Page 32 of With You

“I had some help from your father.”

As soon as Shade put the car into park, I unbuckled my seat belt and threw myself at him.

“You’re welcome, baby,” he said, his voice thick.

“God, Shade.” I kissed his cheek, turning his head to finally meet my mouth. “I’ll never be able to repay you for this.”

“Just marry me all over again. That’s all I want in return.”

“I’ll marry you every single day for the rest of our lives.” I kissed him one last time before sitting back in my seat.

“Let’s go. We’re a little late.”

“We are? But you said we had time,” I reminded him, leaving the vehicle.

“I always have time to make my wife feel better.” Shade came up to my side, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “You’re not mad that I did this without you, right?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Never. I’ve never had a surprise like this. Ever. I can’t...God.” I laughed, wiping the tears from my face.

“The only thing that would make this better, is if Sunny were here.” Shade kissed my cheek. “But I like to think he is in a way.”

I turned my head, placing a soft peck on his lips. “He is. Always.”

Shade took a step away from me and held out his hand. “Ready to renew our vows, baby?”

“Yes.” I slipped my fingers in his. “Always.”

As we neared the large crowd, we were greeted by our family and friends, people I had known my whole life, and people I had known for as long as I knew Shade. As the crowd parted and Shade and I continued walking, my eyes landed on Sunny’s grave.

A gasp lodged its way in my throat.

The headstone was done up with flowers, a row of white roses lined both sides of the grave. As we neared, I saw a picture frame sitting at the base of the stone. It was of Shade, Sunny, and I. I was in between them and they were kissing my cheeks.

Shade pulled his arm from my shoulders and brought my hand up to his mouth. “I love you.”

“I love you,” I whispered.

Pulling away from him, I went to the photo and picked it up. A light laugh left me at the memory hitting me.

“Do you remember when I took that?” Shade asked, stepping up behind me.

“Yeah.” I placed it back on the ground and stood.

“Do you remember what Sunny was doing?” he asked, brushing his mouth along my ear.

I swallowed hard, tears falling free. “He was fingering me,” I said, keeping my voice low so our family and friends wouldn’t overhear our conversation.

“He was.” Shade leaned his forehead against the side of my head. “What was I doing?”

“Fingering me too.” I snuggled into his side. You would never know just by looking at the picture that they were both touching me. It had been a private moment between us and I was thankful that we had caught it on camera. It was a memory I would always have.

“We loved doing things to you at the same time, baby. I know I can never replace what you had with him but I’m willing to make up for that loss in any way that I can.”

I leaned back, staring up at my husband.

He moved us to the head of Sunny’s headstone, with us standing across from each other. “The first moment I met you,” he said, his voice louder that time so everyone could hear. “I knew that you were meant to be ours. Sunny tried convincing me that it was all in my head. Since he had been hurt before, I understood his hesitation. But you came into our lives like a powerful little storm.”

I laughed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

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