RoomHate Part 38

She'd never been s.e.xier than now-with my baby inside of her. At four months along, Amelia was just starting to show, mostly in her t.i.ts and a.s.s, which was just fine by me.

I had asked her to marry me a year ago on July twenty-sixth, a few months after I got home from the tour. I was going to wait but decided that I had to propose on that day and that we'd get married exactly a year later. That date meant everything because 0726 were the final numbers on my barcode tattoo and were supposed to represent the day she left me a decade earlier. I was determined to redefine the meaning of those numbers. Now, that date-today-would always be the day she became my wife.

We didn't want a fancy wedding, just a private ceremony with the three of us at the beach. We were hanging out by the water in the morning, and then we'd have a wedding on the beach at sunset followed by a clam bake of Amelia's favorite-dirty s.n.a.t.c.h crabs-and lobster.

It turned out Roger next door got himself ordained to perform a ceremony for a friend of his some years back, so we were going to let him marry us. Ironically, Roger Podger had become a pretty good friend of mine, even though I continued to bust his b.a.l.l.s regularly.

A flock of seagulls dispersed as Bea came running toward me. Her dress was soaked as she handed me a seash.e.l.l. "Daddy! Blue!"

"What do you have for me, Beatrice Banks?"

Amelia brushed sand off of her skirt and explained, "We're trying to find something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue for the ceremony later. We found this blue sh.e.l.l."

"That's perfect, b.u.mblebee," I said, handing it back to her as she beamed.

"We have to figure out the rest," Amelia said as she took something out of her pocket and handed it to Bea. "We have something new, but technically it's for you, not me. Bea, give it to Daddy."

My daughter handed me a tiny box. It had a guitar pick inside with the inscription, Thank you for picking me.

Squeezing her, I whispered in her ear, "Thank you for picking me, sweetie. I love this so much."

After the wedding, I'd be formally adopting Bea. She was two years old now and more attached to me than ever. Thankfully, that a.s.swipe, Adam, relinquished his parental rights without a fight.

Life was good. I was still working the software job and playing a few nights a week at Sandy's. I'd been offered another opportunity to tour with a different lesser-known artist, but turned it down. As exciting as it was being a travelling musician, the downsides outweighed the benefits. I didn't want to miss any precious moments with my family. I used to think music was my life; I was wrong. My girls are my life.

"Okay, we have something new and something blue. Now, we just need something borrowed and something old," I said.

Amelia wrapped her arm around my neck. "I was thinking of looking through some of Nana's old things in the safe. I haven't gone through it since we moved in. I'm sure we could find something old in there."

I got up from my spot on the sand. "Let's do it."

The three of us walked back to the house. Amelia's simple white strapless dress was hanging off the mantle in the living room. It made me giddy just looking at it, knowing that tonight, she would officially become Amelia Banks. Although, the piece of paper didn't matter. She'd been mine for as long as I could remember. I stared at her for a bit as she fumbled with the safe. Knowing she was pregnant with my baby did things to me. Admiring the voluptuous shape of her changing body and knowing that I was responsible for it, ignited something primal in me. My s.e.xual appet.i.te was off the charts, but thankfully so was hers. I couldn't wait until our wedding night tonight. Bea would be staying for the first time overnight with Susan and Roger. I planned to take full advantage of the empty house-and full advantage of Amelia.

The safe was located behind a picture in the wall of the kitchen. She finally managed to get it unlocked. I walked over to join her, and we examined the contents.

Inside was some paperwork, a few items of jewelry, and several photos.

I took an antique-looking rhinestone barrette and clipped it into Amelia's hair, tucking some strands behind her ear. "Beautiful. There's your something borrowed." For a moment, I could see the little girls I'd fallen in love with reflected in her face-both Bea and little Patch.

Amelia began to sift through the photos, some of which contained images of her mother and grandfather. Her hand stilled at one point before she lifted a Polaroid. Nana used to love to take pictures with old-fas.h.i.+oned cameras even in the digital age.

This particular photo was of Amelia and me at probably ten and eleven years old. We were sitting on Nana's steps, and the photo was snapped from behind. I was holding my first guitar, and Amelia was leaning her head on my shoulder. Nana had written on the bottom in blue pen: The way it was meant to be.

