Page 107 of Honest With You

Ava’s crying, her eyes shine with tears and she’s swiping at her cheeks as they stream down her face, but she’s smiling and laughing. She’s happy.

I don’t wait for a response. I set my guitar down and push up so I’m kneeling on one knee.

“Ava, without you there is no rhyme or melody or reason for being. But with you, every piece comes together. With you, there's everything. We're everything. Please marry me, sweet girl.”

She whimpers as her arms go around my neck, her face buried in my chest and she nearly topples us both over. She tangles her fingers in my hair as she whispers yes, and then my name, over and over again, raining kisses all over my face.

“I love you, Ava.”

We were inevitable and in that moment, what was over a decade in the making became as real as it’s ever going to get.

Epilogue

Iwipe my hands with a paper towel before turning the oven off and look around the kitchen to make sure all the mess from making dinner is cleaned up.

It took us a few months, but Jesse and I finally moved into a house in Calabasas, which of course my father went behind my back to buy for us. It’s his way of making up for time lost and becoming the father he’s always wanted to be.

“Alright, all the tables and chairs in here are done.” Stephen stretches his arms over his head, twisting his hips that are most likely sore from all the furniture building he’s done today.

“Thanks for helping, Stevie.”

“Anytime, Ace. What’s for dinner? ”

“Lasagna, salad, lumpia and garlic bread.”

Stephen claps his hands, sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar.

I kiss him on the cheek and he wraps an arm around my shoulder to hug me close.

“Tell me again why you didn’t hire movers instead?” Reese groans as she trudges into the kitchen and squeezes in between us. I take the hint and move away to sit on the stool next to them while Reese rests her head on Stephen’s shoulder and I take her hand.

A month ago, Reese broke down, confessing how much she missed the closeness the three of us shared before. She cried about how we never had time for each other anymore, despite working in the same building together. It prompted Stephen and I to get our priorities straight. Reese’s breakdown was our wake up call. We learned the art of delegation, hired and promoted more people to cover the holes in our staffing to enable us more time to spend with each other and our dad.

He’s currently on a trip around Asia, enjoying his retirement with his new girlfriend. Stephen and I hold down the fort at work. I’m now the appointed CEO of our companies, while Stephen serves as the CFO, learning that numbers were more his thing. Jesse was promoted by my dad, before he left the board entirely, to COO and we all settled into our roles rather quickly.

“Because I wanted the feeling of having my own home, Riri.”

She rolls her eyes. “Couldn’t you have done that while someone else carried all the heavy stuff?”

“Technically, I did.” Laughing, I rub the little bulge in my belly.

No one allowed me to carry anything today and I was banished to the bedroom, only being allowed to fold clothes until I got bored of that and went downstairs to the kitchen to make dinner for everyone.

Reese grins and puts her hand on top of mine and Stephen’s hand on hers. We all stare at the miracle growing inside of me for a beat.

A tear rolls down my cheek knowing how truly blessed I am to even have another opportunity at being a mom.

Shortly after getting back together, Jesse and I invited our family and closest friends to a barbeque at the compound, where we had a surprise intimate wedding in front of our favorite people.

We had invited his dad to come as well, but he declined saying he had to work. I did my best to soothe the sting by telling Jesse that he would have come if he knew it was a wedding. Even though we both knew that was a lie. Jesse’s dad is just a selfish bastard and I’m so happy Aunt Phoebe dumped him.

Luckily, his mom found love again and is now happily married to a wonderful man who dotes on her, treating her like the queen she is.

Speaking of husbands who dote on their wives, mine comes strolling in followed by Matt, Tyler and Ryder all sporting matching grins and beers.

I quirk an eyebrow at him, my eyes fastened on the drink in his hand. “I’m guessing the media room is done?”

Jesse grins sheepishly at me, setting the beer on the counter. He plants himself behind me as his arms wrap around me, his palms resting on my stomach.

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