When Luke learned she was pregnant with Jack's child it had been a hard pill for him to swallow. He backed away for a bit, and she honestly couldn't blame him. Not after she learned his true feelings for her. Then one day he showed up for their usual Friday night dinner. He explained that he loved her more than any obstacle. He'd loved her through heartbreak. He'd loved her though all of her successes and her failures. Her child would be loved by him no matter who his father was. He just needed her. He loved her. And he wanted a chance to be her man.
"I'll wait as long as it takes, Grace. Just give me a chance. Let me continue to be whatever you need. I love you. All of you. Forever."
Grace still teared up when she thought of that night. Once she opened her heart to Luke as more than a friend he quickly moved in and made it his home. He'd been there ever since. Grace couldn't wait to meet their babies. Her life was about to be complete. She was more blessed than any woman had the right to be.
Just then, her four year old son, Jackson or J.J. as she called him, came barreling out of the house with a toy truck in one hand and an airplane in the other. His dark hair was sticking up at odd angles and his ever changing hazel eyes where bright with excitement. He looked so much like his father. Even some of his expressions made her wonder if she wasn't raising a clone instead of the next generation.
"Daddy's coming, Mommy!" he shouted and tore back through the house to the front door. She laughed.
Jack and Matthew lived on the same street, but J. J. acted like he was surprised every time his dad came over. At first Grace feared it was going to be weird having them so close, but when Jackson was a newborn, having Jack close at hand had been a godsend.
"I'll go let them in. You have a seat, madam."
Luke pulled over a comfy lounge chair and helped her to have a seat. She was so huge she didn't seem to be able to get up or down on her own anymore. Grace was so glad he hadn't hustled her back into the bedroom.
He kissed her deeply and smiled against her lips. "I love you," he told her earnestly before going to get the door. The man could melt her so easily.
It was peaceful for just a moment while she sat relaxing on her rolling lawn. Grace had time to reflect on the twists and turns of her full life. It's crazy how a person can fixate on a certain desired outcome and nearly miss their true happily ever after in the process. Her obsession with Jack had almost robbed her of the greatest love she would ever know.
Looking back now, she could see the sharp contrast between what her feelings for Jack had been and how she now felt for her husband. Her relationship with Jack was purely physical, yet she'd coveted it greedily at the time. Her love for Luke had consumed all of her being. He was her best friend, her steady, her solid, her partner in crime, and her lover. He knew her better than any living being and she knew him the same way.
Their love story was long, complicated, and sometimes sad. In the end, Grace had learned the moral of the story was quite simple, yet difficult to comprehend when you're in the middle of life's storms. You can't give your heart away. Handing over all that you are to someone often ends in heartache. You need to wait for that one person who is strong enough to take your heart from you, fill it with their love and never let go. You need to find that one person who will fight for the gift of your love and cherish it forever. Luke was that man for Grace.
The boys noisily made their way to her spot on the lawn. Jack and Matthew both kissed her on the cheek and she was required to give them a full report of her aches and pains so they could sympathize properly. Luke fired up the grill for an impromptu family cook-out. J. J. climbed up on her lap and rested a small hand on her belly as he proceeded to explain that he was about to be a big brother to two babies, not just one, to his father and step-father for the millionth time.
"Mommy is like Superwoman!" J. J. nodded his head emphatically. "She's so strong she can handle two!" he told them. Grace laughed until her side hurt. The mind of four year old was an amazing thing.
Matthew fetched a soccer ball from inside the house and Grace cheered as Luke, Jackson, Matthew and Jack kicked the ball around while the chicken grilled. A deep contentment washed over her. It had taken her a long time to get here but the reward was worth the struggle to find her beautiful, if unconventional, family.
Jack and their son ran around laughing and smiling in the sunshine while her husband and Jack's husband pretended to try and take the ball. How lucky could one kid be? He had a mother who lived for his every smile and three fathers who adored his every breath.
In spite of all of the hurt, the drama, the tears, and the wasted years she could have spent with Luke, when Grace looked at her beautiful little boy she knew she would never regret loving Jack.
END