Page 193 of Music City Diaries

I hadn’t known love like this could exist, but now that I had it, I never wanted to let it go. Darcie, my brothers, our kids, and the friends we made had shown me what true love was, and despite hating my childhood, I’d do it all again if it meant ending up here.

Darcie

FIVE YEARS LATER

“Thankyou so much for your donation. This will go a long way to helping the center,” I said, shaking the woman’s hand.

“I’m glad. I love the work you’re doing, Darcie. You’re changing our community.”

“Oh, thank you. I don’t know about all that?—”

“You are.” The city councilwoman smiled at me and lifted her brows. It was a look I knew well, one I often gave to my kids when they were testing limits. It dared you to try your best, but you weren’t going to succeed. Unlike my kids, I knew when I was beaten.

“I look forward to working with the city. The center is grateful for your recognition. Please stop by anytime; you’re a huge inspiration to all the women there.”

“I’ll do that. We’ll be in touch.” The councilwoman stood and shook my hand before leaving the center and striding with her staff.

I turned to Cindy, my assistant, and widened my eyes. “Did that really just happen?”

“Yep.” She grinned and handed me my bag. “Now, go. You’ve got Grayson’s birthday dinner to get to. I’ve got things covered here.”

Before I could protest, she pushed me out the doors and into the parking lot. I blinked, turning back to look at the building.Live Like A Queenhad grown over the past five years. We’d gone from our small office in a strip mall to taking over a closed daycare. With our new space, we had more room to grow and more training and resources on sight. LLAQ had blossomed, and I’d hired staff, unable to maintain it on my own any longer.

That and I kept getting pregnant. It was hard to run a business when you were pregnant half the time. But after my last pregnancy, we’d decided we were done making babies and wanted to open our home up to older foster kids. Brooks had started volunteering as a mentor and had met a few kids he wished he could’ve done more for.

It was an easy decision for all of us. So, after a minor setback in getting our foster license, we opened our home to others. In addition to our five kids—yep, those bastards got me pregnant twice more—we currently had two fosters.

Sometimes, they stayed for short periods; others, it was longer. We weren’t always the right fit, which was hard to digest initially. How could a loving family not be the right fit? It had been all Brooks had wanted. But we’d been naïve in believing love was the only thing we needed. Our life was a chaotic and beautiful mess of wonderfulness with kids and animals, but that wasn’t the perfect fit for everyone. So, we learned to meet kids where they were, and things worked out better.

The two kids we currently had were about to graduate high school, and we’d offered them a permanent home with us. I wanted them to have a place to come back to if they wanted. Brooks told me not to get my hopes up, but it was hard. They were both so great and fit into our family so well.

Waving bye to the people on the jungle gym, I strode to my car and checked my phone. Cindy had been right. I did need to leave, or I’d miss Grayson’s surprise. He turned forty next week and had refused to let any of us do anything, stating that he was mature now and didn’t need to be the center of attention. Which, of course, meant we went against his wishes and planned a surprise party. Secretly, I believed he wanted a big deal made, but was too embarrassed to ask.

We’d rented out the family fun center for the night, where he could play laser tag, ride go-karts, play arcade games, or putt-putt. The food was his favorite, and we’d invited all our friends and family. After a few hours, the kids would leave us, and Lennox, Slade, Simon, and Thane headed out to Nashville for the night. My dad, Becca and her husband, and Lennox’s parents were watching our ever-growing brood together, giving us the night off for the first time in years.

The drive to the place was quick, and I parked around back so Grayson wouldn’t spot my car. I missed riding my bike to work, but between all of the kids’ sports and activities, it wasn’t practical anymore, considering there was nowhere to put a car seat.

Hurrying inside, I spotted Lennox and Becca. They both waved at me, and I rushed over.

“Hey. Any word?” Simon and Brooks were responsible for getting him here. Mostly because Grayson wouldn’t ever expect Brooks to hide anything, and Simon could use the excuse of doing something to piss Slade off as a reason to be here. It wasn’t the strongest plan, but it was all we had.

“They’re enroute. Simon said he’d text when they pull up.”

“Perfect.”

“How did the meeting go?” Lennox asked.

“It went great. She wants to donate and has big plans for us moving forward.”

“That’s amazing, Darcie,” Becca said, wrapping her arm around me.

“I know. I still can’t believe how far the center has come.”

“I can. You’re amazing,” Lennox said, smiling. Her phone pinged, and she held it up. “They’re here.” She turned and shouted to all the other guests. Maddox spotted me and made a beeline for me, our youngest two—Josh and Lily—on each of his hips.

“Mama,” Lily said, reaching for me. I took her, kissed her cheek, and bent down to kiss Josh.

“Hey, sweetie. How was your lesson?” I asked.

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