NINE
Gavin
Five Years Later…
“Where’s Record and Callie?”Lyla asks as soon as she opens the door and I roll my eyes.
“They’re coming right behind me,” I assure her.
She nods, smiling down at where my daughter, Ivy, is fast asleep in her car seat.
“Did she just fall asleep?” she asks.
I nod. “Yeah, on the way over here.”
She waves me inside and I follow her through the house and onto the back deck. It’s the last day of summer and everyone decided to get together for a barbeque. We’re over at Lyla and Hudson’s place since he was doing most of the cooking, but I can’t complain. They live right on the water and their house is huge, so there’s more than enough room for all of us.
“Hey, man,” Flynn says as I set Ivy’s car seat down in the shade on the deck.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
He’s got a kid half asleep on his shoulder and I smile as she starts to drool on his shirt.
“Pretty good. You’re the last to arrive. Where’s your better half and Callie?” he asks, and I grin.
I married Record four years ago. I knew that she was the one for me after our day together breaking the curse, but Record had a lot of memories and other things to work through. The first summer she was here and living with Callie was pretty rough for her. She’s been in therapy ever since her parents left town, and that’s actually where she is right now.
Sometimes she and Callie do group therapy, both of them trying to work through the trauma of their childhood. They’ve both come a long way. Callie went to cosmetology school and works at the salon over in Lilac Harbor. She lives there with her husband. She actually just got married last year and had Record as her maid of honor.
Both sisters cut off their parents and have only grown closer over the last five years. I couldn’t be prouder of her, of both of them actually. They’ve both come so far from when I first met them, but I know that it hasn’t been easy for either of them, especially Record. So many things that her parents and sister told her, or rather blamed on her, had to be untangled.
She opened up to me when we were dating more, and every time she did, I would hold her while she cried and reassured her that she did nothing wrong. There were still times when she would try to pull away from me because she was convinced that she was going to hurt me, or rather the curse was. It was hard to see her beat herself up, and I vowed to kill her parents if they ever came near her again.
They haven’t. I think that they got the message the last time that they were here because they haven’t tried to reach out since. Last we heard of them, they had lost their house and had left Michigan and headed south. Neither girl tried to find out where they went. They were both just happy to be done with them.
I was worried that their lack of a bond or connection would hurt Record, but she’s made a new family here, one who loves and supports her no matter what. Callie has become her biggest cheerleader and I know that it means a lot to Record.
There are still times when Record blames herself or stresses about the curse. The first time that I got hurt fixing a car when she was around was a big one, but we’ve worked on it a lot in the last five years, and now she seems to be better.
The trauma and lies that her family put her through took a while to untangle, but she’s happy now and an amazing mother to our little girl.
Ivy stirs in her car seat and I move to unbuckle her as the front door opens and Record’s familiar blue hair comes into view. Callie is right behind her, and I stand and give a small wave as they head my way.
“Hey,” I greet my wife, and she grins at me.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.”
“We just got here too,” I tell her. She leans up to kiss me.
Ivy reaches for her right away and I let Record take her from my arms.
“How’s my little baby?” she coos at Ivy and I smile as I watch them interact.
Record is exactly the type of mom that she deserved, that we all deserve. She’s patient and loving. She would do anything for our girl and for me, and I know that I’m damn lucky to have her as my wife.
“Did you miss Auntie Callie?” Callie coos at Ivy and she laughs, smacking her hands together.
“That’s a yes then, huh?” Record says with a laugh.