I took the snapshot from her to examine it more closely. "Wow."

"This is proof, Justin. She gave us this house because she knew it would bring us back together. She knew we would find this photo and hoped it would remind us of how foolish our estrangement had been. She probably didn't have faith that we would find our way back to each other on our own. She wanted to send us a message." She gazed at it. "Look at this. How precious. Think of all those years we wasted."

"It happened the way it was supposed to," I said.

"You think so?"

"Yes. Think about it. Without all of that pent-up frustration, we wouldn't have had as much angry s.e.x." I smiled. "We might not have been able to create that little girl in your belly."

We'd found out the other day that our baby was a girl. We planned to name her Melody. I continued, "I know this is strange for me to say, seeing as though I don't want to think about you and that a.s.swipe, Adam, but if we hadn't separated, Bea wouldn't be here. So, no...I would never go back and change anything. Never."

I looked at the inscription on the photo again.

The way it was meant to be.

I took a pencil from the counter and added a small letter A to the end of the sentence.

The way it was meant to Bea.

OTHER STANDALONES BY PENELOPE:.

SINS of SEVIN.

USA TODAY Bestseller.

c.o.c.kY b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller.

STEPBROTHER DEAREST.

New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestseller.

JAKE UNDONE (Jake #1).

JAKE UNDERSTOOD (Jake #2).

MY SKYLAR.

USA TODAY Bestseller.

GEMINI.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

First and foremost, thank you to my husband for your love and patience throughout this writing journey.

To my parents: For inspiring me to follow my dreams from a very young age.

To Allison: For manifesting all of this and to my besties, Angela, Tarah and Sonia for your friends.h.i.+p.

To Vi: I cringe at the thought of never having found you. Who would I talk to? How would I do this alone? Thanks for everything...all day long! Your hitting number one in the kindle store was the highlight of my year!

To Julie: Thank you always reminding me with your example that talent and integrity can go hand and hand.

To my editor, Kim: Thank you for ensuring that my work is clean and ready for the world.

To my invaluable facebook fan group, Penelope's Peeps and to Queen Peep Amy: Thank you for all you do. Love you all! Can't wait for more Peeps parties and get-togethers, online and in-person.

To Erika G: Thank you for you for always being there, for July get-togethers and special connections.

To Luna: Te Adoro Mucho. Gracias para todo.

To Mia A.: Thank you for brightening up my days during our writing sprints that turn into random conversations that have nothing to do with writing.

To Aussie Lisa: Thank you for your friends.h.i.+p and for always supporting me. Counting the days till you come visit again!

To Natasha G.: Thank you for the laughs and our shared love of 90-day Fiance!

To all the book bloggers/promoters who help and support me: You are THE reason for my success. I'm afraid to list everyone here because I will undoubtedly forget someone unintentionally. You know who you are and do not hesitate to contact me if I can return the favor.

To Lisa of TRSoR Promotions: Thank you for handling my blog tour and release blitzes. You rock!

To Let.i.tia of RBA Designs: Thank you for always working with me until the cover is exactly how I want it. This one is my favorite, but I always say that!

To my readers: None of this would be possible without you and nothing makes me happier than knowing I've provided you with an escape from the daily stresses of life. That same escape was why I started writing. There is no greater joy in this business than to hear from you directly and to know that something I wrote touched you in some way.

Last but not least, to my daughter and son: Mommy loves you. You are my motivation and inspiration!.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor before switching to a more family-friendly career.

Penelope lives for reading books in the new adult/contemporary romance genre, coffee and hanging out with her friends and family on weekends.

She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism (the inspiration for the character Callie in Gemini) and a 9-year-old boy, both of whom are the lights of her life.

Penelope, her husband and kids reside in Rhode Island.

She is the author of Stepbrother Dearest, which hit #3 on the New York Times bestseller list. Other works include the New York Times bestseller c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d (co-written with Vi Keeland), Sins of Sevin, My Skylar, Jake Undone, Jake Understood and Gemini.

end.