Chapter 8 - The Wedding That Never Happened
One year after the country road, the Bellamy family held a celebration.
Not a wedding.
Something better.
A birthday party for the boys.
All three turned one.
The backyard was covered in balloons.
Ethan and Evan crawled across the grass.
Caleb sat beside a cake.
Maren wore a simple blue dress.
She looked beautiful.
Not because of the dress.
Because she was smiling.
I walked toward her.
“Happy birthday.”
She laughed.
“To all three.”
“To all three.”
The boys were photographed together.
Three little boys.
Three Bellamy sons.
No secrets.
No missing records.
No lies.
Maren watched them.
“I still can't believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
She looked at me.
“Would you do it differently?”
“Everything.”
She smiled.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Even meeting me?”
I laughed.
“That part I'd keep.”
She shook her head.
“You're getting sentimental.”
“Maybe.”
I reached into my pocket.
She frowned.
“What is that?”
A small box.
Her eyes widened.
“Rowan.”
“Open it.”
She did.
Inside was not a diamond.
It was a simple silver ring.
Her wedding ring.
The original.
I had recovered it from storage.
“I don't expect you to wear it.”
She looked at me.
“Then why?”
“Because I wanted to give you something back.”
She touched the ring.
“You kept this?”
“For years.”
“Why?”
“Because even when I believed I hated you, part of me knew I had lost something.”
She began crying.
I knelt.
Not to propose.
Not yet.
I simply held out my hand.
She took it.
Then she placed the ring on her finger.
“I'll keep it.”
I smiled.
“That is enough.”
Later that night, after everyone left, we sat outside.
Maren leaned against my shoulder.
“Maybe one day.”
“One day what?”
“We'll have a wedding.”
I looked at her.
“With three little ring bearers?”
She laughed.
“Exactly.”
I kissed the top of her head.
May you like
“One day.”
And for the first time, the future didn't frighten me.
