I’m not just staying behind to talk to my mum, though, I definitely need her courage to do what I’m about to do…
She looks at me, raising an eyebrow. I’m pretty sure she knows what I’m up to, or at least what I will be up to. She was the one who sent me the engagement ring in the bottom of the box. I’ve never seen it before, but it looks beautiful and very classy. She was the one who sent Lilly and Sarah with that box to our house.
There is no way that she didn’t think about this, there was no way that she wouldn’t know that I’d be doing this. She was right though, this is a solution, even if an imperfect one.
Imperfect in its timing, imperfect in the reasons why I’m not waiting any longer, but not imperfect in the reason why I’m doing this.
“Wilder.” Dad comes over. “Are you okay with this? With what they said in there?”
I nod. Yeah, I’m okay. “I’d ask Sarah that instead. I’m not the one who was hurt the most.” Then I see Maddy come out of the courtroom with Logan’s parents’ lawyer and I walk over to them. “Can I talk to her. Just for a moment?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The lawyer looks at me like I’m not to be trusted.
“Just a moment. It won’t be long.” I kneel down and look at Maddy. “Hey. I’ve got something special for Daddy. Will you help me?”
Maddy calling me Dad earlier has me at least a little more convinced that I’m doing the right thing right now. And that she’ll probably help me too.
“What is it?” Her eyes sparkle, a little mischief in them.
“You keep something for me, and when I ask for it, you give it to Daddy. Does that sound good?”
She nods.
“Okay. Give me your hand.”
She holds out her hand and I put the ring into it. “Now. Don’t show anyone. Put it in your pocket.”
She does as I ask and stage whispers. “And now?”
“The lawyer will bring you to the room where Daddy is. And I’ll soon come into the room too. Don’t tell or show anyone until I’m there too. Okay?”
“Okay.” Maddy grins.
“Now, go see your daddy.” I stand up again, stepping away. There are so many different things I could have done. But this seemed like the best idea. Maddy is as much a part of this all as we both are, and to have her involved feels right.
I watch as she walks away, rounds the corner and disappears from view.
I look over to our families, smiling. They’re probably already guessing what is going on, but I don’t care. “I’ll see you in an hour or so.”
“Wilder.” Sterling’s dad speaks up. “Good luck.”
I nod. I’m not sure how much I’m going to need it, but this isn’t easy and I’ll probably need it more than I can imagine.
I make my way over to the room we got assigned, I wanted to give Sterling a little time alone with Maddy before I’d go in there too. I may love her like a daughter and she may have called me Dad earlier, but Sterling is her Omega. Sterling is still the only biological parent she’s got left.
I knock on the door and a guy opens it, looking at me with a frown. “I’d like to also see my daughter.” I step through the door before he can shut me out.
When I come in, Maddy looks up, her eyes big. “Wilder!” She runs over and I catch her in a hug.
“Hi, princess.” I hold her and she pushes close. “So glad to see you.”
“Me too.” Her voice is soft. “I want to go home.”
“I know. I know, sweetie.” I let her go again, looking at Sterling, who is sitting in a chair, both looking ecstatic to see his daughter and really lost about the situation. I walk over, putting my arm around his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“No. But, that doesn’t matter, does it?” He leans against me. “I wish I could take her home. I wish I could grab her, right now, and take her home with us. But that’s not going to happen.”
“Daddy. I love you.” Maddy comes over too, wrapping her arms around Sterling too.
“I love you too. Are they treating you right?”
Maddy looks at him, then she nods. I’m not sure she understands exactly what he’s asking, but she understands enough. “I got a really big room. And lots of dolls and dresses.”
“Do you like them?”
Maddy stills for a moment, but then shakes her head, scrunching her nose. “I want my overalls, but they won’t let me wear them. Not even when I go outside.”
Yeah. No surprise there. But still… She doesn’t seem to be really upset, mostly annoyed.
“Wilder?” She looks at me, her eyes sparkling. “Now?”
Sterling looks up at me too. “Now?”
Yeah, I guess this is as good a moment as any, and at least we’ll have most of the hour left in hopefully a better mood. “Yes. Now.”
I sink down onto one knee, kind of glad that Sterling is already sitting, it makes it easier to look at him, but also, I’m not sure how exactly he is going to respond. “I know this is early. We’ve barely known each other for two months. Which, you know, makes this a little scary. Ehm…”
I may have planned to do this, but I didn’t really plan what I’d say. Maybe I should have.
“Wild…” Sterling’s eyes are wide with surprise.
“No, please let me do this.” I take a deep breath. “I would have waited with this until we were in a better place, until we stopped grieving Logan, until we were able to get to know each other a little better. Hell. Two months ago, I never imagined this would ever be part of my life, a family. Even a month ago, I wouldn’t have thought about this. But now… It feels right. It feels like the right thing for everyone.”
