It didn’t matter what outsiders thought. The people important to us—the trio and couple in this room—were behind us one hundred percent. Even Jacques’s parents had made an effort to atone for their appalling behavior in the first six months after Carina and Jacques were married. They were flying in soon to visit once we all got settled back at home.
I looked down on our little girl in her mom’s arms and thanked the universe for Carina’s strength and a smooth, safe delivery. My hands shook as the adrenaline crashed, and the nausea from helplessly watching while Carina was in labor and desperately wishing Jacques would arrive finally abating. I exhaled, the weight of the stress lifting off me. All that was left was overwhelming love and joy.
I could never have imagined my life ending up like this. Being happy, healthy, and loved seemed like a pipe dream when I was a kid. Some people took it for granted. But I never would.
I finally understood why I’d had to suffer through my childhood with parents like mine. I understood why I couldn’t have escaped them sooner. It was to make sure I never turned out like them. It felt a lot like fate had stepped in and made me appreciate exactly what kind of life I wanted.
And I wanted exactly what I had.
I was so grateful that the universe worked in such inexplicable ways. We were pulled together like the planets orbiting the sun, crossing one another’s paths at exactly the right time. Each step we took brought us closer to this moment. To Charlie.
I hadn’t thought college was a possibility, but my guidance counsellor convinced me I could get a scholarship. She persuaded me to study fire science rather than joining the fire department straight out of school. I’d looked at a single college—the furthest away from Texas that I could get. But it was more than that. Something in me recognized that I needed to be there. I’d known it was important to my future and that it was the only choice for me the moment I’d seen its name—Ridgeview College.
The same thing had happened when I’d rushed for the frat. If I hadn’t, I never would have met Jacques and Rusty. We never would have ended up neighbors on the first floor, and we never would have fallen for each other. We’d navigated those years at college with stolen nights and hidden rendezvous, and I was sure it made us all the stronger for it.
We’d needed that strength when we’d graduated and been split apart. But we’d endured. We’d nearly lost Rusty, his job pushing him to the brink. But he’d found himself again, and in doing so, came back to us. As a trio, we’d built our slice of heaven together. We were happy.
We had no idea that it could get better.
Even Jacques spending a few years in Australia was serendipitous. He was living his dream with the Seals now, but who could have imagined that it was Carina’s ex who would facilitate bringing Carina back into Jacques’s life? It was as if fate stepped in again and sprinkled a little magic dust over the idea. How else could the Seals have ended up being one of the teams in attendance?
It was even more of a fluke that Cara had volunteered to be the sponsor’s liaison with the team. She’d asked Carina to go to the game with her, and it turned into another moment where fate stepped in to bring us together.
Jacques’s and Carina’s attraction to each other had sparked that night, even if Carina wasn’t ready to see it then. I’d hardly believed Jacques when he’d telephoned to tell us about her. He’d been smitten, and something in my gut told me to encourage him. Carina turned out to be the final piece of our puzzle that we didn’t even know was missing.
Jacques’s trip had been the catalyst for everything to fall into place, that pivotal moment that changed all our lives for the better.
But if a single moment had failed to eventuate—if Cara hadn’t walked in on her dad cheating, if Carina hadn’t gone to that game, if she’d said no to Jacques’s invitation to go out for drinks, if his grandfather hadn’t fallen and injured himself, if we hadn’t gotten drunk in Vegas—we wouldn’t have been here today.
We wouldn’t have Carina.
We wouldn’t have Charlie.
I’d never been one to dwell on those pivotal moments, but it was worth it. The baby girl in Carina’s arms was a testament to the importance of them.
Carina held Charlie out for Rusty to get his first hold, and he took her gently into his arms. My man was so gentle with her, so utterly smitten already. It took my breath away.
Our lives, our futures, flashed before my eyes. It had happened once when I was a kid, when my dad was drunk and violent. I thought I was going to die that night. The vision I’d had was bleak, filled with greys and browns, faded skies, and unhappy faces.
But now it was in Technicolor. It was vibrant and lively. Our future together was filled with laughter and hope. It was filled with love.
I looked at the men and woman and our baby girl that we loved, so grateful that they felt the same way about me.
This, right here—our family—was my perfect world, and I would spend the rest of my days living it to the fullest with Jacques, Rusty, Carina, our baby girl, and the rest of our family by our sides.
Epilogue - Carina
Charlie turns three
“Mommy?”
“Yes, Peanut,” I said, closing the story book I’d been reading to Charlie. We were curled up in her bed with Zeus at her feet, reading her favorite princess book, in which Amelia and her friends saved the kingdom from the evil that sucked happiness and color from the world. It was kind of badass, definitely an ode to feminine strength and a celebration of diversity. Even better for representation, Amelia’s best friend was trans. I loved that it was the book Charlie’d connected with.
I loved it even more that Disney had picked it up and it was releasing tomorrow.
“I wanna dress up as ’Melia tomorrow.”
I grinned. I’d hoped she’d make that suggestion. “In her princess dress?”
