Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40859 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 204(@200wpm)___ 163(@250wpm)___ 136(@300wpm)
Relaxing, she nuzzles her face into my neck while I gently stroke her back and Duke goes to work on the tiger lily mural tattoo to cover my left arm. The mural that once adorned the walls of my daughter’s bedroom.
“This piece of her, no one can take away,” Michele whispers and I swear with every word I fall more in love with her. “You don’t have to wait until Monday to see a piece of Dominiks. You don’t have to look down and remember the losses of your team, your wife, and your daughter. No, you can look down and remember the gift of the time you had with your daughter.”
I give her ass a squeeze with my right hand. “Got fuckin’ lucky. In all the mess, in all the loss, Dominiks gave me you.”
Michele lifts her head and smiles at me. “She’s our angel who brought us together over a tiger lily.” She fights back her tears, “she saved my life as much as you gave me a reason to really live again.”
While the full sleeve will take one maybe two more sessions, the hardest part covering my hand and forearm is done after a solid seven hours in the chair with Duke. Finishing up, I stand and stretch. Michele takes me by the hand leading me from the shop. Which is unusual as she typically is happy to let me guide us anywhere.
Hopping in the driver’s seat of my Tahoe, I am taken aback. She literally never drives. I don’t care if she drives my truck or this SUV. But as a man, I prefer to drive if we are together.
“You get to be my passenger princess,” she teases. Her eyes dancing in mischief. “Just this once.”
I go to the passenger side and climb in. She takes off with exuberance radiating off of her. I’m surprised as we pull up to the cemetery. She gets out, goes to the back and grabs a bundle of tiger lilies. Taking me by the hand, she leads me along a path I know all too well.
Stopping, I have to pause. I have never taken anyone to Dominiks grave. Is this something I want to share?
“If this is too much, I understand,” she tells me instantly reading me. “I can wait in the car.”
This is the thing about me and Michele, this unspoken connection where we get each other. I shake off the instinct to shelter Dominiks from her and I take the lead, grabbing her hand, taking her to my daughter.
At the headstone, I drop to my knees, Michele follows beside me as I set the flowers by her name. “Brought someone for you to meet. Only I suspect you’re watching and you know her.”
Michele reaches over and laces our fingers together. Something we haven’t done yet is hold hands. She does this as we sit together in quiet with my daughter.
A peace comes over me, one I haven’t felt since I went to war. Michele leans her head against my shoulder as a butterfly lands on my daughter’s headstone and then moves onto our interlaced hands.
Never in a million years thought I would have this. Not after losing Dominiks. Michele has given me life anew and I’ll spend every bit of it cherishing her for giving me back the will to do more.
“Marry me?” I ask her and she lifts her head to look at me.
“Jennings,” she whispers.
“Look I don’t live a conventional lifestyle. You deserve the proposal on one knee all of that, but it isn’t who I am. I love you Michele. I want to get married. We can go to Vegas. I know of a chapel.”
Tryant and Creed both did the Vegas thing and it’s working for them, so what the Hell it sounds good to me. But if she wants a church, I’ll give her that too. She smiles at me before nodding her head and crashing her lips to mine. The kiss quickly turns passionate and I have to pull away laughing.
“Time to get you home, future Mrs. Benson. Can’t be doin’ this in front of our daughter, but we can definitely go home and work on makin’ a son.”
She pauses and looks me in the eyes, “you want another baby?”
I smile proudly, “more than anything with you. Yes, I do.”
“I love you,” she whispers before taking me by the hand and leading me back to the Tahoe.
Where yes she drives me home and quickly we begin practicing making babies.
I have a life better than I ever imagined.
And it’s all because of her.
The End