We all go out together, going to our first event as a family. Her dad isn’t going with us today, though. He’s going to visit Sky’s mom.
Seth wins in back-to-back matches, and he advances to the final round.
Every time Seth wins, he stops after the match and raises his hand toward the sky, like he’s reaching for heaven. It brings a tear to my eye.
His last match isn’t like the others. He’s up against a boy who’s really good. Seth comes up in the stands to talk to me. “Uncle Matt,” he says. “I don’t know what to do.”
I go and retrieve Joey from the bottom of the bleachers because she is getting a little too close to the wrestling mat. One fling of a fully grown boy in her direction, and she’ll get hurt. I go to get her and bring her back up. I blow on her belly and then toss her over my shoulder. She laughs and hangs there, giggling. “About what?” I ask.
He nods toward the bottom of the bleachers. “You see that guy in the wheelchair?” he asks.
I do. I saw him when we first came in.
“He’s my next opponent’s dad.”
“Oh,” I breathe. “Is he sick?” He’s wearing a stocking cap over his bald head, so I can guess what’s wrong with him.
“Final stages of cancer,” Seth says quietly.
“And you’re worried about whether or not you should let his son win?” I weigh it in my mind. I can see why Seth is conflicted. And to be honest, I’m conflicted, too.
“Yeah.”
“Do you think it would make his dad happy for this match to be handed to him?”
Seth shakes his head and gnaws on his lower lip. “Probably not.”
“Seth, if I were his dad, I would want him to do his best, and may the best man win.”
Seth nods.
“Just be prepared.” I squeeze his shoulder. “He might be in it to win it.” He’s a few pounds heavier than Seth, too.
“Okay,” he says. And he goes down to the clock to sign in when it’s his turn.
“What’s wrong?” Sky asks when I sit down beside her. She takes Joey from over my shoulder and sets her beside Mellie, and then puts a crayon in her hand and gives her a piece of paper.
I point with my chin and tell her what’s up. She looks sympathetic. “This one has to be hard for him after what happened with his mom.”
I nod. It f**king hurts me, and it’s not even my match.
“Do you think he’ll throw it?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I doubt it.”
He doesn’t.
He goes at it just like he goes at everything else. He kicks ass. The boy is strong, and he has Seth almost pinned once, but the clock has ten seconds to go. The referee swipes his hand beneath Seth’s lifted shoulder to show the other boy that Seth isn’t pinned yet. It’s close, and I hold my breath. Sky is squealing beside me, and the whole auditorium starts to count down with the clock. It goes off and Seth rolls over, and they move on to round two. Seth holds his own, and he gets some back points when he lays the boy out flat. It’s almost the third round, and he’s up by one point. Just one point. Seth looks over at his opponent’s dad, and the man gives him a thumbs-up. Seth smiles at him and goes back to it.
Seth makes a crazy move, one that I have never even seen, one that might just be dumb luck, and he gets the boy on his back. His opponent can’t wiggle free, no matter what he does. All Seth has to do is hold it.
Suddenly, the ref calls a pin. Seth reaches down and helps the boy to his feet, and they share a back-thwacking hug. The ref raises Seth’s fist, and Sky hoops and yells beside me. Seth stops at the edge of the mat and raises his hand to the sky. He closes his eyes and says something under his breath that I can’t quite make out. But then he turns and goes to his opponent’s dad. He squats down in front of him and says something to him. Seth’s eyes fill with tears, and he’s so f**king emotional all of a sudden that I have to blink mine back, too. Sky doesn’t even try. She just wipes her face.
Seth goes to the locker room to clean up, and it’s not until we’re on the way home that Sky turns to him and says, “What did you say to that boy’s dad, Seth?”
Seth blows out a breath. “I told him to keep fighting. That’s all.”
I have to blink back tears again. Seth is going to make one hell of a man. Sky reaches back and takes Seth’s hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. He leans forward and kisses her cheek.
“I love you, Aunt Sky,” he says quietly.
“I love you, too, Seth,” she breathes.
“Me, too?” Mellie chirps.
Joey follows with, “And me?”
Sky laughs and reaches back to tickle their feet. “You two, too.”
Then she takes my hand in hers and says, “You, too.”
I give her a squeeze because it’s all I’m capable of right now.
Skylar
Two months later
My mother stands in front of me and fluffs my veil. It has been a long time coming, but we’re making progress. She got out of rehab a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve actually been spending some time together. We pop popcorn and talk about…nothing. It’s nice. It’s something she’s never been capable of before. Neither was I. I had to set aside my doubts and my distrust. Sometimes, if you choose to walk the same road, you have to keep filling in the holes so you can find your footing. But other times, it’s safe to take a new path altogether, and my mom and I are on a new path, completely. We’re discovering one another like we’ve never met.
When I got my news yesterday, she was the only one I told. I’m going to tell Matt after the wedding. We got his good news last month when his blood work revealed that he is still in remission. Now I’m going to give him some more good news.
“You look so beautiful,” my mom says. She has adjusted my hair, and she even held my dress up when I had to pee one last time. She has really been here for me today.
“Thank you,” I breathe. My nerves are frayed, not because of the wedding but because of what I have planned afterward. “You have Matt’s gift, right?” I ask.
