The stars specked the night sky like snowflakes on asphalt, their gleam not dimmed by the harsh stadium lights that shone heavily down on the green turf that was filled with almost a hundred players congregating on the sidelines and meandering to the line of scrimmage in the middle.

There were flashes of people on the big scoreboard in the corners of the stadium, and a few people took advantage of the attention believing it a kiss cam, wanting to display their affections to the watching world.

It was our Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys, and my blood was pumping hard and swift in my veins as the screen shifted to the VIP box seats which held my smiling fiancé watching the game proudly, that happy gleam finally back in her after everything she'd endured.

The crowd grew rapturous at her appearance on the screen, and I felt a few of my buddies clap me on the shoulder noticing the same.

The media blitz around the entire debacle was deafening, louder than that of my 'relationship' with Sofia Renault, who was happily married to the guy she used me to make jealous, and louder even than the dull roar of the winning team of the Super Bowl just two years ago.

Two years, we'd lived peacefully and contentedly in that apartment while she finished her law degree.

Together we'd worked through her anxiety, her panic attacks, her nightmares that roused her from a deep sleep.

Again and again I would reassure her that she was safe, right after tucking her into my arms to lull her back into a gentle sleep. My nightmares weren't much better, but at least I didn't wake screaming from them.

And then one day, they just stopped, almost on the exact same day as hers did as well. That glorious shine was brought back into her blue jeweled eyes, shimmering like night stars in the sky on the night that I asked her to be my wife, the very day after her graduation from law school.

It was brittle and cold, but the sky was void of any clouds in the sky whatsoever, and the park was where I'd once taken her after her recovery from her illness with her heart, which was easily controlled with medication thankfully.

The lampposts lit the way, and in lieu of any rose petals lining the walkway or any cliche expression of grandeur, I'd enlisted Amalia's help to plan the entire event.

White wisps of sheer fabric clung to the barren trees, encasing the area in an almost ethereal atmosphere, and as she took each step, she grew closer to the arbor framework decorated with her favorite flowers- wisteria.

It hung from the high archway above my head and draped the covered walkway as she took slow, measured steps towards, me, that illuminating light in her features nearly blinding.

I was already on my knee as she walked up to me.

The clash of helmets and men grunting with excessive strain along with the cheer of a raucous crowd pulled me out of my heartfelt memories and I focused on the game at hand, lest I allow us to lose a game two weeks in a row.

We had been on an undefeated streak, until the Panthers got us the previous week by a touchdown. I didn't hear the end of it on cable network, but at least it gave people something else to talk about as they had been recapping my entire relationship with Lydia which included her horrific encounters with Christian and Nate, both of whom were serving life sentences in prison. Turned out Nate murdered a prostitute after Lydia had moved away.

I still shivered as I remembered the heinous things he'd done to her before we found our way to each other, and how much worse it would have been if she hadn't walked away after she found him cheating on her. As for her friend Layla...well, she wasn't a friend in any sense of the word, but Lydia answered her phone call the month before, if only to tell her to fuck off, so that was something.

Everyone was in town for the holiday weekend, Lydia's family, Reed, Amalia and her new girlfriend, even Reed had someone new that he was bringing to our house that we'd just closed on a few weeks earlier.

Close to the stadium and the new firm that Lydia had already been hired onto that specialized in sexual assault and domestic assault cases, it was the perfect location and the perfect size, big enough for a growing family...

I'd keep that secret for a little longer, though, at least until dinner, that is.

The timer on the scoreboard was slowly counting down, and at the last snap of the ball, the buzzer sounded, and we were far enough ahead of the other team that it was time to call it.

The applause and cheer from the crowd almost deafened me, but I could've sworn that I could pick out Lydia's voice from the entire cacophony of fifty thousand fans.

Getting showered and dressed was harder than usual as I was almost bursting out of my skin to make it home, to make it even to the car with Lydia waiting for me.

And then she was there, flooding my nostrils with her sweet scent as I held my arms wide open for her and she wasted no time burrowing herself into my side.

A kiss on my cheek, then a wink.

"That was a great game, babe."

Her dark brown hair had been given a red tint to it and was cut to her shoulders, and she'd done the makeover immediately after the confrontation with Christian, claiming she needed to not look like herself for a while, but she grew to enjoy the new look more than she had the old.

It's like shedding an old skin, she had told me.

"Can we ask the driver to speed? I forgot to make the four layer desert!"

"You know we could have just ordered desert? Or a catering company to cook for us," I reminded her, noting the slightly windswept and frazzled look that she adopted after having to run to the vehicle to escape the rowdy fans who'd recognized her.

