if he were promising me something. And I answered back with the promises I’d been giving him since I was a little girl. I’d always be his, and he’d always be mine.
Stephen
THIS GIFT
“I'm down on my knees, there's no better time
It's something to last for as long as you live.”
Performed by 98 Degrees
Written by Bagge / Hosein / De Viller
When I walked in the back door of the house, Edie was in the kitchen, putting the cinnamon rolls in the oven. She was dressed in green leggings and a long, plaid top that made her look like a Christmas present, especially with her belly sticking out as far as it was. I’d never tell her that, though, or she’d poison me to death. But her belly made me think of Khiley and how, pretty soon, I’d be able to feel our baby moving inside her. It made a smile hit my face when, yesterday, it had all been anger and frowns.
“You talked to Khiley, I see,” she said.
I looked up, surprised. “What?”
She smiled. “Khiley and I took a little ride yesterday because you’d put her in an awful position.”
I nodded, the smile gone.
“But I can see you’ve made up,” she said.
“I had a moment of temporary insanity,” I told her truthfully.
“I think you’re allowed. It’s hard on a relationship when it’s unplanned,” Edie said, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of sadness cross her face. But before I could even ask her about it, she was back on my case. “You shouldn’t have left her.”
I nodded. “It won’t happen again. She’s my whole world, Eds. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Tears hit her eyes, and now I was pretty sure her sadness had something to do with Garrett and why he wasn’t here with his wife and his baby. I put my arm around her. “You going to be okay?”
She nodded, pushing me away, deflecting like Edie usually did. “Of course I am. When are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”
“Tomorrow. When there are too many witnesses for them to kill me and bury the body.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure they won’t all bury you,” she laughed.
“Who’s burying who and why?” Mama asked, coming into the kitchen in jeans and a sweater. Mama was gorgeous even as she aged. Her strawberry-blonde hair showed signs of gray, but her sparkling blue eyes and her smile made her seem way younger than fifty.
“Just Ty,” I said and squinted at Edie to keep quiet. Not that I had to worry about it. Edie never spilled the beans on any of us unless it was life or death.
♫ ♫ ♫
I was a grumpy ass on Christmas Eve because the truth of the matter was I wanted to be with the woman I loved who was having my baby. I had meant what I’d said to Khiley. The way things had always worked was going to have to change. We were getting married. We’d need our own traditions. We’d need to make our own choices on where we spent the holidays. The family had to understand that. They had to expect it. It wasn’t like they hadn’t known we loved each other from the moment we’d first held hands. Even if we hadn’t said that we’d loved each other until years later.
It wasn’t until her fifteenth birthday when we’d first said it.
I’d spent all the money I’d saved working at Aunt Mia’s car dealership over the summer to buy Khiley a new telescope. I’d set it up on her balcony while she’d spent the day shopping with Ginny. When she got home, I took her outside, and when she saw the telescope, she squealed and jumped into my arms. I barely caught her before she started kissing me. Kissing me in a way that was different than our kisses used to be. These seemed like we were working up to something.
Then she breathed out, “I love you.”
I nodded and had gone to say it back, but in her normal Khiley way, she cut me off. “Wait. I don’t just love you because you buy me things, or let me win at Fortnite, or give me your last cookie.”
“I don’t let you win—”
She cut me off again with a finger on my lips. “I love you because you know me inside and out and aren’t running for the hills. I love you because you know that I can’t sit still and find ways to make sure I don’t have to. I