“Cheers!”
I locked eyes on Liam as we all brought our drinks to our lips. He told me it was okay to have a little, but still, I faked my sip. And I tried not to giggle as Aria caught me, craning her neck to look into my full glass and flashing me a look that said no fucking way. “I was going to tell you tonight,” I whispered to her as the guys launched into their half-drunken nostalgia. She bounced in her seat like a crazy person, tears welling instantly in her eyes.
“Boy or girl – do you know?”
My cheeks flushed with a joy I couldn’t contain as I gazed down at my belly. Three months in, I wasn’t quite showing, but still, I had a pretty good hunch. “Girl,” I said. Aria squealed before I added, “I think. I mean that’s what I feel.”
She shot me a look. “Dude, that’s not how it works,” she snorted.
“I know. But I have a feeling.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not up to you, ding-dong. It’s up to nature.”
I flinched momentarily at her words but then smirked. “Yeah, well. I think nature and I are more in tune that anyone thinks.”
“You know what, fuck it, I believe you. Cheers again, and this time, I’m drinking yours ‘cause I’m already done with mine.”
We touched our mugs together and I coated my lips with the sweet champagne before giving Aria my share.
That night, as I lay in bed with Liam, I enjoyed the fact that he was actually knocked right out for once. In the nine months that he’d been out of jail, he still hadn’t quit his habit of sleeping only after I had dozed off. It was just innate for him – the part of his body that was wired to protect me. But tonight, after his monster fight against Walsh, he was finally breathing softly and steadily behind me, his arm around my waist and his hand cupped just under my belly.
Lying there in his arms, I stared out the window. Despite the hazy New York sky, I spotted a star. Then another, and another. In the dark of our new bedroom, I smiled out at the three shimmering lights. I couldn’t remember the last time I was relaxed enough to look at the stars. Nestling back into Liam’s chest – still my favorite place the world – I tried to think of any remaining doubts. Anything in my life that wasn’t utterly perfect anymore.
I had been told by so many people that I wouldn’t find peace. As much as I didn’t want to, I still remembered my mother’s exact words to me. “The path you’ve chosen won’t lead to happiness. If you really think you’re going to stumble into some happily ever after with Liam, you are shockingly stupid for someone so full of deceit.”
I was pretty confident the deceit part was over. All my secrets had been aired out to the world, and strangely enough, I had never felt lighter. My mother migh
t still pin her blame on me, but I was validated by a million strangers who knew the truth. But more important than that, I knew the value now in the one opinion that did matter, and that one belonged to the father of my child.
No one expected us to find happiness together. I had a feeling some of our friends even worried for us, wondering how we’d survive blow after blow after blow. But every hit that knocked us down saw us standing back up. Liam was strong, I’d become stronger, and together, we were bulletproof. We’d taken every beating, risen past every battle and finally found ourselves in that quiet place where we could start a life. If this wasn’t happily ever after, I wasn’t sure what was. With my husband holding me in our bed, a second heartbeat inside me, we were the undeniable winners of this fight. My mind relaxed toward slumber because I realized we were officially past our world of skeptics. Together, as a couple, Liam and I were undefeated, in possession of everything in our lives that we had ever wanted.
Plain and simple, we were happy.
I was happy.
Boom.
* * *
The End
For Liam and Sasha’s Second Prologue from Wrong,
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