Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
There’s a gentle knock on the door and I gasp as I look up. Mom, Dad and Carlos walk in. Following close behind them is Dragon and Nicole. If that wasn’t enough Aunt Katie and Uncle Torch follow, BB, Pez and Apex are next. Our family, the family that King and I have around us here. Tears sting my eyes as I take in the smiles and the way my man moves over to hug and/or welcome each of them.
This is my life. This is my family. This is the beautiful life that I’ve always wanted and the one that I will give my daughter. I never believed I’d have this. I truly didn’t. I look up at King’s laughing face as he hugs Dragon and they talk, and my heart stutters in my chest from the force of the love that surges through me. King gave me hope when I had none and just as I was drowning in fear of the unknown, he swooped in and rescued me. While all that was going on, he taught me what love really is.
He also taught me a lesson that I will never forget. It will be one that I will share with little Etta and any other children that we have. It’s a simple one, yet profound. I’ll make sure that my baby knows that life can be beautiful, but it can also be so hard you think you’re going to die. Yet, it’s when life is at its darkest point light fights its hardest to get in. Sometimes you have to search for it, but the light is always there. King was my light, and I pray with everything in me that one day my daughter knows the love that I have for her father in a man worthy of her. A love that might start in darkness so thick it chokes you but grows so big and bright that there’s no way to contain it. That’s who my Etta is to me and her father.
A light that was so bright that only pure love can flow from it.
Epilogue
KING
Six Months Later
“To my daughter and my son-in-law may you always have the happiness you feel today in your hearts,” Skull says, toasting us with punch—because he hasn’t had a drop to drink since he came to Tennessee to apologize to Gabby.
“To my son and his beautiful wife. Thanks for my grandbaby. I’ll take two more just like her,” Dragon says, holding Etta in one hand and a beer in the other.
Everyone laughs, but I just shake my head. I do enjoy hearing Gabby’s giggle, though. I hold her close. We’re now husband and wife. I never thought I’d want to be a husband again in my life, but this time it’s right. This time, it’s perfect. Gabby was always meant to be mine. We both know that now. We’ve made mistakes, some bigger than others, but in the end even our mistakes taught us to appreciate what we have with one another now.
I lead Gabby out onto the dance floor, and she smiles up at me in her beautiful white wedding dress that hugs her full breasts and flares out at the bottom to make her look like the princess she is. Her gorgeous gold hair is piled high on her head and the beauty I see when I look down at her makes my heart squeeze in my damn chest. I love this woman with everything I am. What’s more, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she loves me the same.
Ambrosia starts playing over the loudspeaker and immediately Gabby starts laughing. My brothers from my new club, Dragon, Ford, and yes, even T and Dom are all watching us, laughing as I sing to my woman. It’s still a little awkward with those two. Still, they called and welcomed Gabby into the family. We’ll get there in time, and if we don’t? Then, it will be like it is right now and honestly, this is the best life has ever been. I have everything I want.
As my family watches us, I don’t care that they’re going to give me flack for singing. I don’t give a fuck. I’m gone for my old lady. I want her secure in that knowledge every single day of her life.
“That’s how much I feel, feel for you baby,” I croon.
She holds me tight until Ambrosia fades into Etta James, and that’s when she kisses me and whispers up. “Thank you for loving me and giving me a beautiful life, King.”
“That’s my line, baby. That’s my line.”
I kiss her while all our friends and family enjoy our special day with us. When I was a child, I wanted to give my mom a home and happiness I thought my old man denied her. It was a tough pill to swallow, finding out the truth about her. I could be bitter about that, but I hope she managed to find peace wherever she’s at now. I’ve let the past go, because I am a man whose cup is definitely running over. I have everything I want and my dad—the man I thought didn’t want me and made my mother’s life hell—is at my wedding smiling at me and letting me know that he's proud of the man I am. It's hard to grasp when I think about the path that led me here. Yet, as Gabby smiles up at me with tears in her eyes, one thing is very clear. Every single dream I’ve ever had as a child is now a reality.