Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
“Congratulations,” the dean says with a smile. I look up at my found family, giving them a slight wave and blowing a kiss to my two guys. These people are the ones who love me so deeply and are willing to do anything to help not only me but everyone. They’ve rallied when I had to study for my final exam; all hands were on deck. Ms. Catherine and Russell helped tote Case to and from school if Ryland wasn’t available. Meals were delivered on days Ryland worked late, and I’d been pouring over my books. Maeve kept us stocked in desserts, helping me out once again. I love cooking and baking when I can, but having others to pick up the slack when we need it has shown me a small portion of how amazing they are. Now that the hard stuff is done and I have an interview at Arrowleaf Elementary School, I can help out more. The best part of my job as a teacher is I’ll be off when Case is, and with the way our life is panning out, it’s going to work even better in the near future.
The dean hands me my hard-earned diploma. A part of me wants to open it and take a little sneak peek to make sure it’s there. I don’t. They said your paper could slip and then it’d hold up the line. I’ll wait until I’m with my family. I move to where there’s a photographer standing waiting to do his thing. I stop, stand on the tape, and smile. The flash almost startles me, and I try to recover as fast as possible before I’m herded off the stage. As soon as he’s done, I’m supposed to return to my seat. There’s no way I’d make it that long, sitting and waiting. It’s probably a bit selfish, not staying and doing the whole cap toss, but honestly, I don’t know a lot of the students I’m graduating with. So, we made plans. The minute I’m done on the stage, they’d quietly exit the stadium and walk outside to the covered area, and we’d have our own little celebration before we head back to the ranch.
“My Sutty!” Case runs toward me. I make sure the door closes behind me before stopping in my tracks in order to pick up my boy.
“Oh, my Case.” I breathe him in. Ryland breaks away from the rest of his family to join in our hug.
“I’m so damn proud of you, babe.” Ry’s lips touch mine. Case is out of the stage where he jokingly breaks us a part, and truth be told, I kind of miss him doing it. He still walks around doing the kissy, kissy noise, though.
“Ryland, thank you. Thank you for giving me this beautiful life, helping me through everything, supporting me, and, most of all, loving me,” I tell him. Try as I might, there’s no way I’ll ever be able to do for him what he’s done for me. My childhood home is being rented by a single mom with two little girls. They love the house so much I’m tempted to give them a steal of a deal whenever she’s ready to buy the place. Right now, we’re not in any hurry, and my renter is still getting on her feet, which works for me. Then there’s the whole Shane ordeal which had a whole lot of hands in it, and Wild is now moving to Arrowleaf with his wife, Delilah. Sheriff Liam Dane might be a decent person, but as a sheriff, he’s been kind of shitty. He must have realized it, too, because he’s stepping down and retiring, and Fletcher will be taking his place.
“Sutton, baby. I’d give you everything I possible could. This, though, you did all on your own.” I shake my head as tears stream down my cheeks.
“You’ve done more than I could ever thank you for.” It’s true. His family is now our family, his son is now our son, and our future is going to be brighter as soon as I tell him the good news. “And in about eight months, we’re going to make Case a big brother.”
“Me gonna be big brudder?” Case asks in his voice that only has one octave. We’ve tried working with him on his inside voice, even took him to a pediatric audiologist to see if maybe his hearing is giving him an issue. They didn’t find anything, and he mentioned this could be a phase that could last a while. Neither Ryland, me, nor his family mind. We were only worried about it being something that could have a long-term effect on him.
“You are,” I respond. Ryland hasn’t said anything. I think he’s in a little bit of shock. Crazy, if you ask me. I haven’t been on birth control the entire time. We kept waiting for it to happen, and when I mentioned it to Ms. Catherine, she told me not to worry, that it was probably stress. Once the dust settled, it would happen. And well, naturally, she was right.