Levi
The reception was well underway. Brian was drunk and trying to do the snake across the dance floor.
My mother and father were fused together and giggling like they were schoolkids. Everyone else was laughing, dancing, eating. Ava’s kids and my niece ran around playing tag. While someone should have told them to stop running, I didn’t care. Everyone was happy and having fun.
Nothing could make this day any better.
I swung Rainey around, her laughter making my heart soar. She rested her head against my chest and hummed.
“What are you thinking?” I asked as I rubbed her back.
“How today was perfect. Don’t you think?” Her voice vibrated against my chest.
“It was. I’m afraid Brian is going to pull a muscle though.” Rainey glanced back at Brian, now trying to do the sprinkler. We laughed.
“My feet hurt!” She groaned as she slipped off her heels and rubbed her feet.
“Let’s sit for a minute.”
Rainey nodded, her eyes flitting shut as I led her back to our table. Ava grabbed her husband, Beckett’s hand and dragged him off. I did not want to know what they were doing.
Rainey sat down, the smile never leaving her face. She gulped down some water as she looked out at the dance floor filled with our family and friends.
“I have a wedding gift for you,” Rainey said, her smile going wider.
“Why’d you get me something? Marrying you is the best gift.” I kissed her forehead.
“I think you’ll like it.” Rainey stood up and clinked her fork against her champagne glass, which reminded untouched.
“Beloved family and friends, I wanted to take a second before everyone begins to enjoy themselves a little too much… cough… Brian… cough, cough.” Everyone laughed as Brian peeled himself off the dance floor, his outfit wrinkled and askew. “I wanted to show Levi how much I love him. And how I’ll never forget what we’ve been through to end up here. So I made him a little gift. Special thanks to his mother and sister for helping me put this together.” Ava and Beckett wheeled out a projector and screen. Ava made it a point to pause and act like Vanna White as she dramatically set it all up.
The lights dimmed, and the slideshow started. There were pictures of my childhood friends. Pictures with Zoe, who was torturing me with makeup and pigtails. Then the pictures started of Rainey and me. Some were of people at the hospital, my paramedic team. Others were of my niece, and everyone who had ever touched my life.
I squeezed Rainey’s hand.
The last slide came, and it was Rainey and me as we stood at the altar, saying our vows. It was perfect, seeing my life in pictures evolve into what it was now.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“It’s not over yet.” She smiled down at me. Another slide came through, and I blinked twice before understanding what I was looking at.
A grainy black-and-white picture with the name Baby Hayes across it. I shot up, my chair falling to the ground with a thud. My hands instinctively went to her stomach, and I paused, holding in my hands the most precious gift that anyone could ever give me.
“You’re pregnant?”
“We’re pregnant. You’re going to be a daddy.”
My tears fell as I held my wife in my arms, one hand still placed on her stomach.
She had given me one of the greatest gifts.
My parents hugged us, my sister rambling on and on about how hard it was to keep the secret. Ava stood off a bit, holding on to Beckett, seemingly taking the moment in.
“I’ll be right back.” I squeezed Rainey’s hand as I went over to Ava.
“Thanks for helping with the wedding and the slide show. You’re a good friend, Ava.”
Ava smiled and lunged into my arms. “You’re a good guy, Levi Hayes. You’re the guy Rainey deserves.”
I looked back at Rainey, the woman who had just become my wife and would soon be the mother of my child.
“She’s everything to me.”
Ava patted my back before leaning back into Beckett. “I know. Otherwise I would have threatened you by now. Treat her right and we’ll have no fucking problem.” Ava eyeballed me.
“I’m sorry, man. I can’t control that nasty mouth,” Beckett said. Ava rolled her eyes and swatted his arm.
“You love my nasty mouth.” Ava wiggled her eyebrows. Beckett shook his head with a huge-ass smile on his face.
“Hey.” Rainey wrapped her arms around my waist. “Are you happy?”
“I’ve never been happier.” I smiled.
“Just wait. I have a feeling things will only get better from here.” She rubbed her stomach.
Rainey was right. Each moment we shared seemed too good to be true. I always feared that our happiness would run out and we would suddenly be back to where we were before, struggling to see the light and happiness that our lives could be. But now that we had each other, nothing could ever take that away. When you find your forever, everything else just falls into place and your life becomes exactly what it should have been all along.
Perfect.