That, however, was one aspect of our life that hadn't gotten any easier. If anything, it had grown more and more sour, the excess attention on our relationship reaching a fever pitch after the confrontation with Christian hit the news stand.

What we couldn't resolve ourselves, however, we made up for in securing extra security and the best personnel we could find who worked tooth and nail to fight for our privacy, and when the trial had gone off without a hitch and the public saw that Lydia wasn't nearly as rattled with me by her side, they simmered.

The celebration of our engagement was almost as thunderous as the fans in the stands after the win that night.

I wondered what the reception would be once the other secret was out.

Suddenly we were in our home, Lydia tying an apron around her bloated belly, a can of whipped cream in her hand as she leaned over the long marble countertop. The concentrated gleam glowed in her eyes that she adopted when she was working on a case that had stumped her as it seemed the cake in front of her had.

I just laughed at the sight before me, realizing that my soon to be wife and love of my life didn't necessarily have a penchant for cooking, but that whipped cream in the bedroom however...

"Don't you look at me like that, Scott. We have guests coming over in...thirty minutes! I have to hurry, this is going to melt!"

My laugh snaked through my chest as my arms did the same, but around her waist. She tried to shoo me off but I stuck by her side, my head dipping down to reside by her neck, placing pecking kisses there until she melted herself against me.

That sensitive little spot by her earlobe was the money shot and I soon had her moaning against my smirking lips.

"So not fair," she said breathless, hands attempting their task but soon she gave up and turned to me, her lips meeting mine in a furious battle of dominance and her hands wound their way into my hair.

I hissed as she pulled a lip of mine between her teeth and the resounding rumble in her chest that she emitted made me pull her even closer to my body, the tension thick in the air between us as I contemplated how long it would take to properly take her to bed.

And then the doorbell rang.

We both pulled apart, flush and breathless.

"Take off that apron, you'll give away the surprise, my love."

She did so quickly as I kissed her temple, a wicked gleam in my eyes promising her of what was to come later and strode to the door to answer our friends and family who'd arrived early, much to my fiancé's chagrin.

"It's not even done yet!"

I only laughed as I was greeted by Reed and his new boyfriend, Alex, who resembled Lucas with dark hair and blue eyes. They made a stunning couple.

We made small talk as Lydia finished up in the kitchen, and then we were bombarded with guests.

Her parents, Lucas, Amalia and her girlfriend all joined us in the dining room as I helped Lydia bring the food out.

We spoke animatedly with Amalia's girlfriend of a year and a half, Gretchen, and if I was being honest, the fact that she was a doctor and trying to get Amalia to finally go to physical therapy for her wounds was just the cherry on top of her sunny disposition, her blonde hair matching that cheerful attitude that she always wore.

Lydia's parents had grown closer to the two of us and Lydia had finally not only buried the hatchet but threw it in the wood chipper for good measure. They had started over with a clean slate, and their relationship had never been better.

"Happy Thanksgiving, sis!"

Lucas was still a lone wolf, but there were whisperings among the family that he'd found a girl he was enamored with, but apparently she was playing the long game and only wanted to be introduced to the family if it was serious.

"Happy Thanksgiving! We got everyone a little party favor, it's wrapped up in your place setting."

I glanced over at Lydia and just knew there were butterflies swarming in that stomach of hers.

I could feel everyone's eyebrows furrowing in unison at confusion of what the gift was going to be.

"Oh my god!"

Amalia was the first to figure it out, and had she been able to stand from her wheelchair, she would have been jumping for joy if her features were evidence enough.

"You're PREGNANT?"

Lydia's mother was beaming, and her father came up to shake my hand and clasp me on the shoulder, while Reed and Lucas gave me a suffocating hug.

There were congratulations all around, happy tears and exciting plans for the future.

"How far along are you?"

"Twelve weeks!"

There was a round of laughter all around as everyone made bets on what the gender was going to be.

"We already know the gender, too."

"What? How?!"

Amalia's question was answered by Lydia.

"We did a blood test, and they're accurate now after even eight weeks!"

"Well? Come on, don't leave us in suspense!"

I laughed at Amalia's dramatics while everyone's smiles were all matching and megawatt.

I clasped a hand around Lydia's as she allowed me to tell everyone.

"We're having a boy."

Tears pricked at the edges of Lydia's eyes as I leaned in to kiss her cheek, and there taking in the afterglow of happiness and residual joy from our family and friends I realized that I found my home, not in my biological family and all of their downfalls, but in this claimed family, the people that I had chosen as part of my own to share my life with forever.

I laid a hand on my fiancé's growing belly and allowed the stresses of everyday life flow into the background as the sweet murmurings of this new family and new beginnings wrapped around me, sapping the past traumas from me until I became ever new and finally, completely, happy.

The End.