She pats her clutch. “I have it. It’s safe.”
We found out last week that Joey and Mellie’s dad is willing to give up his parental rights and let us adopt them. They’ll have the Reed name. Matt has never been happier, but I have a feeling the news today will top even that. We’d like to adopt Seth, too, but he says he doesn’t need it. He says he wants to keep his mother’s name. That’s fine with me, as long as he knows he’s ours, too. And I’m pretty sure he does.
My mother gives me one last hug and goes to take her seat.
I hear the wedding march begin, and Dad comes to collect me. “It’s not too late to back out, if you want to,” he says.
I shake my head. “Never.”
He laughs. “I didn’t think so.” He sticks out his elbow. I slide my arm inside. I only have three bridesmaids, and they’re all standing at the front of the church already. Friday, Reagan, and Emily are family, but they agreed to get all dressed up and stand with me. Of course, Matt had to have every one of his brothers and Seth stand with him. He couldn’t leave a single one out, so our sides don’t match. But that’s okay with me.
I step up to the walkway and look up. The guests all get to their feet. But I don’t look at them. I look at Matt. I can tell the minute he sees me because his eyes get glassy and his mouth falls open. I watch his face the whole way down the aisle. Paul punches him in the arm, and he still doesn’t break my gaze. My dad kisses me on the cheek, and the rest of the service is just a dream. I look into Matt’s eyes and say my vows and he says his. When it’s time for rings, I let him slide mine on my finger and nothing ever felt so right. Until I slide his on, too. And then it’s perfect.
“You may kiss the bride,” the preacher says.
Matt takes my face in his hands, his fingertips splayed toward my ear, and he lays a kiss on my lips that steals my breath. Paul starts to cough indelicately to break us up. When Matt finally lifts his head, he stares into my eyes. I hold his wrists and can’t break away.
The preacher says, “I’d like to introduce, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Reed!”
The crowd goes nuts, and we walk out amid a shower of birdseed. We both close our eyes and let it rain down on us, soaking up every second.
Friday has Mellie by the hand and Reagan has Joey, so we scoop them up in our arms, each taking one of them, and we run toward the reception hall. We accept a ton of well wishes, and then it’s time for a toast.
Paul stands and holds up his glass. “If there was ever anyone deserving of love, it’s my brother.” He stops to clear his throat. “I’m just glad he found it. Sky, you make my brother even better than he already was, and I know he’ll do the same for you. You know everything about him, and you love him anyway.” The crowd laughs, and Matt scowls playfully. “To you, to your love, and to your life and your family. May you continue to be blessed.”
He tips his glass and drinks. So does Matt. And everyone in the crowed. Except me. “What’s wrong?” Matt asks.
“Nothing,” I say. I motion my mother forward, and she puts a box in my hands. It’s small, but it’s weighty at the same time. “I have a present for you.”
“I thought our honeymoon was our present to each other,” he reminds me with a scowl. We’re leaving for the Carolina coast for a week with the kids tonight. I can’t wait.
I motion for him to take my package. “The vacation is our gift. This is just extra.” I blink back the tears that are already forming in my eyes.
He makes a face and opens up the box. He looks inside and then gets confused. He pulls the tiny little item out of the box. It’s a onesie that has tattoo designs all over it, and on the back, it has the name Reed. “What’s this?” he asks, confused.
Then his eyes grow wide. Friday gasps when she realizes what’s going on, and the rest of the crowd rumbles and fidgets. “Is this?” he asks. He stops because he’s choked with emotion.
“Yes,” I say. Tears roll down my face, and I don’t care. I lean close to him. “You knocked me up.”
He takes me in his arms and pulls me close, and a sob rolls through him. “Are you serious?”
“Completely serious, Matt,” I say. “But wait.” I look down and shake the onesie out. A second one falls out, and Matt catches it in the air.
“Two?” he asks.
I nod, so broken by his reaction that I can’t speak. “Two tiny little heartbeats,” I say as soon as I can.
“Holy fuck,” he breathes into my ear. He squeezes me so tightly that I chirp. “I love you so f**king much,” he says to me.
He takes a second to breathe me in and compose himself, then he drops to his knees and lays his forehead on my belly. He says something quietly to his unborn children, and I’m not even sure what it was, but I do know it was between him and them. Or him and God. I’m not sure which.
Then he stands and looks up at the crowd. Half of them are as teary eyed as we are. “Do you know what this means?” he asks our friends and family.
They rumble, but he can’t hear one voice over another.
He points to Logan. “This means my sperm are better swimmers than yours, little brother!” he says. He signs while he talks, and Logan flips him off. But he’s laughing. He wraps his arms around Emily and lays his hands on the small swell of her belly.
I slap his shoulder. “What if it’s my eggs that are amazing and not your sperm?”
“What if it’s just us?” he asks quietly, and he kisses me. “Us together.”
“I told you I believe in miracles, Matt,” I say when I can finally lift my head.
“You’re my miracle,” he says. “You. Just you.”
Joey tugs on his pant leg so he scoops her up. He kisses her cheek soundly. She whispers in his ear. He turns and says, “Oh, someone has to go potty.” He holds up a finger. “I’ll be right back.” And he stops the celebration right there to take her to the bathroom.
Miracles.
Yes, I believe.