Page 59 of Our Cracked Pieces

Rowan – (One Year Later)~

Never thought I’d be so excited to be at a birthday party for two one-year-olds, but I was.

Super excited.

Three weeks after Lorcan and I spent our first night together, Mystic had gone into labor, and she’d given us all two perfect babies. The oldest by two minutes, Ian Alaric Evans, and the youngest by two minutes, Isaac Lorcan Evans.

While Alaric was Mystic’s brother, and the only family member she still spoke to, none of us had been surprised by Ian’s middle name. Lorcan, on the other hand, had been beside himself with surprise. Even though he was Gage’s best friend, and had been since they were in college, he felt extremely humbled that Mystic, someone he’s only known for a year, would name her child after him.

I had cried like a baby.

And now, we were at Gage and Mystic’s, celebrating the twins’ first birthday. And while the party was small it was perfect for our little tight knit group. There was Gage, Mystic, Alaric and his girlfriend, Miranda, Lorcan, his sister, Molly, Grayson, and me. And the twins, of course.

Looking around at everyone, I loved how everything seemed as it should be.

Also, there was the fact that, a year later, I was living with Lorcan, my career was thriving, and counseling was working.

Counseling had been a solo thing until I had wanted to conquer my final demons. At that point, Lorcan had gone with me, where we’d had a deep, intense session together. It had taken another few sessions before I had felt comfortable enough to cross that final threshold.

I’ll never forget the first time I went down on Lorcan and how the experience had felt so different from what my fears had predicted. It had been one of the most profound moments in my life, and I was lucky I’d had Lorcan to share it with.

“What do you say we give the twins someone to play with?”

I turned from the cookie platter I was arranging and Lorcan was standing on the other side of the kitchen island, smiling at me. “What?”

“The twins need friends,” he replied. “I mean, this party is missing kids.”

I barked out a laugh. “You want to have children, so the twins have some friends to invite to their birthday parties?”

He walked around the island and pulled me into his arms. “I also happen to love you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I suppose there is that.”

Lorcan dropped his arms as he reached in his pocket, and I watched as he pulled out a stunning three-carat diamond ring from his pocket. Without asking, he lifted my hand and slipped it on my left hand.

“We’ll even be married before our kids are born, so I don’t see the problem.”

I could feel my eyes widened. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“What kind of godparents would we be if we don’t give Ian and Isaac some friends?”

Not needed to say the words, I threw my arms around him, my answer clear. And when his arms came around me, that was all the guarantee I needed for my happily ever after.

Lorcan Cavanaugh was my happily ever after.

The End.