Page 39 of Forget Me Not
“You’re pregnant?”
I dropped to my knees, the bag hitting the ground beside me. My hands reached out and cupped her stomach as I pressed my lips to the protruding bump.
“Drake,” she spoke my name again.
“I’m so sorry. They wouldn’t let me out. They locked me up and wouldn’t call you or send word. I tried. God, did I try. I’m so sorry, baby.”
I stood and wiped at the tears streaming down her face. This woman was my world—my everything.
“You're here.”
I picked up my bag and stepped inside. “Can you forgive me, Kenz? I tried to come back to you… I swear.”
“It’s a girl,” she mumbled her words. “I thought I was going to have to tell her I failed and didn’t have a daddy for her or her brother. But you’re here.”
“I’m here.” I pulled her into my arms and kissed her like my life depended on it. “And I will never leave you again.”
“How can you be certain?”
“They fired me. And I don’t care. I want you. I want our family. If you’ll have me.”
Mackenzie pressed her head into my shoulder and let her sobs free. Her body shook against me as she let the stress of the last six months out. “When’s she due?” I pressed my palm over our daughter.
“Valentine’s Day.” Mackenzie smiled.
“Where’s Danny?” I scanned the house, realizing he wasn’t around.
“At your parents. I just got home from the doctor and needed a few moments to myself. Do you want to see your daughter?”
“What? How?”
Mackenzie took my hand in hers and led me to the kitchen. She opened her laptop and then pulled a disk out of her bag. I watch with utter fascination as she popped a DVD into the drive and clicked the screen to life. There in 3-D, my daughter moved around on the screen. It was a bizarre image, but beautiful, nonetheless. Mackenzie clicked something, and the room filled with a whooshing sound.
“Is that?” I took a deep breath, willing my tears back.
“Her heartbeat.”
This moment was worth the fight I had to endure to be here. I squeezed Mackenzie’s hand and smiled. “Marry me.”
“Huh?” She glanced up from the screen. “What did you say?”
I dropped to one knee. “Marry me. I’ve wasted too much of my life chasing something that was right here the whole time. You’ve survived without me, yet you never forgot me. Marry me. Let me love you for the rest of your life and mine. Make this union real and forget-me-not, Mackenzie. Forever and always is all I want.”
“Yes.” Mackenzie covered her face with her hands. Her eyes wet with tears. “I’ll marry you.”
I stood and scooped her into my arms. I wanted to lose myself in her, but there was one more person I needed to find.
“Come on. Let’s go tell our son the news.”
With our hands intertwined, we headed toward our future. This was our second chance at forever. Fate had given us this path to take one more time—and I wouldn’t fuck it up. Like the forget-me-not flowers that bloomed around her house, our love was truly enduring. Nothing—not even time could separate us. Our lives were meant to be one, now and forever.
Mackenzie
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I looked over at my husband affectionately.
We had a small ceremony right after he came home. Drake didn’t want to bring his daughter into the world in a divided house. And since Drake had a new identity, he adopted Danny to make everything official—even though he was Danny’s biological father anyway.
Danny was ecstatic his dad was back. But the best thing was seeing Drake hold our baby girl. Danny was a great big brother, and between him and her father—she was going to be well protected.