I take another deep breath. “The moment I met Maddy, I knew you were going to be special. Not because of who you were to Logan but because of how Maddy had grown up. She is strong, independent and smart. When I then saw you, I…”
I look away for a moment. Dammit. This is hard. “I felt something. There was a connection to you that I couldn’t immediately explain, that I definitely didn’t want to explain to myself. Not then. Not at Logan’s funeral.”
Tears start to form in Sterling’s eyes and I want to wipe them away, no, I want to kiss them away, I want to forever make him feel safe and never make him cry again.
“Going home with you. I’d hoped that it would allow me to say goodbye to my own history with Logan, and help you out a little too. I never imagined anything that happened after that. I never imagined…”
I take Sterling’s hand in mine. “I never imagined falling in love with you. You were so amazing. I’ve been so captivated by you ever since I first saw you.”
I look at Maddy, who is staring at us with her mouth wide open, a look of surprise and magic on her face. “Come here.” I motion for her to come over. “Do you still have it?”
Maddy nods and takes the ring out of her pocket, holding it up.
Sterling’s mouth falls open, a loud gasp escaping him.
“Sterling. Will you marry me?” Then I lean closer to Maddy and whisper, “give him the ring.”
Maddy puts the ring in Sterling’s open hand, then she looks at me. “Does this mean you’ll really be my Alpha?”
According to the law, I already am, as I’ve mated her Omega father, but that’s only a technicality when it comes to what it means to be a ‘real Alpha’ to someone. “If Daddy says yes.”
She pulls on Sterling’s arm, who quickly has to close his hand around the ring or he’ll lose it. “Say yes. Say yes!”
Sterling stares, first at Maddy and then at me. “I…” He shakes his head. “I…”
I know this has to be hard on him. But he probably also understands that if he says yes, a lot of things will change and our mating will be made public. Something we’ve been hiding, even if poorly at times.
I know that that’s hard, especially since he’s also mated to Logan, who he lost not even two months ago. We both lost him, and that may not be the best beginnings for a new relationship.
Sterling licks his lips, looking at his hand around the ring. “Yes.” His voice is barely above a whisper, but my heart feels like it stops for a moment. Then he looks up at me, his eyes still filled with tears, but also a smile breaking through it. “Yes. I will.”
I wrap one arm around Sterling and the other around Maddy, pulling them both close. We’ll be a real family soon, at least, as real as you can get. “Thank you,” I whisper to them both, “thank you.”
“Will you be my Alpha now? Will you be my dad?” Maddy also whispers as she looks at us.
“Yes. He is.” Sterling answers and when I look up at him, I’m not sure how to read him. He looks happy, but of course, there will always be the sadness of losing Logan. We’ll forever be connected through our loss too.
“My Alpha.” Sterling leans closer, puts his hand to the side of my head and kisses me, it’s a hard kiss, but not very long. Then he pulls back, a small smile on his lips.
“Yay!” Maddy pulls away, spinning in the middle of the room. “Yes!”
I can’t help but laugh, she’s so excited. “Maddy.”
She stops spinning, looking at me with curiosity.
“You know I’ll never replace Logan, right? He’s your Alpha too.”
She nods. “He is the one who made me together with Daddy. But you’re also my Alpha, my other Dad.”
There seems to be no doubt for her. No doubt that Logan and I can exist in her family at the same time, even if Logan isn’t alive anymore.
“Thank you. You’re my daughter now. That means I’ll have to be really like a dad now, all strict and stuff.” I try to pull a serious face, but Maddy starts laughing.
“You are my Dad. You love Daddy. That means you’ve always been my Dad.” She comes back over, looking at Sterling, who still seems a little in shock. “Just like Daddy has always been my daddy.”
“And you’re my daughter.” Sterling pulls her close, smiling. “Now, can you help me put it on?” He holds out the ring to her.
Maddy takes the ring, looking at it. “It’s pretty.”
“Yes. It definitely is.” Sterling’s smile is bigger now.
I can’t help but worry now, I hadn’t actually thought about Sterling wearing the ring. “I’m not sure if it’ll fit.”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s not about the details, it’s about what it means.” He holds out his hand to Maddy and she slides the ring onto his ring finger.
Then Maddy stares at it again, putting her own small hand next to it. “It’s so pretty.” I should probably also get her something when the time comes. Just as a memento.
“Now.” Sterling’s smile is genuine now. “When should we hold the wedding? And where?” He winks. “I think it’s time to think about those kinds of things, right?”
I guess I was right about this lifting the mood. We needed this. We all needed this bright spot, we all need this to hold onto while we get out family back together.
At least we’ll have a good hour together with Maddy, a happy time.
I’m just so glad that this went well. I don’t know what I’d have done if he said no, what our options to keep Maddy would have been.
Sure, our mating would have still been recognised by law, but that’s different from being married. Being married means being a family. It means that we’re now a unit that you can’t break up. We’ll be together until…
Well… Until death does us part. And let’s hope that that is a long time away. We may have met because of Logan’s death, but there is so much more for all of us, so much more.
And getting married will be just the beginning of that.
-To Be Continued-
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