Stronger By Your Side (Great Love Book 2) (24 page)

She looked up at me, confused, and I just smiled and nodded to Sawyer. He took her little hand just as he had done mine and smiled. “Charlotte Beth, I love you more than I have ever loved any other little girl. Would you make me the happiest man alive and be my daughter?” Charlotte looked up at me, confused, and then back at Sawyer, who patiently smiled. “That means I would be your Daddy.”

She smiled and clapped. “Daddy?”

He laughed. “Yeah.” She smiled wide and threw her arms around his neck. Sawyer smiled wide. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He grabbed a little bracelet out of his back pocket and showed it to her. It was a silver band that had a thicker middle section and was engraved,
Lotte, you will forever be my Little Pumpkin. Love, your other Daddy, SJ.
He told her what it said and placed it on her wrist. It had an engraved Little Pumpkin next to the words, with three purple diamonds above it. I smiled wide. Could this man get any more perfect? “The engraved band comes off and can go on bigger bracelets as she gets older, so she can wear it forever.” I smiled wider.

After a couple of pictures, everyone congratulated us and I thanked them all for helping Sawyer. I was talking to Sarah when suddenly I was in Sawyer’s arms and being kissed. I laughed through my teeth as he continued.

“Oh kay then. SJ already set up a sleepover for Lotte at our place. We have her bag set, so we’ll get going,” Cal announced.

I pulled back. “Oh did he now?”

I arched my brows at Sawyer, and he raised his hands. “Guilty.”

I laughed. “Okay, baby girl, have fun, love you. See you in the morning.” She gave me a kiss and then laughed.

Sawyer kissed her, too. “Love you, Daddy.” Sawyer smiled wide at her and then up at me. The words from her mouth made my heart squeeze.

“Love you too, Little Pumpkin.”

Then she ran after the twins and out the door. We said goodbye, and as soon as the door shut, Sawyer ran and locked it.

“You trying to get lucky, Mr. Prescott?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Already the luckiest man in the world, Mrs. Prescott.” I smiled back. He walked by me and smacked my butt. “But maybe I’m trying for other things.” I laughed and we began to blow out all the candles. Once they were all blown out and Mr. Firefighter triple checked, I walked up to him and kissed him, hard and long.

His hands traveled up my body and rested on the back of my neck, holding my lips to his. He pulled back and spoke against my lips, “You sure about this? We could wait until the wedding.”

I laughed. “No way in Hell.”

Sawyer laughed. “Wow, cursing? You must really want me.”

I stepped back and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the bedroom. “You have no idea.”

Sawyer made a low groan in the back of his throat, and my stomach did flips in anticipation. The emotions I felt were unexplainable. All I knew was that I felt like all was right in the world, and Sawyer was the reason. Ever since he came back into my life, the pieces that seemed scattered had been put back together and suddenly, everything that seemed scary before was clear now. I wasn’t scared anymore, I was strong. By his side, I was stronger than I had ever been, and I planned to stay that way forever.

Christmas 2015

It was our first Christmas as a family, and I wanted it to be special. In order to do so, I decided to host it this year for all our family and friends. I was cooking in the kitchen as
Silent Night
Played through the speakers. I smiled and began to hum along. Suddenly, noise clattered through the house as Charlotte, Sawyer and Chase played a rambunctious game of tag. I smiled and shook my head as Sawyer ran into the kitchen. “Hey, Beautiful, don’t mind us.” He pecked my cheek and then, as Charlotte and Chase rounded the corner, he ran out yelling, “Run! The monsters are coming!” Charlotte ran after him, growling and giggling. Just as I was contemplating how lucky I was, the door flew open.

“Merry Christmas!” I heard Travis’s loud greeting echo through the house. I wiped my hands on a dish towel and walked towards the front door to meet Travis, Sarah, Emerson, Cal, the twins, Sawyer’s Uncle, aunt and cousins, along with Jules, Caleb, his wife, Rachel, and their two boys. I smiled wide and hugged each one, saying Merry Christmas and telling them to come on in. Sawyer and Charlotte came running in and joined me in the welcoming routine.

