Page 134 of Waiting for Redemption

“A surprise? What are you two up to?” Ruby and Hendrix give each other a sly grin and Ruby nods to Hendrix, moving to grab something from her beach bag. Hendrix jumps over nothing, throwing sand all over me as he plops down on my leg.

“I want you to be my dad,” he says, making me rear back a little. I look over at Ruby who still has her back to me, then back at Hendrix.

“What are you talking about, bud? I am your dad.” I tickle his side, making him fold like a table before he sits back up and looks straight into my eyes, the sun making the brown in his irises look almost golden.

“No, I meanlethally.” My head snaps to Ruby who is now holding an envelope out to me.

“Legally,” she corrects.

“Right. I want you to adopt me,” Hendrix says, making my heart skip and my nose sting with emotion. I feel frozen in the moment, but when Ruby gives me a nod, gently extending the envelope further, I open it and pull out adoption papers, looking first at Hendrix who is grinning ear to ear, then back at Ruby.

“If you want to, all you have to do is sign,” she says, looking at me with hopeful anticipation.

“Of course I do. You got a pen in that bag of yours?” She smiles, bringing her other hand around from behind her back with a pen in it. I sign them so quickly there’s no chance you’ll be able to make out my name, but I can’t even care at this point. I pick Hendrix up, squeezing him in a hug as he grunts before wrapping his arms around my neck, squeezing me just as hard.

“I love you, Hendrix.”

“I love you, too, Dad.” When I put him back down, he grabs a bag of chips from the beach bag and starts snacking like everything is perfectly normal.

Meanwhile, I’m trying not to bawl like a baby in the middle of this fucking beach. I pull Ruby to her feet, grabbing her thighs before wrapping them around my waist. She shakes her head, letting her long black hair blow in the wind as my hands rest beneath her denim shorts.

“Three years ago, I walked into a bar to apply for a job I never even wanted to take, and was immediately intrigued by the gorgeous bartender with quick-wit and a soul-healing smile. I willneverunderstand what I did to deserve the privilege of calling you my wife but I love you more than life, Ruby Landry. And even though I think we should have keptyourlast name ‘cause it waswaycooler.” She lets her head fall back in laughter. “I am honored that you’ve taken mine, and allowed your son to take it as well.”

“Ourson. I’ll never think of it any other way. We both love you more than you’ll ever know and I can’t wait to watch how much our new little one will fall in love with you too.” I take her lips with mine, silently promising her a life full of love, laughter, honesty, and a safe place to run whenever she needs it.

“Party’s here!” I hear Taylor’s voice call from a few feet away.

“Aunt Taylor!” Hendrix yells, running to meet her.

“Hey, birthday boy! You ready for some s’mores?”

“Heck yeah! Are you making them?” he asks, making her shake her head.

“Absolutely not. S’mores have some sort of cruel vendetta against me, but Uncle Tucker’s got you covered.”

All of our friends managed to take the weekend to come down to the beach to celebrate Hendrix’s birthday with us. Watching as everyone gathers around to start a fire, seeing the way they all love Hendrix and go the extra mile to show up for him, makes me grateful I found myself in the middle of this found family. I’m no longer waiting for redemption, I’mlivingit. Every day that I wake up married to Ruby, committed to the vows I made to love and protect her and Hendrix—as well as whoever this new baby will be—reminds me of why I was given a second chance. And I won’t waste a single second of it being anything but grateful.

EPILOGUE

TANK

4 MONTHS LATER…

“We wantto thank you all for coming out to show your support, for everyone who has donated toThe Veterans Centerto make this second location possible, and for the volunteers who will be here helping make sure our Veterans are getting the best possible care. You are making a bigger difference than you could possibly realize, so again, thank you,” I announce from the middle of the common area.

The grand opening of the second location ofThe Veterans Centerhas gone over better than we could have imagined. Having the investors come and see what their money is going towards was my lovely wife’s idea and it was genius, of course. I scan the room, my eyes landing on her within seconds, the same way they always have, admiring the way she looks in her fitted purple dress with our baby proudly on display beneath it. She’s due any day now and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t growing impatient to meet the little nugget. Her eyes meet mine while we’re both in mid-conversation, but I know the look without her having to utter a word.

It’s baby time.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment, thank you so much for coming out.” I rush to Ruby’s side, seeing a thin layer of sweat already coating her forehead as I wrap my arm around her back.

“I’m sure Taylor is so excited you’re moving back. Congratulations on getting traded.” She smiles at Sawyer, nonchalantly wrapping up their conversation as she turns to walk with me.

“Honey,” I start as she lets out a long breath.

“I’ve been having contractions since we got here, but it’stime. We gotta go.” We start moving towards the door quickly as I look around for Asher.

“You’ve been in active labor for over an hour? And you didn’t think you should tell me that?”

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