“Alyson Dawson, would you do me the honor of starting out 2020 as my fiancée?” Tears spring to her eyes, love radiating from them as she looks from the ring back up to me. “You’re my entire world, Aly, and it doesn’t exist without you. What do you say, darlin’? Will you be mine forever?” We are down to the last ten seconds of 2019 and the crowd starts going wild with chanting.
“Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?” she screams as she looks from me to the crowd and back to me. “A thousand times yes!”
I stand up and take off her glove to put the three-carat emerald-cut diamond on her finger. She barely even glances at the ring before throwing herself into my arms and crushing her lips to mine. I feel congratulatory pats on my back from Seth and some of the other guests, but I tune them out, my focus only on my future bride and starting this year off with a boom.
Extended Epilogue
ALY
8 months later
I STAND IN my normal position on the side of the stage, watching my man strut his sexy self back and forth to the delight of the crowd. It’s been three months since we got married, and it feels like we went from the wedding straight to touring the country festivals with his friend, Patty Douglas. It was a last-minute invite, one Gavin really couldn’t afford to pass up, but nevertheless, we are grateful for this opportunity.
Gavin’s new album just came out last month from his new record label, and it’s smoking up the charts. Not only that, but he has a couple songs he co-wrote with other artists being played all over the radio. This tour is our honeymoon, and being newlyweds on the road isn’t as glamorous as it seems, but I’ve never been happier. I’m fulfilling my dreams of finding a man who loves me, working in the music industry with him, and traveling. I didn’t think life could get any better.
But life is full of surprises, and lucky for us, those surprises all seem to be good ones.
The song ends to the roar of the crowd and Gavin’s guitar player, Neil, looks over at me. I nod at him, a mischievous smile playing on my lips. Gavin is always doing crazy, outrageous, surprise gestures of love for me, and now I have one to give him in return.
“What’s up, Chicago?” Neil screams into the microphone, and Gavin gives him a funny look, noting that Neil is going rogue. “Are you having a good time?”
The crowd goes wild as the house lights go on for us to see all of them.
“We want to thank everyone for coming out and seeing us tonight. Now, normally, I let Gavin do all the talking during his show, but I had a feeling he was going to keep something very important to himself tonight.”
Gavin starts to laugh at Neil, knowing full well what Neil’s referring to.
“It’s this sexy beast’s birthday today!”
The crowd starts to cheer, and Sosie and I grab the shot trays I ordered. We walk on stage for the guys to drink a celebratory shot. We hand them out until they’re gone and stay on stage to celebrate with the band.
“You sneaky little minx,” Gavin whispers in my ear before kissing me hard on the lips. I hand him his shot, and the band with thousands of people in the crowd start to sing “Happy Birthday.” We toast to Gavin after the song is done, but I stay on stage, with one more surprise up my sleeve.
“Gavin’s wife, Aly, has a present for him that she wanted him to open on stage. She thinks it might help him perform a little better for you guys,” Neil jokes, causing the crowd to cheer louder.
I take the thin, long box out of my pocket and hand it to Gavin, who looks at it confused. “Darlin’, I don’t need any presents from you, and this really looks too small to be a new microphone.”
My heart starts pounding in my chest as he takes off the bow and rips off the paper. I suddenly feel queasy, wondering if this is even a good idea, because he might not like the gift.
He opens up the lid of the box, his smile fading as he stares at the positive pregnancy test. He looks up from it, his gaze starting at my belly before meeting my eyes. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see tears of joy spring to his eyes.
“You’re not messing with me, right?” He gently embraces me and whispers in my ear, “I’m really going to be a daddy?”
I laugh and grasp the sides of his face. “You’re going to be the best daddy in the whole universe.”
“I fucking love you, Alyson McNeer.” He kisses me hard, his tongue demanding entrance into my parted lips, not caring we are in front of thousands of people. I kiss him back with heat and desperation, a silent promise of more to come later.