Back to Life (35 page)

“No,
thank you for being an amazing brother and someone that the boys can look up
to. I love you too, big brother.”

He
smiled and then leaned in and kissed little Brody on his head. “You wear our
name proud, you hear, little man? You are named after both of your super cool
uncles, so you have some big shoes to fill.”

Liam
chuckled. “I think he’ll be up to the task. This little guy has some pretty big
shoes to fill as well, being named after two pretty amazing grandpas. You boys
have all kind of brains and bravery in your genes,” he said. Nick walked over
to Liam in that moment and pulled him into a tight hug, making sure not to
squeeze little Grayson’s head.

“This
means a lot that you would name your son after me. Thank you, brother,” he
said, and Liam smiled at him.

“You
are welcome, man. All of you guys are great men and are very important to me
and Rory, so there was no other choice in their names.”

I
smiled at all of them and said, “We love you guys. All of you,” I said.

“So,
does this mean when you have a girl she will be named after the three of us?”
Marissa joked, and we all laughed.

I
looked at Liam and smiled. “You see this? The boys are only two hours old and
they already have us down for having more kids.”

“I
want a whole soccer team, so bring it on,” he laughed, and leaned in and kissed
me. My own little soccer team…that sounded like heaven.

Two
Years Later

“Aww,
don’t you boys look handsome in your little suits!” I said to Gray and little
Brody. “Come here and let Mommy look at you.” I knelt down and they came
walking over to me, their chubby little hands out. “It’s not fair to Uncle
Brody for you two to look more handsome than he does.” They looked so cute in
their little tuxes they were both sporting fresh little faux hawk haircuts thanks
to me. Just like Liam and I hoped, they had his sandy blonde hair and facial
features, but they had my chestnut colored eyes. “I think you two may very well
be the cutest little guys on the planet,” I said as they giggled and rushed
into my arms. Gray and little Brody had just turned two years old last month,
and it was now April, and we were on our way into the city to Brody and
Marissa’s wedding at the Waldorf Astoria.

Liam
came walking out of the bathroom straightening his tie. He looked delectable in
his crisp Armani suit. “Hey, what about me? Are you saying our boys are more
handsome than their old dad?”

I
picked up Gray and Liam knelt down and lifted little Brody onto his hip. “Of
course they are. Although, you do run a very close second,” I said, and he
leaned in to kiss me. “You look gorgeous, husband.”

“You
don’t look so bad yourself, wife,” he said, running his eyes up and down my
floor length rose pink bridesmaid dress. “I can’t wait to get you out of this
dress later.”

“And
I can’t wait for you to,” I winked at him. “However, you need keep that thought
locked away because we need to go if we are going to get into the city and to
the hotel on time. I still need to do Marissa’s hair and makeup.” I kissed the
tip of Gray’s nose and said, “You boys ready to be ring bearers today?”

“I’m
weady Mommy,” Gray said.

“Me
too,” little Brody said, and Liam held out his hand so he could high five him.

“Okay,
then let’s go! Liam, grab the bags,” I said. I walked out the front door with
Gray and Liam, still holding little Brody, reached out and grabbed my tote with
all my styling equipment and products in it and the boys’ diaper bag and followed
me out, locking the door behind us. I put Gray in his car seat and made sure he
had his Sippy cup while Liam fastened little Brody into his. I grabbed his Sippy
cup and was handing it to him when I said, “Oh shi..I mean shoot.”

Liam
smiled at me. “Nice save, baby. What is it? Did you forget something?”

“Yeah,
I think I left the curling iron on in the downstairs bathroom. Can you go shut
it off while I get the boys situated?”

“Sure
thing, babe. I’ll be right out,” he said, and I got the boys comfortable and
then climbed into the passenger seat, waiting with bated breath for Liam to
come out of the house. I hadn’t left the curling iron on, but I did leave a
little something on the sink waiting for him to see. After a few moments, the
door flung open and he shut it quickly behind him as he half ran toward me, a
gorgeous smile on his handsome face. I got out of the car and met him halfway
and ran into his arms. He picked me up and twirled me around, my billowy dress
blowing in the wind. He held up three little white sticks in front of us and
said, “Baby, we’re pregnant?”

 I
nodded and smiled at him. “We’re pregnant,” I said, and he leaned in and kissed
me passionately for a few moments. “I took the test three times just to be
sure, but, yes. We’re having a baby!”

“When
did you find this out?”

“Last
week. I hope you aren’t mad, but I wanted to wait for a perfect moment to tell
you, but with you working such long hours in the city last week I decided I
would wait until I had you home for a few days, and today was the day. I also
have something else for you,” I said, and walking back to the car I grabbed
something out of my purse. “Here,” I said.

With
trembling hands, he took an ultrasound picture from me and said, “You went to
the doctor already?”

“Yes,
I’m sorry, but Dr. Jennings only had one opening last week and I couldn’t get a
hold of you in time. Are you mad?”

“No,
baby, of course not! So, is everything okay?”

“Everything
is great. I’m due on Christmas Eve,” I said, “and the good news is that there
is only one baby in there this time.”

He
smiled and traced the picture with his fingers. “So, this is our baby?”

“This
is our baby.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me again, and we both
relished the moment for a minute before we heard two fussy two year olds making
noise in the van. We smiled and broke apart and with one quick kiss we headed
back to the car and he opened the door for me. As soon as he was in the
driver’s seat, I smiled at him and said, “So, are you happy babe? We’re finally
working on that soccer team.”

“Rory,
I am so happy. I get to be a father again with the most wonderful mother in the
world, and our boys are going to be big brothers. No one is happier than I am
right now.” As he turned on the car and backed out of our driveway, we began
our drive into the city toward Brody and Marissa’s wedding, he placed his hand
on my belly and said, “And I want a girl this time.”

