Page 76 of The Wrong Track

“It’s probably for the best,” she said. “I don’t want this stuff, the family and house and everything. I wanted Toby, but not everything that he wanted for his life. You do. You want it all.”

I did. I wanted him and everything that came with him. I held onto the doorframe so my knees didn’t buckle as the realization hit me like a fist in the mouth.

“Congratulations.” Lulu turned and walked away and I watched her go.

I still felt like I’d been smacked a good one as I drove to the county clerk’s office with Hazel, Monica, and Ella. It didn’t feel like pain, but instead that everything in my body had been shaken up and maybe (probably), I was not going to hold together for much longer. My new inhaler was in the diaper bag ready to go but this wasn’t a breathing problem.

“Lulu didn’t say anything mean, right?” Hazel asked me for about the hundredth time.

“No. The last thing she told me before she left was ‘congratulations.’”

“You seem really upset,” she said worriedly.

“She’s nervous,” Monica chided. “Just wait until your own wedding day.”

“Mom, Hatch and I haven’t even—well, we’ve talked, but—ok, I do want to marry him.” Hazel and her mother laughed and then discussed how hard it might be to find a suit to fit her giant boyfriend, and I got to look out the window and tried to keep myself together.

But then we pulled up to the courthouse. Tobin was waiting outside in his own suit with the sun shining down on his hair, making it look like he wore a halo. “Hazel, can you watch the baby?” I asked her. Then I got out of the car and ran.

“Hey! Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked, but he hugged me back when I threw my arms around him.

“Nothing.” Nothing was, I realized. I’d just needed him. “I’m glad to see you.”

“You’re a little late,” he answered. “I was thinking you might not come.” I looked up and saw that he had the worried mouth. I reached and put my fingers over the frown.

“I was definitely coming. I’m not going to let you down.” And I watched his lips turn up in a smile.

And then, we got married. In front of Hazel and her mom, bawling, and Ella, also bawling but a lot louder. We had our first kiss in front of them as witnesses and it was perfect. It was the most perfect day ever.

Even the party afterwards was perfect. I kind of drifted through, talking to Tobin’s relatives and friends, feeding Ella and changing her diaper, eating some of the food that his aunt Evelyn had provided and then some cake off Tobin’s fork as the guests cheered. Tobin stayed with me almost the whole time except when he went out to shoot baskets with his cousins in the driveway and Ella and I watched through the window.

“They’re still like little boys,” Charlene said over my shoulder. “That’s how they’ve always played.”

I watched as Tobin took an elbow from his cousin Ryan, right in his gut. Was it supposed to be a contact sport? “They play kind of rough.”

“They’ve never really hurt each other. Except when Steve broke Luke’s nose once, and Alex sprained his ankle chasing Mason. Ryan just stood there saying, ‘I didn’t have anything to do with it.’” She laughed.

“Ha,” I said.

“Tobin mentioned that you cried during the ceremony.”

“It wasn’t because I was sad. I was really, really happy.” I waited for her reaction.

She watched the basketball game for a minute or so. “This wasn’t what I planned for my son,” she said, and I nodded. Obviously, she wouldn’t have chosen me, the woman with the terrible past and baby in tow. “But you’re what he wants.”

“Ella is what he wants,” I said, and she turned to me and smiled.

“I think you’re going to be very happy together and I’m so glad to welcome you to the family.” She hugged me and I made myself relax and hug her back until she jerked away. “Good God, Luke has a bloody nose again and they’re using Steve’s shirt to staunch the bleeding.” She rushed outside to stop the madness.

“Did you have fun?” Tobin asked me quietly as he drove us home. Ella was asleep in the back and I sat next to him, curled up in his suit coat instead of hovering over her car seat.

I thought for a moment. “I did,” I said. “I can’t believe that all this happened.”

“Believe it.” He picked up my hand and ran his thumb over the silver band on my third finger. “Someday, I’ll get you a nicer one.”

“I don’t want a different ring. I love this one.” Because he had put it on my finger, and inside it had our names engraved.

“I’m not going to be able to carry you over the threshold. Not with this boot still on my damn leg.”