Page 159 of Every Chance After

Mom, telling me that Wade asked her on a date, and she wanted my blessing before saying yes.

Gil, hitting it off very well with Ivy.

And finally, a breakthrough.

“They say things happen in threes,” Elena says, casually motioning toward Tamsyn and Willow before giving me and Grady a not-so-subtle wink.

Carmela chuckles. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful for the cousins to be in the same class at school?”

“A triple baby shower,” Tamsyn coos, rubbing her slightly extended belly.

“Hell, yes,” Colin chimes in. “One big party instead of three sounds great to me.”

“Enough with the baby pressure,” Mom says, eyes cutting in my direction. “It’s their wedding day.”

“Amen to that!” Mack says.

“Not everyone wants to jump on the baby bandwagon, anyway,” Mom says awkwardly.

Elena and Carmela look bothered before Elena says, “Better sooner than later. Marnie’s young, but Grady’s no spring chicken.”

Carmela says, “Can’t help the baby talk. It’s in the air.”

“It is, but not for me.” The words slip out nicely, but suddenly. I glance at Grady uneasily as all eyes fall on me. His sexy side smile encourages me that it’s okay. “Grady and I have decided not to have children.”

“What?” Carmela asks over Elena, who says nearly the same thing.

Smiling, always smiling, I take in my large, beautiful family, knowing it’s time. “I’m unable, but even if I could, we wouldn’t. We love it for the rest of you, but it’s not for us. We’re completely happy, exactly as we are.”

“And being the coolest aunt and uncle your kids have, no offense to the rest of you,” Grady laughs.

“Here, here!” Luke cheers, holding up his glass, and the rest join in. The party resumes with barely a ripple and a future that feels even more hopeful.

GRADY

It’s late. The house is finally quiet, the guests gone. Marina and I sit on the back porch, transfixed by the moonlight shimmering across the lake. We’re tired but elated, unable to let the night end. She sits on the railing, her back perched against a column. Her dress drapes over the side like a curtain, and her pale skin glows in the moonlight. I twist my wedding band around my finger, grateful and happy.

“It was the perfect day,” she says, almost dreamily. “Perfect, Grady. Thank you.”

“It’s not over yet.”

She turns toward me, brow cocked and lips curling into a smile. I know that smile—she’s thinking sex. “Just so you know, I’m sleeping in this dress and never taking it off.”

I laugh. “Oh, you’ll take it off. I’ll make sure. But that’s not what I mean.”

Her head tilts, eyeing me in that skeptical way of hers, like right before I make a move in chess. “Whatever do you mean, then, husband?”

Her giggle feels like magic in my chest. I love hearing her call me husband. “I have a gift for you.”

She gapes, her eyes going wide. “This entire day has been a gift for me?—”

“For us.”

“Grady, you’ve done too much already.”

“I could never do enough for you. And it’s not just our wedding day.” I reach behind my chair for the wrapped gift behind it. She takes the floral-wrapped rectangle, eyeing it with giddy curiosity before ripping it open.

She runs her fingers over the leather notebook, smiling as she reads the words, “Travel journal” on the front. “It’s beautiful.”

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