Merry Me Darling

by Lilian T. James

Happily ever after didn’t always mean pregnancy and a diamond ring. Sometimes it also meant only working forty hours a week and discovering who I was as an adult and as a woman. Who I was as Madison, outside of who I was as a mother and a friend. And I was okay with that. More than okay.

A kid can be born happy, but it’s the love they receive that teaches their heart to be gentle.

“I don’t think there’s a single man on this Earth who loves someone more than he loves you.”

“I love you, Garrett Rowe.” He swallowed, his throat bobbing with the movement. “Maddie,” he said again, his voice cracking on my name as his fingers tightened around the silver band. “I love you,” I repeated. “More than I ever thought I could. You don’t just make me happy, Garrett. You make me want to wake up every day and live.”

“Tell me you’re mine, Garrett Rowe.” He pulled back to look down at me, the glittering hazel of his eyes bright and fierce. “Fucking hell, Maddie, I’ve never been anything else.”

“If you think I’m going to take this ring off until we’re home, you’ve lost your fucking mind, Maddie. It’s not going anywhere.”

“I am part of your family, bud. Your mom meant in a permanent manner.” “As in you’ll move into our side of the house?” “As in, I want to marry your mother.”

“I’m going to make something very clear to you, Jamie Hartland. You are not, and never have been, a second thought. Yes, I love your mother, and yes, I want to marry her because I love her. But I am not only marrying her.” He tapped him under the chin with a knuckle, making sure Jamie met his eyes before he continued. “I slipped this ring on my finger knowing full well, that when I did, it’d mean I also got to have you.”

Change could be hard. Really hard. Painful, life-altering, agonizing, and sometimes even impossible. But making a family with Garrett Rowe? That would be really fucking easy.