Breaking Down(The Garage Series Book 2)(30)

A second peony sat in the floor of the hallway looking completely out of  place in the vast space. I squatted down to pick up the flower and  noticed another piece of paper except this one was attached to its stem.

I felt hollow before I found you.

I gasped out a breath and looked around the space for the man I loved.  He was still nowhere to be seen so I continued through the house until I  found the next flower laying on the entry way to the kitchen.

Almost every favorite memory in my life includes you.

One of my favorites involves a kitchen, but I swear there is no sprayer waiting for you on the other side of this doorway. ;)

I laughed at the memory and stepped through the arched doorway into the  kitchen. A lot of time had obviously been spent working on this kitchen.  The cabinets were white and ran along the walls that contrasted their  beauty with a deep gray backsplash. The appliances seemed to gleam in  the lights along with a bright white farm sink. There was a large island  in the center of the room and sitting atop it was a gorgeous bouquet of  peonies.

I lifted the piece of paper off the counter in front of the flowers.

Can you imagine what life would be like if we didn't find each other?

I can't. I didn't even know I could love someone so much until I found you.

Speaking of finding each other. Come to the back porch.

The French doors opened onto the back side of the house, and I stepped  out onto the porch that was a continuation from the front. Gabe wasn't  on the porch like I had expected him to be, but when I looked out into  the backyard, I could see light coming from a dock that floated right  off the bank. I walked down to the water being careful not to trip over  any sticks or rocks. My nerves were through the roof, and I knew the  likelihood of me falling was sky high.                       
       
           



       

When I made it to the edge of the water, I finally saw my man standing  in the center of a dock that was covered in white candles. There was a  small table set behind him glowing in the candlelight. It looked like a  dream, magical even.

I could feel the tears pricking my eyes as I stepped on the small ramp  and made my way toward Gabe. He met me at the edge of the dock and  grabbed my hand to help me. I didn't say anything at first. I turned in a  full circle and took in my surroundings. The house looked gorgeous from  the water, but when I turned around, I found the best sight of all.

"What are we doing here, Gabe?" My voice cracked as I tried to hold in my emotions.

"Well." He dropped to his knee in front of me, and everything I was trying to hold in came spilling out.

I covered my face in my hands as I hiccupped out a sob, but Gabe pulled  one of my hands away from my face and held it in his much stronger ones.

"Erica. Baby. Look at me."

I took a deep breath and then looked down at the man I loved through bleary eyes.

"I love you so much. Before you, I was constantly trying to escape who I  was. I didn't want the life I had been dealt, but with you I have no  reason to run. You are my great escape. You are my courage. You are my  savior. You are my heart. I promise to love you with every ounce of me.  As long as I have you by my side, I know that my life will be filled  with happiness, laughter, and love. Sometimes we're going to be crazy,  but as long as I have your crazy love I will never want for anything.  Please make me the happiest man alive and become my wife."

My tears were coming full force then, and the only response I could give him was to nod my head.

He slipped a ring on my finger with a round diamond in the center  surrounded by a bunch of small diamonds. It was beautiful. Perfect.

Gabe stood from his knee and took me in his arms. He peppered kisses all over my face and pushed my curls out of my eyes.

"Are these happy tears?" He laughed against my skin.

"Yes." My voice sounded ridiculous.

"Okay." He pulled me closer into him before he led me to sit down at the table.

I used the cloth napkin to wipe my eyes while Gabe stared at me over the table.

"I love you." My voice was almost a whisper.

"I love you too, baby."

"What is this place?" I asked him looking back at the house.

"This is ours," he said nonchalantly.

"What do you mean ‘ours'?" I asked him in confusion.

"I mean that my grandparents' home finally sold, and today, I closed on this house."

"This is yours?" I looked up at him in shock.

"No. It's ours. This house. This life. This love. It's all ours."





5 Months Later



I rushed through the hospital in a panic. My arms were packed down with  my purse, a gift for baby, and a gift for mama. I pressed my finger into  the elevator call button repeatedly and prayed that the thing hurried  the heck up before I ran my ass up the stairs.

Kat and Blake had decided to name their baby girl Hope, and I was so  anxious to meet her for the first time. Blake called me in a panic when  they were on the way to the hospital. He was telling Kat to stop fucking  with the radio and work on her breathing. I could hear her sassing him  in the background, and I couldn't help but laugh.

As soon as he told me they were in labor, I ran out of work and made my  way to the hospital. I text Gabe on my way out the door and told him to  meet me here. We were both anxious to meet our goddaughter.

The elevator dinged in front of me, and I jumped through the door and  hit close as fast as I could. The music that surrounded me seemed to  make the ride go slower and slower. I bounced my leg in place anxiously,  and when the doors opened again, I burst through them and made my way  to the maternity wing.

I checked in with the nurse and went through all the security clearances  since they had it locked down like Fort Knox. When she finally decided  that I was, in fact, who I said I was, the nurse told me that Kat and  Blake were in room four and pointed me in the right direction.

Finding room four, I peeked my head inside.

"Come in," Kat's voice was soft.

I tiptoed into the room and almost dropped all my bags when I saw my  precious goddaughter wrapped in her mother's arms. Blake sat beside her  on the bed and stared down at his two girls in complete awe.

Kat looked up at me when I made my way into the room. The tears shining  in her eyes caused my own. She looked like she was exactly where she was  supposed to be. She was born to be a mother.

Hope was bundled up in a light pink blanket and looked like an angel cuddled in her mother's arms.

"She's perfect," I whispered, careful not to wake her.                       
       
           



       

"I know," Kat replied while looking back down at her baby girl.

"Can I hold her?" I walked to the chair near the wall and set down all my bags.

"Of course." Kat laughed.

Blake picked Hope up out of Kat's arms and began walking toward me. He  stared down at her completely in love, and I had only seen that look on  his face when he was looking at one other person.

Blake held Hope out to me and I gripped her in my hold carefully before  settling her tightly against my chest. I bounced in place and was  surprised when her little eyes opened and she looked up at me. She  looked just like her mother. She had the same large eyes and just a  spirit about her that screamed Kat.

"Hi there, sweet girl. I'm your auntie and godmother."

She cooed at me, and my smile came out to meet my watering eyes.

"I know. Some of us are just so special that we get two positions in your life."

I heard Blake snort from beside Kat's bed, but I was too enraptured with  Hope to care. I sat down in the rocker by the window and began rocking  her while still talking to her about anything I could think of.

"How are you ever going to get anything done?" I looked up at Kat. "You're going to want to sit around holding her all day."

"I know. I'm so in love." She was looking at Hope fondly in my arms.

"You two did so good. You made the prettiest baby ever. Yes. They did." I  cooed down at Hope while rubbing my nose against her soft hand.

Gabe, Johnny, and Cash walked into the room at that exact moment. Gabe  was watching me while Johnny and Cash walked around like they owned the  place.

"It would be harder to break into this place than it would be to break  out of prison," Johnny said as he patted Blake on the back.

The boys all laughed, and Kat and I rolled our eyes.

Gabe walked toward me and placed a soft kiss on my lips before looking down at Hope.

"She's gorgeous," he practically whispered.

"Do you want to hold her?"

"In just a minute," he said as he walked off to where the proud parents sat on the bed.

He went to Kat first and wrapped her in his arms as he kissed her forehead. "Congratulations, mama."

A small smile lit up her already glowing face. "Thanks, Gabe."