It was a collage photo frame, identical to the one she’d given Kevin for Christmas. The picture Mary had taken of them with Lily when she was three weeks old was in the center. There was a photo of Beth playing with the boys and Stephanie at Christmas. A shot of her and Paulie laughing together at Jasper’s she’d never even known was taken. A photo of her parents with Lily, taken while they were still at the hospital. A group shot of the entire family, with her at the center in her tiara, taken at her baby shower.
And there were two from that very night. One taken as they looked into each other’s eyes and said their vows. Another of them in each other’s arms when they danced as husband and wife.
That must have been Joe’s part, she thought. He had a laptop and a small printer with him, so he must have printed the last two pictures while they finished their dance.
They were all there in candid moments captured forever under glass. Her family. “It’s beautiful.”
Kevin put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “They’ll look awesome hanging together in the new house.”
There wasn’t a new house yet, but Kevin was pretty determined Lily would spend her first Christmas in a real house with a yard she wasn’t old enough to play in. “Yes, they will. In the meantime, they’ll hang together over your—I mean our—couch.”
He kissed her again, until Bobby’s voice broke into the moment. “Time for the Wedding Garter Toss of Doom!”
Beth and Kevin broke apart, and she laughed when she saw the game they were setting up. Instead of horseshoes, they’d be tossing rings painted to look like wedding garters at the stakes. The kids were already arguing over who was on which team, and the guys were surreptitiously switching out paper cups of Kool-Aid disguised as wedding punch for beer and sodas.
Her family, she thought again and there was no hesitation. No pangs of regret or longing for Albuquerque. Hell, she even had her eye on a late-model minivan for sale down the street from the bar.
This was her home, with the people who cared about her. She loved them all, especially the tall one arguing with his brothers about how many paces should be between the stakes and whose paces they were going to use.
“I love you,” she mouthed when he looked in her direction.
He grinned, flashing full dimples at her. “You might love me right now, but the kids said we have to be on opposite teams. The groom’s team and the bride’s team.”
Beth laughed and joined her family, ready to kick her new husband’s ass at the Wedding Garter Toss of Doom.
About the Author
Shannon Stacey married her Prince Charming in 1993 and is the proud mother of two incredible sons. She lives in New England, where her two favorite activities are trying to stay warm and writing stories of happily ever after. And while her two cats refuse to curl up on her lap and keep it warm while she writes, her Shih Tzu is never far away.
When she’s not writing, she’s indulging in her other passion—four wheeling! From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer.