Prove Me Right (25 page)

The guys stop a few feet from us, and one by one, our family surrounds us so we’re in the center of the circle. Mike counts down, and Liam pulls me into his embrace. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his chest, relishing his touch.

Gabe and Jamie begin strumming their guitars and Mike’s coarse yet captivating voice belts out a song I’ve never heard before. He sings of reasons for breathing and beauty that takes the breath away. A love too strong to break, even through all the pain. His song is our story and couldn’t be any more perfect.

I hold Liam a little tighter and he leans down and kisses my cheek.

A cool sensation on my neck makes me jump, and I take a half of a step back and watch as he places my necklace back on. I’ve felt naked without it and am so pleased he kept it. There’s a thicker chain than before and I giggle a little as I run my fingers along it resting on my collarbone.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“I like your song,” I whisper against his lips.

“I like you.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too, princess.”

* * *

Aside from wishing Lisa and Declan were here, this night has gone better than I imagined. I feel horribly for what Lisa is going through, but she’s refusing to see anybody. Until she grants us the ability to try to help, then there’s nothing anybody can do but pray.

We’re all sitting in the backyard around a fire and I’m dying to know more about this Ruby chick Pierce brought with him. He’s never brought a woman home, and the fact that he did spikes my curiosity. Granted, this was just supposed to be a housewarming party. She’s super cute, looks really young, but holy shit is she quiet.

“Hey, married woman,” Pierce scoots over on his log, and I sit next to him.

“Hi.” I bump him with my shoulder and lean past him to see Ruby. “Are you having fun?”

“Yes. Thank you and congratulations again.”

“Thanks. You two are pretty cute yourselves.”

Her face becomes flush and her eyes widen.

“Meara,” Pierce growls.

Shit. I didn’t know she was so sensitive. “Sorry. I was just kidding.”

“Hey, I’m gonna take off.” Nik walks up and—thank God—breaks the awkward tension. Since last week, he’s been moody and closed off. He feels guilty about what happened to Lisa, and he is holding an unwarranted grudge against himself. “Congratulations, Mrs. Meara Anders.”

“Why thank you, Mr. Nik Nervetti.”

Ruby drops her plastic cup and beer splashes all over our feet.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” She frantically stands and trips on Pierce’s legs, but he catches her with his cat-like reflexes.

“Hey, you’re fine,” Pierce whispers.

“No biggie, we all spill beer.” Nik attempts to laugh it off, but she freezes.

“Nik?” she asks.

He nods and she covers her mouth as tears fill her eyes. “Nikolas Marco Nervetti?”

His brows scrunch together. “Yes.”

“Oh, my God,” she whispers, lower lip trembling. “I have to get out of here. I’m so sorry.” She pushes past Pierce, and he follows her without looking back.

“What the hell was that?” I ask.

“I’m not quite sure. But I’m going to find out.”

Nik follows them and when I look around our backyard, every single person has stopped mid-sentence or mid-drink and are watching the three of them leave.

“Well, that was interesting,” I mutter under my breath.

Slowly, the noise starts to pick back up again and everyone resumes their normal activities. Travis and Charlotte walk over with Caroline and their new baby boy, Sean Brandon, who they named after Char’s dad—my uncle—and, of course, Travis’ brother, Brandon.

“We’ve gotta get going,” Charlotte whispers and points at the sleeping baby in Travis’ arms. Caroline is hanging on Char’s leg wiping her eyes.

“Got some tired babies, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m so happy for you, Meara. Really so happy.” She looks back at Liam, who is sitting next to his brother laughing. “You guys deserve this so much.”

“Thank you.” I pull her in for a hug and lower my voice so Caroline can’t hear. “Love you, bitch.”

She laughs and squeezes me a tad tighter. “Love you, too.”

“Bye, baby girl.” I pinch Caroline’s pudgy cheek and give her a kiss. “Bye, Travis.”

“Bye, Meara. Congratulations.”

“Get out of here, kids, the adults want to have fun.” I shoosh them away and Char flips me off behind her back. She’s the baby of the family, so we all love giving her shit about it.

“We’re taking off, too.” Mary and Brandon walk up to me just as I’m about to sit down by Lee. He stands up and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

“Thank you for making the drive up here. You guys didn’t have to come, but I’m so glad you did. You’re part of our family whether you like it or not.”