I
giggled. “You do, do you?”

“Yep,
and I have a good feeling already. I can feel the girl vibes coming out of this
little tummy right now. We have our future Yankees back there, now I want our punk
rock ballerina. She’s going to be rocking a hot pink tutu and everything,” he
said.

I
placed my hand over his. “Whatever you say, dad,” I said, and we drove on to
watch as another perfect couple was starting their lives together. If Brody and
Marissa only could feel one-tenth of the happiness I felt with Liam, our boys,
and our new baby, then their lives would damn near perfect.

Life
can be so funny sometimes. You think you are on the path to happiness and that
everything is perfect, but sometimes you are thrown a hell of a curveball and
things go the complete opposite of the way you plan. In my case, it took losing
something so precious to finally push through and find my happiness. It took a
lot of tears and heartbreak to get here, but looking back on all of it, in the
end it was worth it. I wouldn’t change one single thing because once you are
given a life you never knew you were meant for, you will fight like hell to
hold on to it.

The End

Wow…where
do I even start? It has been such a crazy roller coaster since “Say Yes” was
published, and I have met and connected to some truly wonderful people along
the way. First and foremost though, I have to thank my husband James and our
three beautiful daughters for allowing me to take this journey and giving me love
and encouragement as I told Rory and Liam’s story.

Thank
you to my family: my parents, siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces (thanks
for calling me a dick for the Christmas chapter in “Say Yes” Kristen, lol),
nephews, and everyone in between…I love you guys!

I
want to say a HUGE thank you and send lots of love to my wonderful coworkers at
Great Clips! I will say this until the day I die…I work with the most talented
and amazing women (and men, lol) that have ever walked the earth! They always
say “together we stand, divided we fall”, but I don’t believe that anymore. Our
salon was divided and broken in a very devastating way this year, but we proved
to the world that we won’t be broken and that we will conquer anything as long
as we have each other. I love you all with my whole heart, and I am truly
blessed and honored to be a part of our team. Tracey (our fearless leader),
Danielle, MeLisa, Erica, Janelle, Wendy, Alisha, Chelsey, Tiffany, Crystal, Seth,
Ronnie, and our beautiful angel Casey…you all have a place in my heart and I
will carry you with me always. McWheel ROCKS!

Thank
you to the amazing and talented authors I have met and connected with along the
way that have encouraged me to keep going if I feel like giving up, and have
given me tips to better myself all while trying to further their own work…you
are incredible! Kimberly Biller, Georgie Summer, Danielle Taylor, Chris Weber, and
Kat Collins (if I missed anyone, I’m so sorry, forgive me. It’s really late,
lol)…you talented bunch of people have inspired me, pushed me, “pimped” me, and
encouraged me along the way, and you all mean the world to me. You are some
crazy talented people, and I am blessed to have crossed paths with you! We have
got to meet up somewhere and do a round of shots!

I
want to thank my wonderfully devoted “beta-reader” Dawn Laurent Bourgeois, who
not only approached me on Facebook as a fan of “Say Yes”, but as someone that
was willing to take time out of their busy (and I mean BUSY) life to agree to
read “Back To Life” and painstakingly look through it for any crazy mistakes.
Thank you for offering to do this for me…you are such a sweet person and I am
forever grateful!

I
want to use this paragraph to thank some of the insanely talented authors out
there that inspired me to do this in the first place. (I’m aware that they
might not read this, but I’m having a fan girl moment, lol). Jay
Crownover…reading your ridiculously fantastic book “Rule” is what pushed me to
self-publish my first book. I didn’t even know such a thing existed until I was
lucky enough to come across your amazing work. You rock so damn hard, and dear
GAWD girl, keep those tattooed pieced up bad boys coming! Also thanks to Sophie
Monroe, Molly McAdams, Gail McHugh, Sylvia Day, Julie Richman, Sawyer Bennett, E.K.
Blair, H.B. Heinzer, Angela Graham, Kelly Jamieson, Terri Anne Browning (author
of the effing sexiest rock band series EVER “The Rocker” series...#teamDemonsWings4Life),
and the mother author of all dirty literature, E.L. James…without your
brilliant work I might never have been inspired to take this journey. Thank
you, my book muses!

Gotta
give props to my readers, because without them, let’s face it, we authors,
either Indie or not, would be NOTHING! Some I have met along the way that have
stayed with me are Dawn Laurent Bourgeois (you got two shout outs, girl!),
Samantha Charmain Campos, and Fiona Davies…you ladies rock and keep the
compliments coming, my head isn’t quite big enough yet, lol.

I
was crazy inspired to write Rory’s character in this book while listening to
some incredible music. Let’s face it…most of us writers are inspired by music
in our writing, are we not? The bands that most inspired me during the writing
process are Memphis May Fire, Dismember The Fallen, This City Falls, Countless
Goodbyes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Drive-By Truckers, Five Finger Death
Punch, Shinedown, ACDC, Adele, and Ghost Town, and so many more. Keep rocking,
and thanks for inspiring my bad ass rocker chic!

Last,
but definitely not least…thank you, Casey. I hope you knew what an impact you
had on me, and wherever you are flying, a piece of you will stay with me
always.

I
would like to encourage all the readers of this book to please,
please
make a donation to a special trust account set up for my friend Casey’s
children, who was tragically killed on July 13, 2013 due to domestic violence.
They are so young, and to have their beautiful mother taken in such a senseless
and brutal way is a daily struggle that they will never get over. Please donate
what you can to help her children as they struggle to move forward after the
loss of their mother. The information needed to make any donations can be found
at the following address. Please give what you can!