After everyone was settled in, we decided to open presents before we ate dinner. My holiday meal that was a mix of Jules’s and Sawyer’s mom’s recipes, sat in the oven staying warm, making the house smell deliciously like Christmas. Some of us sat on chairs or on the sofa, but the children, Emerson and me sat on the floor in front of the tree. Sawyer, Charlotte and I had done most of our gifts this morning, but I still had one that I was waiting to give Sawyer in front of everyone.
Let’s hope his reaction goes well. Otherwise, it’s going to be pretty embarrassing
. I took a deep breath to clamp down my nerves and felt Sawyer’s eyes on me. I looked over at him and smiled sweetly. He furrowed his brows for a moment and then, after a smile, he winked.

Emerson stood up. “Okay, so I have something I want to do first. I have a surprise.” Emerson smiled nervously and then grabbed the large tote bag she had brought in. “I apologize, but I only made it for Charles’s family . . . ”

My heart skipped a beat when she said Charles’s name, and I smiled sweetly up at Emerson. We had just passed his 28
th
birthday a couple of weeks ago, and then shortly after that was the third year anniversary of his death. It hadn’t been as rough as it had been in the two previous years, and I don’t think it had anything to do with Sawyer. It had everything to do with Charles. He saved Sawyer’s life in the forest, and whether people want to believe that or not, whether people want to believe in angels or not, I did. I believed in Charles. So now my heart felt at peace that maybe, just maybe, he was at peace, too. Sawyer and I had been showing Charlotte pictures of Charles and explained to her how he was her angel daddy. We planned on keeping his memory alive, and I was grateful for Sawyer’s willingness to do so.

Emerson handed Cal, Jules, Travis and Caleb all one present and then handed me two, one for Charlotte and one for me. They were all different sizes. She smiled. “Okay. Go!” We all quickly ripped through the wrapping paper. Sawyer helped Charlotte with hers. Looking down at the soft fabric I had seen and felt so many times before, my heart stopped and my eyes filled with tears. I looked up at Emerson, who looked nervous. “I hope I didn’t offend you, it’s just . . . I went to take his clothes to Goodwill and I just couldn’t do it. I wanted you all to have a little piece of him.” She stuttered out, looking like she may faint, and so I stood up and quickly walked over to her and wrapped her in my arms. She hugged me back and I kissed her cheek.

“This was incredibly thoughtful, thank you.”

She pulled back and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

I walked back to sit next to Charlotte and saw that while I got a throw blanket quilted out of Charles’s flannel shirts, she got a bunny made out of the fabric. I looked over at Cal, Caleb and Travis, who were taking turns hugging and thanking Emerson. She had made them all a throw pillow out of one of Charles’s tee-shirts. Jules had received a blanket similar to mine, but with different scraps of Charles’s clothes. Jules got up and repeated what we all had done, thanking Emerson. Everyone in the room had glistening eyes, but no one cried—we all smiled.

After a couple more present exchanges, the room was full of wrapping paper and smiles. Charlotte, Mari and Maxi were chasing each other around the tree, and the adults were talking with laughter. I stood up and grabbed the small box I had placed under the tree last night. “I have one last gift for SJ.” Sawyer’s eyes flew up and met mine with a question, and then he shook his head with a smile. Everyone watched me as I gave him the gift, and then he slowly peeled the paper.

“For the love of God, you’re killing us . . . open the damn thing.” He gave Sarah a frown at her outburst and then laughed, doing as she said.

He opened the box and then as he looked inside, his eyes stilled and then shot up to me. “Seriously?” I smiled and nodded. He flew up from his seat, leaving the box on the couch, and swung me in the air with the largest grin I had ever seen. “WOOO!” He shouted.

“What? What is it?” Uncle Tom asked anxiously.

Sarah walked over to the box and picked it up with a grin. “She’s pregnant!”

