Page 98 of My Song for You
Jared took it from me and smiled. “Have I mentioned that I love you?”
“You might have mentioned it once or twice while we were making love.”
“Good. Because I do.” He reached under his pillow. “And I have something for you.” He opened his fist, revealing the engagement ring in his palm. “Will you, Callie Louisa Talbert, be my wife?”
The smile on my face could have lit up the entire street during a power outage. “I will.”
Epilogue
Jared
SIXMONTHSLATER
I kneeled in front of Logan in the room that once had belonged to me but had since been converted into a guest room. My son was even more adorable than normal, dressed in his black tuxedo. “How do I look?” I asked.
Normally I wasn’t one to dress up in a tux. None of the guys in the band were. Jeans and T-shirts were our outfit of choice. But even though Callie had told me she didn’t care what I wore today, I had insisted the guys and Logan dress up.
“You look great, Daddy. What about me?”
My heart pounding from excitement, not nerves, I straightened his tie. The tuxes were black, the vests and ties bronze. “You look great too. I think Mommy’s going to approve of us both.”
Logan grinned, revealing the new gap where he was missing his bottom front tooth. The tooth fairy had paid him a visit last night. It was one of those milestones I’d been lucky enough to witness. Fortunately, Endless Motion had scheduled a week off due to some other obligations. It wasn’t enough time for a honeymoon, but it allowed enough time for Callie and me to have one night together alone, and for me to spend more time with her and Logan as a family. Callie’s adoption of Logan had gone through last week. In the eyes of the court, she was now his legal mother.
I stood up. “And you have the rings?” I asked Nolan, my best man.
He chuckled. “Yep, just like I did the last five times you asked me. Don’t worry, everything is gonna be okay.”
“Unless she’s changed her mind,” Mason not-so-helpfully added.
I scowled at him.
His hands went up in surrender. “Hey, just kidding. I might not be the settling-down type, but I can tell that what you and Callie have is solid.”
Logan looked at him with a hopeful expression, waiting for Mason to accidentally curse. With us away on tour, his swear jar was woefully empty.
The bedroom door opened and my father poked his head into the room. “We’re ready.”
“So Callie hasn’t bailed yet?” Mason said.
Kirk cuffed him on the back of his head.
“What the fuck did you do that for?” he said to Kirk, then without missing a beat, he turned to Logan. “I’ll give you the money after the ceremony.”
Logan grinned back at him. While the bulky drummer might’ve intimidated some people, Logan just saw him as Uncle Mason, the man who was bankrolling Logan’s future aspirations.
My father took his grandson’s hand and led him to my parents’ bedroom, where the women were getting ready. I hadn’t seen Callie since arriving home last night from touring. She’d stayed at her apartment. Logan and I had stayed with my parents. It took everything I had not to enter the room and kiss her, to throw away the tradition of not seeing the bride before the wedding.
Okay, knowing what the three women with Callie would’ve done to me might have also had something to do with my decision not to break tradition.
The guys and I headed outside to the gazebo. Two simple yet rustic flower arrangements—created from sticks, white gauze, and fall flowers—were attached to either side of the entrance. A couple dozen folding seats, covered in white fabric, faced the wooden structure. Family and friends currently occupied the chairs.
Standing in front of the gazebo entrance was a friend of Aaron’s in a gray tuxedo. Richard was an ordained minister and had been happy to take part in the ceremony. I shook hands with him and took my place.
A movement at the kitchen door grabbed my attention. I looked over, as did everyone seated in the chairs. Because of Logan’s cochlear implant, we had forgone the usual music. We wanted him to hear the ceremony.
Kristen stepped from the house first, holding Emma’s hand and a small bouquet of red, orange, and yellow flowers. Her strapless dress was light green and simple, revealing her six-month baby bump. Emma, though, was the one who stole the show in her lacy white dress. A bronze sash had been tied around her waist, and she was carrying a small basket of flower petals.
As they drew closer, Emma let go of her mother’s hand and toddled over to me. “Hi.” She offered me the basket.
