Dissipate

Aiden kissed me hard, then released me with a handsome grin on his face. As he knelt on one knee, he pulled out a black velvet box.

“Kenzie Brooks, I love you. I fell for you the moment I ran into you trying to catch that pass with the football.” I let the giggle escape I’d been holding in before he continued, “I know we’re young, but I know this is forever. Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Jubilation pumped through my veins as I fully committed myself to the man I loved. I was where I was supposed to be, with Aiden. He was my present and my future. Because of my mom’s choices and Matthew’s sacrifice, I’d found the love of my life.

Aiden stood and slipped on a beautiful square emerald ring that was edged with diamonds. “This r

eminded me of your green eyes. I know it’s not the traditional ring, but it—”

I kissed him hard to stop his thoughts. “I love it. It’s perfect. It’s us.”

“It’s forever.”

Six years later . . .

“ANNALYN, IT’S TIME to go.”

“Momma, just one more minute?” My little girl with red curly hair and green eyes looked at me, pleading.

Annalyn was another blessing in my life that came from my mother’s murder. If I hadn’t left The Society, I’d never met Aiden. When Annalyn came into this world, I understood how the love of a child could alter someone’s decisions. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. Motherhood was one of the greatest blessings of all. I enjoyed every second of it.

I nodded. “One more minute, then we need to go see Gram and Gramps.”

Aiden’s parents loved having grandchildren. I was blessed to have Pamela and Kenneth in my life, who I now called Mom and Dad. They loved me like one of their own and I treasured my family.

“Okay, Momma.”

Annalyn raced back toward the play set. We’d stop along the way to Aiden’s parents’ home, about sixty miles outside Nevada, Missouri to let Annalyn stretch her legs. We avoided that town, still to this day. Anytime I saw the city name on signs, I shivered and had to push all the wretched memories aside.

I focused back on my little miracle as she jumped about. Aiden and I had gotten married two months after graduating college, then had Annalyn two years after that.

Mike, Brooklyn, and their infant, Thomas, would be at Pamela and Kenneth’s, too. We hadn’t seen Thomas since he was born and now he was five months old. I loved being an aunt. I loved everything about my life.

Wrapping his hands around me, Aiden whispered in my ear, “I think we need another one.”

“I think you’re right.” His touch brought the familiar butterflies I’d never tire of feeling. For the past few weeks, I’d felt like I was ready again to have another baby and had casually mentioned it to Aiden. Birth control had stopped immediately.

Annalyn squealed in excitement as she spun the wheel on the board of activities that was connected to the jungle gym. We chuckled as we watched our daughter play.

Breath tickled my ear. “We’ll start trying tonight when Annalyn goes to sleep.”

“I can’t wait.” Anticipation bloomed in my stomach. After all these years, I couldn’t’ get enough of my husband.

Aiden had followed his dream and became a journalist. I’d become a research analyst. However, since Annalyn had been born, I’d quit working and only helped Aiden on his reporting assignments. For now, all I wanted to do was focus on being a mom and a wife. Enjoy it. Savor it. Time moved too fast not to live in the moment. Time was something we could never get back. Once it was gone . . . it was gone. This was a lesson I was acutely aware of.

Aiden rubbed his hands on my stomach sending tingles through me. “I’m already imagining a little boy.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I chuckled, knowing we had no control over the sex of the baby.

He kissed my neck. “I’d say our forever is turning out better than I dreamed.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Peace. That was what I had now on top of everything else. My life was complete.

As we got back into the car, Annalyn was buckled into her seat by Aiden. Tired from running around for the last hour, her little eyes shut. It was amazing how she could go from full throttle to out in a nanosecond. For naptime, Annalyn would probably sleep the rest of the way to Aiden’s parent’s house.

Getting into the passenger seat, I noticed a man in a tall hat with white hair. He walked across the playground. For a mere moment, he looked back over his shoulder, checking his surroundings. I knew those eyes anywhere. They belonged to the Keeper and his son, John.