The room filled with cheers and I smiled at my family’s reaction. And then I realized that’s what they were, they were family. Although no one in the room besides Charlotte shared my blood, this was my family, the one God intended me to have, and in that moment I thanked him for the incredible life he had given me. After a long kiss from SJ and a round of hugs and congratulations from the entire room, I went to the kitchen and began serving Christmas dinner. Cal said the prayer and we feasted as a big, crazy, amazing family.

It was an early March weekend, and I was watching Charlotte play with Chase on the back deck as I sipped my cup of ginger tea. I was just starting to get a round belly from the little Prescott I was growing, the Prescott who was still making me incredibly sick. Morning sickness? More like all-day sickness, but it was worth it. I smiled to myself as I placed a hand on my growing stomach. We didn’t find out for another week if we were having a boy or a girl, and it was killing me. Sawyer was convinced it was a boy, but who knew?

Sawyer was supposed to be home from his long shift any moment and Charlotte, Chase and I were all very excited to see him. When my phone began to vibrate on the table, I thought it was him calling me to say he was on his way. I was slightly disappointed to see it was Sarah. “Hello?”

She huffed, “Hey, Prego, what you up to?”

I smiled. “Nothing, just hanging out, what’s up?”

She took a deep breath and I sat up, a little worried. “S, what’s going on?”

Sarah cleared her throat. “Okay, don’t freak out, but I’m leaving.”

I tilted my head. “Leaving?”

She sighed. “Yeah, I’m not really moving . . . just leaving for a couple of months.”

I sighed. “S, why are you leaving for a couple of months, and when?”

She paused for a moment. “I got offered a chance to work an amazing event in Florida. It’s a great opportunity, and I may be at the airport right now.”

I half-laughed, half-sighed. “You are crazy . . . what about my wedding?”

Sarah laughed. “I promise I am still planning your big day and will still blow your mind. I’ll keep you all up to date with emails, and I’ll be back just in time for it.”

I nodded to myself. “Fine . . . what did everyone else say when you told them?”

Sarah quickly replied “Emerson pretty much said what you did.”

I paused. “What about Travis?” I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between them, but everyone knew they had feelings for each other, it was pretty obvious.

Sarah clicked her tongue and then answered, “Yeah, about that . . . he doesn’t know, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell him.”

I laughed. “What? Sarah, he is going to find out. Why you don’t want him to know . . . ”

Sarah sighed. “I don’t want him to come looking for me.”

I thought for a moment. “He won’t.”

Sarah seemed to freeze for a moment and swallowed hard. I decided to clarify, “S, he just became a police officer. He can’t go to Florida right now, and he has no time off.”

She sighed, almost in relief, and it made me smile to myself. “Yeah, of course.”

I sighed out my question. “What happened, Sarah? Spill.”

She laughed. “I can’t tell you, he will . . . actually, who gives a shit if he gets mad? The jerk told me he loved me, and just when I was going to say it back, he said his loving me meant nothing.”

I gasped. “What?!”

She huffed. “Yeah, so I’ll be happy not to see him for a while.”

I shook my head at Travis in my mind, and then, just as I was about to speak, Sarah interrupted me. “Hey, look, Megs, my flight’s boarding. I got to go, but I love you and I will be back for your baby shower and wedding, okay?”

I smiled. “Okay, love you too, be safe, have fun . . . not too much!”

Sarah laughed. “Do I ever?”

I smiled as she hung up and then I sighed, placing my phone back on the table. Charlotte and Chase were still playing nicely in front of me.
Running from the person you love. Sounds too familiar.
I shook my head and then the one I loved, that I had run away from so long ago, suddenly called from behind me, “Where are my Pumpkin Girls?” I smiled as I turned around to see Sawyer with a bouquet of purple flowers and a new princess doll for Charlotte. I shook my head. Too good, he had always been too good. Somehow, I was blessed to finally have my happily ever after with the prince who was just too good to be true. And in that moment, as I kissed that man, I prayed that Travis and Sarah would have their happily ever after too.

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