Mary looks at Brandon and smiles; their journey one almost as long as Liam’s and mine.

Brandon takes the baby from Mary’s arms and pats his little padded bottom. It amazes me how these big strong men are such weaklings around these itty-bitty babies.

They drove up from Chicago tonight, and I am so grateful. When Travis came into our lives years ago through being friends with Pierce, I never would have known that he would be the one to make my cousin happy for the first time in way too long. And that with him would come a wonderful set of parents and an amazing brother and his wife. I’m so lucky to have all of these fabulous people in my life.

They named Baby Steven after Brandon’s father, and they used Travis for his middle name. It was so sweet the night in the hospital when they said their baby’s names and the brothers both had to look at the floor so they didn’t embarrass themselves with the emotion they felt.

“Congrats, guys.” Brandon shakes Liam’s hand and gives me a one-armed hug.

“Mary, I told Char, too, but let me know when you’re ready to have a night away from the baby. It’s been too long since we’ve all gone out.”

“Okay, I will for sure. Bye, guys!”

On their way out, Brandon wraps Mary’s long ponytail in his hand. She leans her head on his shoulder, and he kisses the top of her head.

“Are they cuter than us?” I ask Liam.

“Nobody’s cuter than us.”

“Damn straight.”

Chapter 29

Liam

WATCHING THESE PEOPLE SING
karaoke is probably the highlight of my week. Not only is it funny as shit, but I get to play music, even if it is pop music. It’s still me and a piano, and it works. The pub is busy and business is good.

My girl, no … my wife smiles and waves at me from behind the bar. She laughs when I cringe at the woman singing. After her song is done, I take a break and walk behind the bar to grab a bottle of water. I kiss Meara as she walks by and a couple of people sitting down hoot and holler.

“Stop distracting me when I’m trying to play.” I lean on the counter and stretch my neck.

“You’re the one distracting me.” She hands a drink to a customer and then turns her attention back to me. “Stop being so cute.”

“Cute?”

She flicks her hand in the air. “Cute, hot, sexy … whatever. You know what I mean.”

“No. I’m not sure. Maybe you can show me later.” I wiggle my eyebrows dramatically, and she slaps my arm.

“Is that all you think about?”

“With you? Yes. All day every day.”

“Oh, my God. Shut up!”

“Jesus, you guys have been married for a week now. Stop flirting in front of the customers … you’ll scare them away,” Nik says as he reaches between us for a bottle of gin.

“You … just go away.” She kicks him in his shin, and he clutches it and hops off on one foot.

“Oh, stop being a baby. I didn’t kick you that hard.”

“Worker’s comp!” he yells from the other end of the bar while filling a drink.

“I’m glad to see him acting a little more like himself lately,” Meara whispers.

“Yeah. I know.” I ruffle the hair on the top of her head. “Play nice, now. I’m going back. One more hour then you can go show me how cute you think I am.”

She rolls her eyes and I go back to the piano. Time flies and before I know it, it’s just Meara and me left. I’m sitting on the piano just messing around while she takes care of the money.

“Will you play a song for me?”

I look up and find her standing next to me.

“Sure. What song?”

“Here.” She passes me a sheet of paper. “It’s sheet music. Can you play it?”

I set it on my stand. I start slow, and after a few bars, I stop. “Yeah, I’m good. What is this? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”

“Ready? Don’t laugh at me while I sing, okay?” She doesn’t answer my question.

“I’d never laugh at you.”

“Just play, okay?”

“Fine, fine.” I begin to play again, and when she starts to sing, pretty damn good actually, I still don’t recognize the song. My eyes are on the music, but when she gets to the chorus, they snap up to meet hers. She smiles through her tears and I blink mine back.

Meara

I can’t believe I’m doing this. My heart is absolutely pounding in my chest and my hands are shaking. The words blur on my phone as I try to read the lyrics. Just as I get to the chorus of the song
I Haven’t Even Heard You Cry,
Liam drops his hands, hangs his head and his shoulders rise up and down as he takes deep breaths.

“Lee?”

“When did you find out?” he asks but doesn’t look at me.

“A couple of days ago. I haven’t been to the doctor yet though.”

