Page 91 of Father of the Bride
She chuckled.
“I can retire you, Ci. I can take care of you like I always wanted. I’ll take you around the world if you let me.”
Her lips parted, trembling with the force of every emotion she’d locked away over the years. She put a hand on his cheek and bent as he stood, meeting her halfway. Their kiss was tender and sweet, holding the promise of a life together.
He only pulled back because he had to.
“We need to go talk to these kids.”
Chapter 32
“Comein,”Brooklyncalled,her voice scratchy with sleep.
She and Davion lay fully clothed on top of the bedspread, limbs tangled, their bodies barely stirring beneath the soft hush of the morning. They blinked themselves awake as their parents entered the room.
Sunny’s eyes softened at the sight of them. Two young people caught in the chaos of love and life, still holding onto each other, two soft places for the other to land.
Davion sat up slowly. Brooklyn next. “We fell asleep talking,” she said, but Mark held up his hand.
“You don’t have to explain, Brook.” He sighed, taking a seat at her desk as Sunny sat on the bed. “We need to talk.”
“We owe you an apology,” Sunny said. “Both of you. For last night. For…a lot.”
Mark nodded. “We met in college. Fell in love. Deeply. Then life took us in different directions. But we never stopped loving each other.”
Brooklyn’s face softened. “So she was the other woman you were in love with.”
“Yes. And that doesn’t diminish my love for your mother,” Mark added. “Please don’t think—“
“I don’t,” Brooklyn said.
“When I saw her…here…it felt like fate,” he continued. “So we reconnected.”
To Davion, he said, “We didn’t plan it.Ididn’t plan it. I wasn’t plotting on your mother, son. I just saw her and fell right back in love.”
Davion was silent.
“Back then, in college, I…” Sunny trailed off, looking over at Mark.
“I got her pregnant,” he finished.
Brooklyn’s eyes bucked. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. And I made the decision not to go through with it.” Sunny cleared her throat, clasping her hands together in her lap. “It wasn’t the right time. I wasn’t ready. I didn’t see a path forward for us…for me, with a baby. So…” she blew out a breath. “There you go. That’s the whole truth."
Brooklyn looked at Davion, her mouth slack. “Is it possible…is there any chance at all that me and Davion are—“
“No!” Sunny said firmly. “Absolutely not. The math on that makes it impossible.”
Brooklyn’s shoulders sagged with relief. Dav grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.
“We’ve been talking,” he said, speaking up for the first time. “We’re not getting married.”
Sunny shook her head. “Why not, sweetie?”
“We’re too young,” he said. “We love each other, but maybe that’s not enough. All this mess that popped off…I don’t know.” He looked at Brooklyn. “Maybe we’re not ready.”
Sunny put a hand on Davion’s leg, her eyes brimming. “When you have real love, you have to fight for it. Don’t waste it. And don’t walk away from it just because life gets messy.”
