classes, I fell in love with the idea of working in special education. I don’t think I’ll plan on getting my license to teach, but I want to be a paraprofessional in an elementary school. I chose to take more classes than necessary, focusing in early childhood studies, because I want to help as many kids as I can who don’t get the services they need at a young age. When people ask me why, I tell them about Carter.

My beautiful stepson was finally diagnosed with autism when he was almost nine years old. Dominic said he had quietly begun the process of an autism assessment well over a year before Carter finally got in to see a specialist, but even before that, the pediatrician blew off Dominic’s concerns because Carter was verbal. Dominic felt extreme guilt for not fighting harder, and worried that Carter would have more difficulty acclimating to added therapies now than he would have years ago. Fortunately, Carter flourished with the addition of occupational therapy, as well as counseling, which helped give him techniques for handling overstimulation, sensory concerns, and redirection.

The five of us added family therapy sessions into our busy schedules as well. It took some time for the kids to talk about their feelings regarding Savannah. Aspen was more concerned with what Savannah did to me, easily moving on, and began calling me mom soon thereafter. Carter had a lot of questions about why. He couldn’t comprehend why Savannah would want to hurt me. His little analytical mind had difficulty understanding that we might never truly know what went on in her mind leading up to our vow renewal. Sienna had the hardest time. Quite the empath, she always sees the good in people, and her mom’s betrayal was incredibly difficult for her. She continued in therapy much longer than her siblings. We even increased her therapy sessions to help her grieve after Savannah died in custody in Montana. We still aren’t sure exactly what happened, but it was a relief for me to know she couldn’t hurt us anymore.

“I have a surprise for you when you get home,” Dominic whispers as he quickly kisses my lips before stepping away.

“Oh yeah? Good surprise, or bad surprise?” He’s learned I have no patience when it comes to surprises.

“Good. Definitely good,” he says, and his eyes become hooded. Oh. That kind of surprise. “Go give everyone a hug so we can get home quicker.”

“We have children, you know,” I point out.

Dominic’s responding grin is feral. “They’re going with my parents tonight.”

“Really?” I perk up. A whole night alone in our house?

“Yep. Now go.” He swats me on the ass, and I gasp. Shaking my head, I walk to my brothers.

“I really didn’t need to see that, sis,” Matt mutters wryly.

“I’ve seen so much worse with you and Vic,” I comment, giving both of them a blunt look. I had the unfortunate experience of watching them do a naked walk of shame at Everlasting when that stupid marmot who roams around causing a ruckus, Mason, grabbed their clothes while they were having some after-hours fun in the hot springs. I just happened to be covering a late shift at the front desk when they snuck in a side door. Someone else must have caught the performance as well, because blurry pictures of the two of them were on the web within the hour. I don’t think I’ll ever stop enjoying teasing my brother about that weekend.

“What did you see, Aunt Kate?” Matt’s son, Silas, asks, pulling on my graduation gown. He holds his arms up, and I immediately grab him. Now five, he is the spitting image of Matt, and already showing incredible promise in hockey.

“Nothing, Si-Si,” I tell him hastily, as Victoria blushes.

“I’m glad I never look at that stupid website,” my other brother, Zane, says with a chuckle. “Although I can assume what it was, knowing these two.”

“Not entirely our fault,” Matt says defensively. “I couldn’t have predicted the stupid marmot would get involved.”

“That thing is still alive? Are you sure it’s the same one?” Zane asks.

“We’re pretty sure. Short of tagging the little bugger, we can’t be certain,” Dominic says. “One of these days, someone will find his den, and all of the treasures he’s stolen over the years. Some of it is probably worth quite a bit of money.”

“What could be worth money?” I inquire.

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