He stands and crowds me into the piano and holds my face with both hands. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

He rests his forehead on mine and kisses the tip of my nose. “God, Meara.”

His voice is almost pained, and I worry he’s upset.

“Are you mad?”

He pulls his head back in an instant. “No. Fuck, no, I’m not mad. I’m happy. Really happy. Just surprised.”

“Good. Me, too.”

He runs one of his hands down my face and holds it on my stomach. “Do you know how far along you are?”

“Not very. I don’t know how it happened. I’ve been taking—”

“It doesn’t matter how.” He kisses me, slow but hard. If he didn’t tell me he was happy, this kiss would. In a matter of seconds, the tension and nervousness I was feeling are gone and replaced with an undeniable feeling of love and hope.

He holds me tight and I squeeze him tighter. I feel like I’ve waited for this forever and nothing will take it away from me this time. He’s here, we’re fucking married, and we’re going to have a baby. He chuckles under his breath, and I pull back to look at him.

“What?”

“You might have outdone me with the whole song thing.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head. “No way. You wrote yours. I just did a search on pregnancy songs. And yours sounded better.”

“That’s because I didn’t sing it.” He laughs.

“Your voice is better than mine.”

He stays silent and looks at the ceiling. I slap his arm and give him a little shove. “You’re supposed to argue and say that my voice is like listening to angels.”

“But we said we’d never lie to each other.”

“You’re such an ass!” I cross my arms and tap my foot, feigning annoyance. “There’s a difference between lying and fibbing. The least you could do is pretend I didn’t burn your eardrums.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well, you certainly didn’t compliment me.”

“Why the hell are we fighting when you just told me you’re pregnant?”

“We’re not fighting. You were mean.”

“I’m sorry, princess.” He frames my face and kisses my cheek. “Your voice is actually really good. I thought that when you started but then got distracted.”

I smirk at him and give him a chaste kiss back. “Dude. You’re gonna be a dad!”

“And you.” He lifts me up and sets me on the piano. “Are going to be the best mom in the world.”

I love that he has confidence in me, but I’m scared shitless I’m going to do something wrong. “I hope so. It’s different when it’s your own baby. I mean, I’ve watched Caroline, but I always hand her back to her parents and don’t have to deal with any of the two a.m. feedings or explosive diarrhea diapers.” I make a gagging sound and Liam’s body trembles. “Yeah, just wait. Char’s told me so many horror stories. We’ll get puke down our shirt. Pee on us when we’re changing diapers. She told me sometimes when they’re really little, they’ll poop in the tub.”

I actually start to panic a little now. I was so worried about how Liam would take the news that I hadn’t started to think about all this stuff yet. After the last pregnancy, grief and confusion overcame the excitement.

“We’ll get through it, Meara. We can get through anything as long as we have each other.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so.”

“Umm, there’s something else.” I bite my lip and he tilts his head. “Yeah, so, I kind of got you a dog.”

“What?”

“I found a dog on a rescue site who’d just had a litter of puppies. They need to wait until they can be weaned, but I paid for one of them and was going to surprise you with it. But now I’m pregnant and I don’t know—”

“Holy shit! We’re gonna have a dog, too?”

“Yes?” I ask because a dog is a big step. A baby is a lifelong climb. But doing them both together … that’s like insane.

“Hell yeah, yes!” His smile is electric, and he lifts me up and lays a resounding smack on my cheek. “Let’s get out of here so you can show me how cute you really think I am. Then I can show you how beautiful and amazing you are.”

This is our time now. We’ve been apart, we’ve had loss, we’ve dealt with tragedy, and somehow our relationship survived … we survived. He’s proven a million times over what kind of man he really is. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to go through life with. Sure, there will be hurdles as we grow. We’ll fight and make up. We’ll experience things we never thought we would, but if we can make it through what we’ve already been through, I truly believe we can make it through anything.

He waits for me to lock the front door and when I put my keys in my pocket, he turns me and puts his hands on my waist. “I love you, Meara. Just when I think life couldn’t get any better, you find a way to surprise me and give me more than I ever imagined. No matter what happens, regardless of the obstacles we’re going to face, I promise you … you’re going to live your fairytale. You’re going to have your happily ever after.”