The Wife (36 page)

On the far wall of the entryway to the dining area are two large pictures framed in silver Celtic knots: one she saw in New Jersey that made her run away and the other she had only heard about. I had the print that hung in my pub in Ireland blown up and placed here, next to its match. I wanted her to see the picture I had planned to give her long ago. I had hoped she would understand my intentions when she saw this picture, knowing its plan for her. Her eyes filled with tears as she made her way over to the pictures and examined them carefully.

“Is this one yours?” She runs her fingers over our hands in the picture from my home.

“It’s the moment I made you a promise I’ve waited too long to fulfill.” I walk up behind her and turn her so that her attention is on me.

I reach in my pocket and pull out the ring I gave her that day so long ago.

“Jamie.” She looks at me in disbelief.

“This belongs to you. It always has and always will.”

She stares at the ring with tears in her eyes. “Jamie.” She repeats my name, at a loss for words.

I take her hand and hold the ring out to her. “Only this time I want you to wear this not only as a promise to love you forever, but as my promise to marry you. Will you marry me, Lex?”

Lex smiles brightly through her tears. “We started dating two hours ago. Aren’t you afraid this is a little fast?”

“I’ve loved you longer than I’ve ever loved anyone. I’d marry you right this second if you’d take me.”

She shakes her head at me. “You’re crazy.” She pops up on her toes and kisses me fiercely. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Those four words are all it takes for our family and friends hiding away around the corner to begin clapping and cheering. Lex looks up at me, shocked to see her boys with Lee and Rita, her father, and Frank and Tommy all running toward us.

“That would’ve been really embarrassing if you’d have said no.” I slip the ring back where it belonged all along. “I promise I’ll spend every day making you feel loved.” I kiss her smiling lips. “I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

“Your wife?” she says, trying it out. “I love the sound of that.”

J
amie is clutching my hand so tightly that I’m beginning to lose all feeling in my fingers. Still, I only smile up at his adoring face as he watches the screen as if he’s acutely aware of what he’s looking at.

He has no idea.

“Well, Mrs. and Mr. McCullen, it looks like you are having twin girls.”

“Girls,” Jamie gasps, as if it’s a dream come true.

And it is.

“It’s just like my dream…right before you left,” I say in awe as Jamie looks at me as if I’m the most amazing creature in the world to him.

“And my dad’s dream he had the day he passed.” Jamie kisses me and presses his forehead against mine with tears in his eyes. “You’ve given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of, Lex. Thank you.”

When Jamie places a kiss on my wedding ring, it brings me back to that beautiful spring morning two years ago. When Jamie proposed, it was one of the best moments of my life, and I had no doubt that he was the person I was supposed to be with forever, which is why we decided to wait to get married until the trial for my shooting was over and my boys were just as sure about our happily ever after as we were.

It took almost a year before the trial even started, but luckily it all went smoothly and both men were put away for a long time. Mark Paulson’s involvement in my shooting was nothing compared to the weapons, tax evasion, and drug charges they had on him. When it was all said and done, both he and his conspirators will be in jail for the next thirty years to life.

I went to every day of the trial for Bob Stevens, wanting to know all the details of what happened that night. It’s all still blanketed with such a fog that I don’t know if I’ll ever have memories about that night again, but for now, I’m okay with that. Having to hear the details of the confrontation between Mike and Stephanie again was difficult to hear, because the pain of their betrayal is still so raw. The way they both manipulated my emotions and made me feel like I was going crazy was almost as violating as being shot, but their consequences were much different.

Stephanie lost her practice when the trial began and the case was made public. She tried in vain to make a relationship with Mike, but he was too distraught about the direction his life had taken and the results of his selfish actions that there was no way for them to work out. Mike wound up selling the construction company and doing what I’d always hoped he’d do: he moved back to New York to be with his family and start over.

