The Weight of Love (22 page)

TWO YEARS LATER

MITCHELL WORTHEN

The
church meeting is packed.

I’m pressed as close to my wife as I can manage. Gage made it home off his mission just in time and Bridger can’t leave him alone.
He’ll turn eight and be baptized later on this year, and I’ll get to do it. It’s humbling, and amazing.

“You’re up, D
addy.” Jaycee rests our baby girl in my lap and emotion almost overcomes me again.

I lean in to my wife
. I kiss her cheek, and then the corner of her mouth and then on the lips, lingering there for a moment.

“Mitchell,
” she whispers. Her voice is full of the disapproving tease I love from her. “Totally not appropriate.”

I kiss her nose and stand up with baby Jessica in my arms.
Gage stands. Brandon, Jennie’s husband stands. Two of the guys who help me in church leadership also stand to meet me in the front.

It all came back around. Four
and a half years ago, if someone had told me it would take me this long to get here, it would have seemed like an eternity away. Maybe not even worth the trouble from where I was then.

That
four years was a blink. I wish every day to slow down time. Bridger’s growing too fast. I want as many moments, days, hours, minutes on this earth with Jaycee that I can have. And now Jessica is added to us, and I wonder who will be next. Because there will definitely be a next.

My wife’s eyes
are on me as we circle in close. Jessica’s now resting in the arms of five of my closest friends and family, awaiting the blessing that I get to give her.

I wink at Jaycee. S
he knows what a big deal this is for me. Then she closes her eyes and bows her head. That’s my sign to begin.

This is m
y new life. My forever. My everything.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

This book stemmed from SO many people I know who found their spouses while serving missions. I’ve asked several of them if they “cheated” on the guidelines set up for the missionaries, and nearly all of them said – maybe, but just barely. Some didn’t at all. Not more than a quick—
I’m going to come back when I’m done and I’d like to see you
…

I’ve always found it fascinating, and thought it would be a cool thing to be a part of, so I wrote it.

My husband championed this book from the beginning, and my friend Heather, who works for shoes, loved it as well. Author Rachael Anderson was my first official reader, and she said she was so worried when she heard the premise for the book, but that she ended up loving it, which made me feel good. It’s always nice to change someone’s mind ;-)

MORE BOOKS FROM
JOLENE BETTY PERRY

Jolene is also the author of
The Next Door Boys
series, including
The Next Door Boys, Left to Love
and
My Forever
. She is also a contributor in
All I Want
, a collection of Christmas stories with Rachael Anderson and Kaylee Baldwin.

Jolene is a high school and middle school teacher turned writer. She graduated from Southern Utah University and currently lives in Alaska with her husband and two children.

You can find her online at
www.jolenebettyperry.blogspot.com
or on twitter at @
jolenebperry