Page 278 of Broken Saint
I nod, wiping away the tears as we part.
“Come on. Mom, Benny and West are already here.”
As we descend into the kitchen, everyone gets up and greets each other. The sight of them fills my heart with so much joy.
Just as I’m getting myself together, the doorbell rings.
Rushing to answer it, I almost start crying all over again at the sight of Luca, Peyton, Leon, Macie and Brax standing on my doorstep.
This is it. I have my whole family under one roof.
I never in a million years thought it would ever happen.
I think back over the last few years. The pain, the heartache, but most importantly the love and laughter.
Life right now, is everything I’ve ever wanted.
I’ve left the painful past behind me, sure, I’ll forever have my battles to fight, but I’m no longer alone. We take it on together. Or at least we can let Colt’s lawyer handle it like it did with Chad.
As we gather in the kitchen, Mom and Letty hand out mimosas for everyone—just an orange juice for me, sadly—and the conversation around us trails off.
I clear my throat, ensuring everyone turns my way.
“Th-thank you,” I stutter. “Thank you for being here with us today.” I wrap my arm around Colt’s waist and hold him tight themoment he moves closer. “And thank you for being there for us whether together or apart. I know I speak for both of us when I say that we couldn’t have done it without you.
“You’re not just the best friends in the world. You’re family. Our family.
“And, for those of you who don’t already know,” I say glancing at Letty, “we feel that now would be a good time to announce that we’re adding another member to it.”
I pull our recent scan picture from my back pocket and hold it up. “Baby Rogers is coming soon.”
Excitement erupts, and we’re surrounded by our friends and family as they celebrate this milestone with us.
It might not have been planned. But then nothing to do with Colt and me has ever been planned. Things would have turned out very differently if I could have got what I wanted all those years ago. But hey, what’s the fun in things being easy?
Colton Rogers was always my endgame. I knew it from day one.
It just took us a little while to become the people we needed to be so that we could be together.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Colton
One year later…
“About fucking time,” West complains as the main door to the room we’re all sitting in opens and our father and his latest partner walk in as if they own the place. You’d think that anyone who’s almost two hours late for their son’s rehearsal dinner the night before his wedding would look at least a little bit embarrassed. But nope. Not Dalton Rogers. He’s as arrogant and as self-assured as ever.
Ella was starting to believe that they weren’t going to turn up. West and I knew better.
Having our father turn all the attention on himself is nothing new to us.
He lives for the attention and the limelight.
Hilda, his new wife, takes her place beside him as the doors fall closed and the conversation around the large table we’re all sitting at pauses.
I discovered that he’d eloped with her online. It’s how I discover almost everything about my father these days. Most I take with a grain of salt, because we all know how much truth there is in the media, but it was hard to discount the wedding photos that accompanied the article.
Was I surprised that I’d never met the woman wearing white at his side? No. Not at all.