Page 63 of Scarred Sunrise

Chapter 26

“I now pronounceyou husband and wife. You may kiss the bride—again.” Smithy took Liz in his arms and bent her back over his arm with a flourish, kissing her until all of the noise, all the people, faded into the background. Nothing existed except the two of them at that moment. He felt her hands at the back of his collar, in his hair, heard the sound of her breath as she laughed and threw her head back with utter and joy, and he smiled.

It was a day he never thought he’d get, one that had seemed so far from the realm of possibilities as to be impossible. But she’d never given up, never stopped loving him and in turn, she’d shown him how to love himself. It was something he was still working on, but he knew with Lizzie at his side he could do anything.

He felt a tap on his arm and turned to see Mateo grinning up at him. They’d become close in the last six months, and he’d even asked his and Colin’s permission before he’d proposed to her. Getting their blessing, after all he’d put her through, felt like the right thing to do.

“Yes, mate?”

“Can I take the tie off now?”

Mateo was his best man because to choose between his friends after everything had seemed wrong. He’d been great and even had a speech written which Smithy knew was going to make Liz cry, but the monkey suit wasn’t his thing.

“Can you wait until after the pictures for your mum?”

Mateo groaned. “Fine.”

Smithy messed his hair, which the boy quickly smoothed out with a huff and roll of his eyes. “Thanks, mate.”

They moved outside the church where Liz’s parents had married, her arm through his as confetti rained down on them. A chimney sweep was even in attendance to give them good fortune for their future. He looked down at Liz, who was beaming with joy and life, her energy and constant ability to see the good in people and to love with her whole heart amazing him. She turned to him, and each time he looked at her, he fell in love all over again.

She’d both literally and figuratively saved him, and he’d be forever grateful, but it was the way she loved him that was his biggest gift, and one he’d never take for granted.

“Ready to smile for the camera?”

Her hand squeezed his arm, and her mouth popped open in surprise.

His heart beat fast in alarm. “What is it?” His hand went to the bump where their surprise baby was nestled warm and safe. At six months pregnant she was already showing quite a bit, and they’d not kept this miracle baby a secret for even a second. Being the age she was, they had decided it could be tricky to get pregnant and she had come off birth control after things had gone down with the bomb. Neither one of them was willing to wait a second longer for their happily ever after.

“The baby kicked.”

His gaze fell, and he looked up, his eyes wide as it happened again, and this time he felt it too. It was the first time he’d felt it, and he couldn’t help thinking it was a sign that all would be well. Liz would more than likely end up on bed rest at some point because of the damage to her pelvis that caused weakness, but he’d vowed to make sure she didn’t want for anything, either then or in the future.

“I think the baby approves of you making an honest woman out of me.”

He cast a look at Colin who was holding hands with a woman he’d been dating for a few months. “I think your dad does too.”

“He just wants all his babies happy, and now we are.”

“I love you, Liz.”

He kissed her as they posed for photographs he knew would adorn the new home they’d bought not far from her father. His life had been empty for so long, and now it was full of family and more love than he could take some days.

He still had nightmares about the day of the explosion. Holding Liz’s limp body in his arms haunted his dreams and he woke up sweating some nights from it, but each day was better, and he’d made great strides in his recovery. He’d always have PTSD; he just had the tools to cope now. He was lucky, and he never thought to say that about himself before, but he was. He’d survived the horror and made it to the beauty on the other side. Others hadn’t been so lucky.

As his wedding day progressed, he tried to take in every second, the laughs, the smiles, the love, and it nurtured his soul in a way he couldn’t explain. He was watching Liz as she laughed with Meg and Lucy as Daniel and Jace stepped up beside him. The three of them shared a bond now, not through the fact they were family but because they’d watched as the women they loved almost died to save people they didn’t know.

The explosion had blown a crater in the land when it exploded, the power the three of them created smothering the blast, so it imploded and the drug had been blown underground. They’d been knocked out from the sheer power, and it had drained almost every drop of energy from them, causing them to go into a three-day coma. They’d otherwise been unharmed, but it was a time none of them liked to think about, and he knew they bore the internal scars much as he did.

“Congratulations, brother.” Jace shook his hand.

Daniel threw him a look of two men who’d shared the same horror and came out the other side stronger than ever before, the normally reserved man grinned and nodded his head towards the women they loved. “Is it me or do those three look like they might be plotting something?”

He angled his head to where Liz was throwing back her head, the perfect arch of her throat making his mouth water, her laughter ringing out across the room before she sensed him looking and turned, her eyes shining with love for him. “Maybe, but I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned, she can do what she wants as long as it doesn’t involve her putting herself in danger.”

“Amen to that.” Daniel took the last swig from his beer and popped the bottle on the side as his wife moved towards them with her sisters.

Liz slid into his arms and leaned her head against his chest. He inhaled her scent, knowing he’d never get sick of it or her, she was like an addiction he never wanted to kick.