Dom was also making an effort to get to know the new people in Royal’s life and had gone out of his way to make peace with Asa. The cop and the reformed criminal would never be best friends, but he had stopped glaring at the golden-haired southerner every time he walked into the room. I had also asked him to go with me to say a proper good-bye to Remy and felt my heart fill up with even more love for him when he readily agreed.
On a cold and snowy day, Dom and I drove to the small cemetery in the mountains where the first man I loved was laid to rest. I never got to grieve properly, never had the chance to share the pain of saying good-bye with the people who understood just how deeply the loss went, so I asked Rule and Shaw to meet us there as well as Rome and Cora. The six of us gathered around the snow-dusted grave and bid farewell to the young man who had in some way or another had a hand in bringing us all together. I had lost a boyfriend when he passed, but gained so many experiences and a plethora of amazing people because of him. I considered all of them Remy’s last gift to me. His way of showing me that even though he couldn’t love me the way I needed, the way I deserved, he had loved me in his own way.
Dom put his arm around me when I started to tear up as Rule bent down and tapped his knuckles on the top of the tombstone and rasped out, “Your boy done good, Rem. We all did pretty damn good and it’s a fucking shame you aren’t here to see it. We miss you.”
There was some sniffling from the girls as Rome and Dom cleared their throats, which was pretty much the male equivalent of sniffling and that made me smile. It was the good-bye I needed all along and the good-bye Remy deserved from me. I was getting ready to tell the Archer boys and their woman how much I appreciated them doing this for me when Cora suddenly let out a little shriek that sounded extra sharp in the quiet of the cemetery. Rome looked down at her with a frown that made his scarred face look even fiercer than it normally did.
“What’s wrong?” The tiny blonde put a hand on her very big belly and blinked wide eyes up at the giant former soldier.
“Umm … don’t panic but I think we need to go … now!” She was always a bossy little thing but in this circumstance everyone jumped to do her bidding.
A moment that was somber and heavy was suddenly filled with giddy excitement and chaotic joy. It was almost like there was some divine intervention, some guiding hand that decided the time to be sad was over, life was moving on, families were growing and everyone was exactly where they were supposed to be. Remy might not be there in the flesh to witness it but there was something in the air, a little tingle at the back of my neck that reminded me those that we loved lived on in all of us.
It was a rush back down the mountain to get Cora to the hospital before the newest Archer made his appearance, and Zowen Phillip Archer turned out to be as much a tiny replica of his big, badass father as any newborn could be. Barely hours later and everyone was happy and safe, resting comfortably and well loved.