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I was just a man becoming the best version of himself for the girl he loved—for his Birdy.
“It’s for you,” I told Lake. “I carry you on my back wherever I go.” “You said the same thing about Madison when we were in the truck.” “She’s the third point. My girls.”
“Who’s better for Lake than me?” I asked, my voice louder than I meant it. “Who’s going to take better care of her? Love her more than I do?” I flicked ash over the railing, my face hot. “You don’t know the half of it. Lake’s all that means anything to me. I can tell you without a doubt in my mind that nobody will love, protect, or care for her like I can. I’m the man for her. The only man.”
“I want to be where you are,” he said. “New York can be your dream home, but mine is you.”
“You know why that shade of blue is my favorite? Why I’ve loved it since a warm summer day in 1993? I don’t really have to tell you it’s your eyes. My Lake. You are my favorite color.”
I’m sweeping rn
“It didn’t change, and it didn’t take a few days. I always wanted you, but I had to live through not having you for things to become clear. To come here after four years and see that what I feel for you hasn’t fucking lessened at all, to see that maybe I can actually be good for you, I can now admit the truth. You and I should be together, and we can, but you have to face the truth about the situation before I get on that plane tomorrow.”
“I’ve stayed away so long,” he said. “I need you more than anything. Don’t you see how I need you?”
He kissed my stomach, then flattened both his palms over it. “Lake,” he murmured. I stared at his hands on me as they softened. “Manning.” “You know you could be pregnant already.”
He put his hands on my stomach again. “I know it isn’t the right time, but I can’t help that I want to put a baby in you. You’re the only one who’s brought out that primal side of me—protect, provide, mate.”
Aww I love them I want them to have a baby RIGHT NOW they deserve it and more
He grabbed my wrists finally, wrestling me against a wall. Locking my forearms over my chest with one hand, he covered my mouth with the other. “Calm down or they’ll think I’m hurting you.”
“You could’ve had me so many times, Manning, but you picked her.” “I settled—I didn’t pick her. Now I choose. I choose you, and I will never make that mistake again.”
“I don’t care what lies ahead, how bumpy the road is about to get. I made you a promise, and I’m keeping it.” The longer we stood there, the more determined he looked. “It took me too long to say it, but now . . .” He moved his forehead against mine. “I can’t imagine not telling you every day that I love you so fucking much. I trust in us.”
“This is it. We’re over before we even began.” “No, Lake,” he said softly, shaking his head. “I . . .” He ran the tip of his nose along mine, his lips brushing my cheek.
“Don’t pull away now that I can touch you,”
He got to his knees, his head at my breasts. Kneeling before me, Manning took my waist. “I love this body, and the family it will give us. The sky seems dark now, but that’s how light shines through. I promise you, Lake, I will make this right.”
I lowered my eyes and put my hands on his cheeks. I could’ve sworn I felt wetness there. “I love you, too,” I said. “But I can’t do this to you.”
“It’s okay—I’m giving you permission to go.” “I don’t want permission,” he said, swallowing. “I want you. I love you. What about you?”
I’m not crying you are😭
I stopped myself from accepting his gift and taking the future I was owed. I wanted to ask him to stay and experience all the colors of the mood ring with me, to light me up when I was dark and live in rainbows when times were good. But I had to let that go, and he needed to let me go, so I said, “If you have a daughter, you can give it to her.”
He wasn’t mine to kiss anyway, not that he ever had been. “Birdy,” he said. For the briefest moment, I was sixteen again,
IM CRYING SO MUCH I LOVE THEM THEY DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER😩😭
The heart was a muscle, and it could be trained. With every injury, it got stronger. So I put one foot in front of the other and resisted the urge to turn back for the only man I’d ever truly love.
“It wasn’t a crush. It was more.” I leaned forward, waiting until she lifted her head to meet my eyes. “I loved him, Tiffany. I didn’t care about anything else. Do you have any idea how it felt to watch him walk down the aisle with you?”
“No, I don’t, because he didn’t choose me,” I said. “He chose you.”
Soar, Birdy.
“That crush, it ain’t teeny tiny, is it? I saw the way you looked at her at your wedding. You wanted it to be her.”
“You’ve built a house for a family you don’t have, because you only want it with her. You built this house for Lake.”
❤️❤️
truth—I’d spent my days building my bird a nest without knowing if she’d ever give me a chance to show it to her. And it wasn’t just for Lake—it was for us.
Lake had never made me feel like what I could offer her wasn’t enough.
Fear’s not a good enough excuse
Damn straight
I wouldn’t wait any longer to find Lake and bring her home.
Manning was always in the way, no matter where I was or what I was doing.
I know it sounds stupid.” “You have to give me more credit,” he said. “You know that not once in my life have your thoughts ever sounded stupid to me.”
“I don’t know what that bullshit was earlier about being over me, but I’m not over you. No fucking way—not now, not ever.”
“You’re it for me.”
“You’ve always been good in my eyes. I’ve waited so long for you to see it, too.” “I see it. My love for you is strong enough to make me good enough.”
“You’re going to make me cry again,” I whispered. “Don’t. I can’t stand it. Come in here so I can kiss all those tears off your cheeks for good.”
“Now climb over the starboard side and into my lap.” “Manning . . .” “This is it, Lake. I’m offering you everything I have. And I’m taking what I’ve always wanted.”
“Because you never stopped loving me, I can forgive myself. I want you to be my wife, but I can wait, and I will, as long as it takes.”
“I love you, Lake,” he choked out.
I love both of you...
My heart skipped a beat hearing the possessiveness in his voice. Protect, provide, mate. I hadn’t forgotten. “I feel the same.”
I hopped off the bench and walked back toward the house, stopping where it was darkest—where the stars shone brightest. Wherever Manning went, I’d follow. If he wanted to live amongst the constellations, I’d move with him around an immovable universe, guided by starlight, and when we got separated, fate would light the path back to each other. Because you couldn’t move the stars—Manning and I were inevitable—and as I stood in awe of the infinite night sky, I thanked the heavens for that.
THEY WILL FOREVER HAVE MY HEART
