“I haven’t slept in fucking days, Logan. Days. I swear that little monster is trying to make me slowly go insane. He’s smart. Like
freaky smart. I think he somehow knows when I’m about to fall asleep, because he’ll pick that exact moment to scream bloody murder. My nerves
are shot man.”
I tried not to laugh. I really did.
“It will get easier, Colin. I promise,” I said.
“I don’t know, Clare. I think this is my punishment. I think this is what I get for trying to clone pure awesomeness—a baby demon.”
Logan and I just stared blankly at him, completely unable to form words.
“What?” he said.
“I’m so telling your wife you just called your son a baby demon,” Logan said.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would. And you wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it, because tomorrow’s my wedding. That makes it like an unofficial holiday,
so I guess I’m the unofficial king.”
“What do you want?”
Colin must be really afraid of his wife if he was willing to strike up a bargain with Logan just to avoid the backlash. Of course, I’d seen
Colin and Ella in action and part of me understood. They worked well together, but they were both very passionate. Colin was arrogant and full
of himself and Ella was self-assured and independent. They both pretended not to need the other but they did. Badly.
“I want you to be the best damn best man in the history of best men. If there was an award for it, I’d want to see your face plastered on the
top of a trophy. Got it?”
“Got it. Be awesome. I can do that.”
“I have specifics.”
“Of course you do,” Colin sighed.
“When I need something, you’re there. If Clare and I need to duck out for a few minutes….half an hour, you make excuses. If I need a good
hiding spot, you find me one.”
My eyebrows rose at this odd request. I gave him a look, and he grinned.
He leaned in, close to my ear and whispered, “Did you think I’d be able to wait all night to take my wife?”
Instant red flushed my face, and I turned away, trying to hide my obvious embarrassment. Colin was now grinning as well, and I pretty much
wanted to die right then and there.
“Anything you want man, I’m there.”
I was getting married tomorrow, and it was shaping up to be a very interesting day.
Logan
I had no idea she was going to speak, until she was tapping her fork against her wine glass to gather everyone’s attention. We had decided not
to give speeches. Too many emotions, and neither one of us wanted to break down in the middle of our rehearsal or reception. So, we were going
to leave the speech making to everyone else, if they wanted. We still weren’t sure we’d survive that so we weren’t holding anyone to it.
With lives like ours, celebrations went beyond champagne and fancy food. It was the ability to celebrate that was worth the celebration, and no
one knew this better than the woman standing before me.
“Thank you all for coming. I know a lot of people say that at things like this, but I truly mean it. I know it was last minute and far away,
but not a single one of you ever complained. Each one of you, the people who mean the most to us, happily took vacation days, did some last
minute packing and hopped on planes to celebrate this special occasion, and it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Clare briefly glanced down at me, giving me a faint smile. I took her delicate hand in mine, weaving our fingers together like I always did and
smiled back.
“Life is full of unexpected surprises. Some good like the blessing of a child, and some not so good…like losing a loved one way too early.”
She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts and calming her emotions. I held on to her hand still, caressing her soft skin with the pad of
my thumb.
“Logan is one of those surprises in life that takes your breath away, leaving you completely awestruck by the enormity of the gift. But
sometimes, wonderful, sweet and even incredibly sexy gifts are hard to accept.”
Our small group chuckled, and I looked up to give her a quick grin.
“How do you comprehend such an amazing blessing, when your life has already been filled with them? This was the question I struggled with.
When you’ve already been given so much, can you really take more? Many of you don’t know this, but before Ethan died, he wrote me a letter. I
was supposed to open it when I was ready, but until recently I didn’t know what I was supposed to be ready for. In that letter, Ethan gave me
my answer. Life is too short to worry about the why, or the how or the what-ifs. Love is a risk, there are no guarantees. But in the end, it is
always, always worth it.”
Through my very unmanly blurry eyes, I looked around to find an entire room of matching tear stained faces staring back at us.
“I’m sorry to make all of you cry, but before all the craziness of tomorrow, I wanted you all to know how much of a gift Logan is to my life.
He has taught me how to remember without being sad, how to live again, and most importantly, how to love again. I couldn’t have picked a
better man to love my daughter and complete our family.”