Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,113

give one flying fuck.

I loved my life.

I loved my wife.

I loved my kid.

As far as I was concerned, I had it all.

If she didn’t want to factor into that happiness, it was for the best she stayed gone.

Besides, Owen had some pretty great grandparents on Nora’s side.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Joe said as he came through the front door, a massive stack of presents cradled in his arms.

“Papa!” all the kids yelled, racing toward him.

Misty was right behind him, unfortunately holding a Crockpot. “Hot plate coming through.”

Being the gentleman I was—and also needing to steel my stomach for whatever was inside—I walked over and took it from her hands.

“Oh, wow. Pot roast,” I announced.

She patted me on the chest. “I know the girls are cooking tonight, but I couldn’t resist making your favorite. I threw in a few extra artichoke hearts, so there should be plenty for you to have leftovers.”

“Mmmm,” I hummed, internally gagging. Yes, she put artichokes in her pot roast. Sadly, that was not the worst part. “You are too good to me. I’ll just put this in the kitchen.”

Nora followed behind me, giggling with every step.

Setting the pot on the counter, I glanced around the corner to be sure Misty was out of earshot. Then I turned on my evil wife. “You told her it was my favorite, didn’t you?”

“Uh, technically, it was Thea.” She bit her bottom lip. “But I didn’t correct her.”

Grabbing her hand, I gave her a tug, pulling her against me. “If you weren’t carrying my daughter, I’d—”

“Shhhh!” She slapped a hand over my mouth. “We aren’t telling them until after dinner.”

I tilted my head, freeing my mouth. “You mean if I make it through dinner.”

“Does it help if I tell you I made banana pudding for dessert?”

“Maybe.” I leaned over and caught her mouth in a kiss. “Or maybe you can make it up to me later tonight down by the creek.”

“Awesome. So I can catch pneumonia?”

I scoffed. “You’re not going to catch pneumonia. We’ve never caught anything down by that creek.”

She peered up at me, her golden-brown eyes sparkling with more love than I ever knew possible, and smirked. “I caught you, didn’t I?”

The End

Preview of Release

Twelve years, eight months, three weeks, four days, twelve hours, and thirty-seven minutes.

That was how long it had been since my heart took a single beat without a searing pain piercing through my chest.

That was how long it had been since my future exploded, leaving me on my knees, lost in the wreckage.

That was how long he’d been gone.

I lifted my gaze from my watch as Nora’s car slowed to a stop at the guard station. The corrections officer took our driver’s licenses, and Nora prattled off all the usual answers about why we were there. It was the same old song and dance. One I knew well after…

Twelve years, eight months, three weeks, four days, twelve hours, and thirty-eight minutes.

He pressed a button to lift the metal arm and we drove around the corner to the second guard station. That was where my familiarity of the process ended.

I’d never been allowed through the second gate, despite the fact that I’d spent two hours every other week sitting in my car in the parking lot. This time was different though. Nora wasn’t there for a visit. And I wasn’t there to warm the chill in my veins knowing he was somewhere nearby.

“Breathe,” Nora ordered after the guard had instructed her to follow the road around to the side of the building.

I couldn’t breathe though. I could barely keep my heart beating. Vital functions were no longer involuntary but rather an arduous task that made every inhale feel like I was pushing a boulder up a mountain.

He was in there. My Ramsey, the boy who had branded my soul in ways time could never heal.

Tears flooded my vision as I imagined the seventeen-year-old with chocolate-brown eyes and shaggy hair. Ramsey didn’t look like that anymore though. He was almost thirty now, but I still dreamed of him as the tall, lanky boy who had once held me in his arms and loved me with his entire being.

For us, love was the original four-letter word.

I was in fifth grade the first time we heard, “Ramsey and Thea sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” We were told first comes love, then marriage, then a baby in a baby carriage. No one mentioned that love would also be the most devastating emotion we would ever experience.

As I got older, I