Page 109 of Meet Me at Midnight

We’re officially married!

Beau

June and I dance close, our faces pressed together in the center of the pool dance floor. Everything from the ceremony has been cleared out of the way, and an intimate, candlelit dinner setup replaces it. We have a sweetheart table at the front of it all, but by and large, we’ve spent our time like this, plastered together and swaying to the music.

Stars dance in the sky above us, and a full moon hangs low on the horizon. The sound of ocean waves isn’t audible with the music, but memory tells me it’s there in sharp detail.

I desperately want a moment alone with my new wife, and an idea hits me as if by kismet.

“Come on,” I whisper, taking her hand and dragging her off the floor slowly. Her eyebrows draw together as she looks back at all the other guests, including Avery and our parents, but I put a finger to my lips as a cue and whisper, “Shh.”

Smiling, she nods, and we trot off together, bound for the beach. When we get to the end of my parents’ bush-lined path, we pause briefly so she can take off her heels, and I help her lift the train of her dress so we can run through the sand together. It’s dark back here, with only the moonlight to light our way, and we don’t stop, her giggles echoing around us, until we make it to the spot.

Our spot.

The place we always came together as kids.

I pull her close and kiss her deeply, tasting her tongue and mine together a million little times. Her hands pull at my hips under my jacket, and I sink mine into the pretty red hair at the sides of her head.

We breathe each other in, the lapping ocean telling its story behind us.

“I love you, Beau.”

“I love you, Juni. At midnight and ten a.m. and every other minute of the day until the end of time.”

“You know, it’s getting close to midnight right now, actually,” she whispers, and I tilt my head to the side.

“Is it?”

“Mm-hmm,” she says with a nod, her forehead moving against mine as I refuse to back up more than an inch.

I kiss her again, lingering this time and nipping at the flesh of her bottom lip with my teeth.

“And what are you going to do with this midnight that you haven’t done with the others? You’ve landed me, enthralled me, married me… What exactly are you going to do now, Mrs. Banks?”

She smiles, just a hint of excitement I can’t place behind her eyes, and then kisses me again. When I feel her rustling something out of the top of her dress, I pull back to find her holding a photo between us. She lifts it up to show me, and instantly, I realize what it is—a sonogram picture.

“Is that… Are you…? You can’t be serious.” My eyes bounce back and forth between June’s beautiful face, her belly, and the picture. “June…are you going to have my baby?”

“We’re having a baby, Beau.” Tears kiss her eyes as she nods, and I scream my excitement into the silence of the night, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around. She laughs, but me…I cry.

The two of us, we’re getting everything we’ve ever dreamed of.

June…June is getting the thing she always wanted most in the whole entire world. A family.

And I get to be a part of it.

“I love you so much, Juniper.”

“Not as much as I love you.”

“Maybe when you were thirteen that was sort of true…” I pause to kiss her again. “But not now, baby. I love you just as much as you love me. I love you more than anything.”

Three Years Later…

Juniper

Avery lifts the teacup to her lips, sipping on the imaginary tea her niece made for her. I look on from my spot in Neil and Diane’s kitchen, and Beau, Neil, and Diane work on hanging the final stocking on the mantel.

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