Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Let me make you a promise
Every breath that I take will always belong to you
And when I die, that flame will still burn, so once again, you’ll come back to me
Can you feel me—?
Cause I feel you in my heart, I have from the start
Nothing in this world can tear us apart
This is my love note, my heart at your feet
I want to give you forever and ever
Call on me whenever you need
If the world turned its back on me, I know I’d have you
You get me; you understand all the things unsaid
Someday, we’ll start a family, a little you, a little me
You’ll be giving me more air to breathe
Do you know I breathe you—?
Just shows how much I need you
I swear my heart will always know how to find you
I have my own tears gathering in my eyes as I look up at my wife. This moment was supposed to be to demonstrate our love to her family, but as I sing the words, they show me exactly how much I love this woman and would die to give her everything she wants.
“I love you,” I say to Saga as the band sings and plays the chorus.
“It’s perfect,” she says. “The perfect end to the album. I love you so much.”
I stand, grasping the small of her back and kiss her. It’s a hungry, demanding kiss that she returns with just as much vigor. Whistles and hand clapping bring us back to the room with our guests. I pull away and kiss the tip of her nose.
When the band plays the last note, the applause gets louder. I get choked up when I see the misty eyes and some wiping of actual tears. However, it’s the look on my mother-in-law and father-in-law’s faces that tells me I’ve done what I set out to do.
“It’s going to be fine,” I lean to say in Saga’s ear.
She looks up at me. “I know. Thank you.”
Saga
“Thank you for sitting with me,” my father says as we all sit down in Bishop’s office.
All my emotions and thoughts rush me. I have so much I want to say. So much to get off my chest. I begin to blurt it all out.
“I’m so sorry. I should’ve thought about how this would—”
“You’re a grown woman. Yes, I would have loved to walk you down the aisle. To see the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes as she anticipated starting a new life with a young man I got to know.” Daddy pauses to side-eye Bishop.
“But you’re more than old enough to make your own decisions. I know I’ve been hard on you. I said some things I shouldn’t have, but watching you two together this evening, I completely understand why you two felt this was the right decision for you,” my father says.
“I’m sorry I didn’t go about this differently, but I didn’t want to lose Saga. I felt like I had to make her mine as soon as I could,” Bishop says.
“It hurt that you didn’t at least tell us,” my father says. “Finding out that you were the son of a good friend of mine… Fred has always been a good friend. I know he raised his boys right. I would have just liked to have had all those facts before my knucklehead son came to toss this all at me, catching me completely off guard.”
“We hadn’t planned for that to happen. We weren’t going to tell anyone until we shared it with our families. The press showed up and things just went downhill from there,” I say.
“What’s done is done. However, I am sorry for any stress I added to your plate as newlyweds,” Daddy says sincerely. He sighs. “I see the way you look at each other. I can’t deny the love I see between you two.”
“I hope you can see I didn’t marry a bum as well,” I say teasingly.
“He may have done well for himself,” Daddy replies.
“I try,” Bishop says with a chuckle.
“Hopefully, your sister will allow me to walk her down the aisle someday,” my father says.
“Actually,” Bishop says. “We would be honored if everyone would join us for our wedding anniversary next year. We’d like to renew our vows then with all our family.”
“We’ve talked about it. I’d like to have you walk me down the aisle this time. I want Mommy to help me put on my veil and we want our family there to bear witness to our love,” I say.
This has been something we’ve been talking about within the last week. I love the idea. Tonight just confirmed how much I want to follow through with it.
“That sounds wonderful. I get to spoil my baby one last time,” my father says. “There’s hope for you yet, Bishop.”
“I’m not a bad guy, Dad,” Bishop replies.
“I don’t know if we’re there yet,” Dad says, but the smile on his lips eases his words.