Once the trial was over, Mike’s move left Jamie and me able to take the boys with us and also relocate closer to my dad. Although we weren’t married yet, we packed up our places in California and bought a home in Mattawan so that Jamie would be close enough to commute to the city, and I could easily visit my dad and have the boys visit their dad.

My biggest concern through all of this was how my boys were handling all of this change. It’s a scary thing to know your mom was shot by a stranger, and that compounded with my divorce and a move across the country is like putting their life in a snow globe and shaking it up to see where the pieces will land. Colin had the hardest time with adjusting to it all, and it’s probably because he was old enough to understand the changes more than Liam. Liam was just excited to be moving to someplace where it snowed and he got to see his grandpa and dad more often.

Having Jamie in our lives was the easy part, and that made me fall in love with him so completely, it was life changing. The boys connected with Jamie right away, as if he’s been in their lives forever. He coached their football teams, was home for dinner almost every night, played family game night every Friday night, and read them stories before bed. The security and consistency he provided for them was something I never knew they craved as much as I did. I probably would’ve been fine going along living my life this way with our little unconventional family set up forever if it wasn’t for the boys continually asking me when I was going to marry Jamie.

So, on a beautiful spring morning, Jamie and I were married. It was simple and perfect, with only my dad, Lee and Frank, and the boys there with us. To Jamie and me, we already felt married, and the ceremony was more for the boys than anything.

I wore a flowing white bohemian strapless dress and had my hair in loose curls, held back with a single golden clip. It was a much different wedding than my first, and that’s why I loved it so much more. There were no wedding jitters, no doubts, no hesitation whatsoever. There was only excitement and happiness. When I met Jamie on the boardwalk and walked hand in hand with the boys, barefoot through the sand, to my dad and our friends, my breath was taken away by the overwhelming joy of the moment. Jamie looked at me with his powerful green eyes and confident smile and I had no words to express to him how happy he’s made me.

When the ceremony was over, Jamie swept me up in his arms and kissed me passionately. “Hello, wife.” His dimples beamed as he smiled.

“Hello, husband,” I answered, more in love than ever.

Just then, Jamie pointed above. “For you.” He pointed to the words written for us in the sky.

The words looked like white clouds scattering a heavenly message in the bright blue morning sky to form our phrase: One Love, Everlasting; The New McCullen Family.

The boys began to cheer as the plane finished the last word. Lee and Frank were high-fiving them, all moved by the touching message Jamie made for us. I looked up at Jamie and wondered how we got back here, and can only think of fate.

Our hearts were only ever meant for each other, and as much as life tried as hard as it could to keep our hearts apart, it couldn’t.

“I love you so much, Jamie. I can’t believe we did it. You’re really mine forever.” I kissed him deeply.

“I’ve always been yours, Lex. Always,” he whispered through our kiss.

Our embrace was interrupted by laughter, making us break our kiss to see what we were missing. Our boys were standing at the water’s edge with Lee on one side and my dad on the other, splashing around and playing while Frank and we looked on. I remember thinking it wasn’t exactly like our dream, but it was almost as perfect. I was more in love than I ever thought possible and the love that I had for Jamie when we were teenagers, that I had always told myself would be impossible to ever match again, has been multiplied in a way that was unimaginable.

I remember looking into the sky and thinking of our moms, knowing there’d never be a way to make my dream complete, but that the way my life has ended up is as close to perfection as I could have ever dreamed of.

Now, sitting here in the doctor’s office with Jamie, knowing that we’d be having the girls of our dreams, it seemed as if life is complete. I place his strong hands on my belly and don’t hesitate with my decision. “Maureen and Mary.” I say the names of our mothers and he freezes.

He leans down and places a loving kiss on my belly and whispers to them, “A stórs. Maureen and Mary.”

Walking out of the appointment that day, hand in hand with Jamie, made me believe that anything in life is possible. I believe that the impossible is possible as long as you never give up on your dreams, but most importantly to always listen to your heart.

Anything is possible when you don’t give up on love.