42
Damian
* * *
“Why were you not afraid that she wouldn’t come back?” Maple asked me during our now weekly cat-piss-tea-drinking sessions. “When I met you, you had a wall built, and the old you would’ve left and never looked back. What changed?”
I smiled and shrugged. “The Stella effect. Plus, I saw it, you know. Her fear from the idea of losing you or me. I knew that fear because it lived so long within me. My hurt noticed hers, and I was more than willing to be patient.”
“Thank you, Damian,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “For not running away. Thank you for staying.”
“I’m not the only one who stayed. She needed you, too. We both did.” I glanced at my watch. “I should go check in on her and make sure she’s okay. But thanks for the conversation, Maple.” I stood and gave her a hug.
As she squeezed me, my heart almost exploded within my chest as she said, “Please, Damian. Call me Grams.”
The next few months leading up to the delivery of the baby were the most beautiful yet nerve-racking months of both Stella’s and my life. This time, we made deeper vows for one another, ones that we didn’t make over nine months ago when we stood at the coastline.
We promised each other to stay until the final chapter of our lives. We promised to stay during the storms, and stay during the bright days, too. We promised each other forever—even when we were scared.
And trust me, fear did come.
“I got the bag!” I shouted, rushing out of the house and slamming the door behind me. I got to the car, tossed the bag into the back seat, and then hopped into the driver’s seat and drove out of the driveway.
“I can’t believe it’s time,” I said out loud. Then I reached over to hold Stella’s hand.
Oh, fuck me.
I forgot Stella.
Seconds later, I came dashing back into the house. “I forgot a wife!” I exclaimed, hurrying over to her. “I guess I’ll need you to deliver the baby.”
She laughed, holding her hands against her back. She’d been having back pain and hadn’t been sleeping well, but she said that was just getting her ready for the lack of sleep that came with a newborn.
The delivery went smoothly. I was there for the whole thing, holding Stella’s hand as she cried out. Then when the baby girl was born, I swore the room lit up with more light. She was placed on Stella’s chest, and Stella cried into her blessing.
I cried, too, because fuck…it was overwhelming in the best way.
“Do you want to hold her?” Stella asked, looking toward me.
“Please,” I agreed.
She placed her in my arms, and just like that, I fell in love.
As Sophie’s eyes stared up at mine, brown like her mother’s, I knew that instant love was a thing. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever witnessed, and it felt like a privilege to be near her.
I placed my lips against the little girl’s forehead and realized at that moment that I would forever be wrapped around her finger, at her beck and call.
“Welcome home, Sophie Blackstone,” I whispered, repeating the kisses against her forehead.
Home.
Not a place, but a person. People. Stella and Sophie.
Home.
As I looked into the eyes of my daughter, I couldn’t explain the overwhelming sense of joy that filled me.
“Stella?” I whispered, holding our daughter against my chest.
“Yes?”
“Marry me again this fall?”
She smiled and lay her head against the pillow as we stared at one another in complete bliss. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Stella
Three Months Later
* * *
The ceremony had many of the same elements as the last time. Aaliyah and Connor attended again. This time, with Grant, who was getting cuter each day. Maple still officiated the ceremony, and there were still blueberry scones as our something blue.
There were a few different things this go-around, though. Connor volunteered to walk me down the aisle, and when I arrived, Damian was holding our daughter in his arms. My world stood before me, and I stared in complete awe at the two.
“Hi there,” I whispered.
“Hello,” he replied.
My nerves were nonexistent, yet the butterflies remained. I wore a white gown with flowers in my hair, and once I reached the altar, I felt Kevin and Mama’s kisses against my toes as the waves slowly came and went.
At the end of this ceremony, I wore Blackstone at the end of my name and signed paperwork to officially make Sophie his daughter.
By the grace of the ocean, we were a family.
The Blackstones.
The happily ever after to our own unique fairy tale.
Damian
Five Years Later
I didn’t know love was something that kept growing.
Over the past five years, I’d fallen in love with Stella more and more each day. I’d fallen in love with the love of self that she’d deserved. After Sophie was born, Stella made it her mission to truly dive into understanding her emotions. From learning how to sit a while with sadness to understanding how to work her way out of said emotion. She not only wanted to learn and grow for her own betterment, but she wanted to make sure our daughter would also have the tools needed to work through her own feelings.