***

Hello my lovely readers! Okay, so I might have cried while writing this...just a little bit! I know it's been a long time coming and I hope you all have enjoyed this wild ride of Emmett and Lydia's journey as I did writing it!

Thank you all so much for your support and for reading, I appreciate you all so much more than you know!!!

That being said, there are new things on the horizon as a treat for you all!

Stay tuned for a sneak peak at the brand new novel 'Spotlight' and follow me on Instagram at kristenoldhambooks for EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEAK content!

Prelude:

I was going to kill my best friend if she didn't hurry up.

It was almost midnight and Kade Hendrix's newest album was set to come out in less than five minutes--no, wait, make that four minutes.

I was dying to see if the rest of the album matched the songs that he'd already dropped as singles leading up to the new piece of work and hoped to all the gods above that it did because his new pop/folk combination was so far out of left field from his usual techno leaning traditional pop that had gotten him famous in the first place.

When I listened to music, I wanted to connect to the lyrics I was listening to. I wanted something so gut-wrenching that even if I hadn't been through a horrible heartbreak before in my life I could pretend that I had lived through it just by hearing the stricken synth and heart wrangling harmonies entwined in the words.

Constance burst through the door as if her entire ass were on fire. Good. That should teach her about being late to the Kade Hendrix eargasm fest we were about to feast our senses on.

"I know I'm late but you can't hate me because I brought snacks."

She was right, obviously. Snacks immediately forfeited my right to be angry at her for being late.

As long as it involved mint chocolate...

"And I got the chocolate chip mint ice cream, the whole tub, and three spoons since we always end up dropping one and don't feel like making it to the fridge."

Arms filled with a few sacks piled to the brim with chocolate, candy and ice cream (and extra spoons), Con took her rightful seat beside me on my colorful rainbow rug in the center of my bedroom.

My mom let me redecorate the room however I wanted after my dad left again so I had chosen something colorful and vibrant but that had been six years ago and it was due for an upgrade.

"Are you ready for this, bish?!"

"More than ready. I heard he wrote some songs completely alone along with cowriting the rest."

"Great, so not only does he have more talent in his pinky finger than I do in my entire body, but he's also the most gorgeous human alive too. Sometimes I wish I knew what it was like being God's favorite."

Con sighed dreamily as she drifted her focus to her phone, face scrunching up in confusion as I checked my own phone and saw the time, it was 11:59.

"It's go time!"

She didn't answer my excited screech. She didn't even look the least bit enthused.

"Con! What's wrong?"

"Check your voicemail, Eden. Something's wrong."

"What?"

Blood rushed in my ears as I did what she had told me, but I didn't want to believe what I was hearing as I played my mom's rushed voicemail she'd left me.

'Hey, Eden. I need to talk to you about your father. He's petitioned the courts, again. Listen, don't look at the news, it's not pretty. I really don't want to say this in a voicemail, but...okay. You're going to have to stay with him for a little while, just for me to get things under control. It won't be forever, I promise. Call me back, I love you to Venus and Saturn and all the ways that matter.'

"What does this mean?"

"It means everything is about to change."

Kade Hendrix's first brand new song hit the speakers before I had a chance to turn it off.

***

Intro:

I was pretty sure my best friend had no idea that I was in love with him.

The male best friend, not my female counterpart, Constance, who was currently sucking face with said male best friend.

Well, this sucked.

"No, babe, please can we pick the movie? You picked last time and it was terrible."

Isaac Hartwood's large hands wrapped around Constance's blonde hair, pulling her face close to his while they shared a meaningful moment about movies.

Blech. Yuck. Ew.

Why do I wish that was me?

My two best friends got together shortly after I moved to live with my dad while my mom collectively got all of her shit together, but when I moved back it was like BAM! I was magically made a third wheel.

Bippity Boppity Boop and all that shit.

Where was my fairy fucking godmother anyway? Did the pumpkin carriage rot before she made it to Arizona?

"What do you think Ivy? Should we let Con pick the movie?"

I could not breathe. Screw these lungs in my chest. This shit hurt.

It wasn't so bad most of the time when we could hang out like we used to, but times like these, when my chest caved in and my heart grew ten sizes simply by the lopsided honey smile Isaac threw my way, I wished that I could go back in time and make any choice for myself, that I could've chosen to stay in New York with my mother and the family I'd carved out in my hometown.

I'd missed my moment by four entire years.

Nineteen years old and in my sophomore year of college, and here I was pining after a boy I couldn't have while he was shacked up with someone else, forced to watch him be happy with the one person I physically couldn't be mad at.

I wished that fifteen had been an appropriate enough age to recognize your soulmate when you spotted them, because once they were taken, it was like a rough gouging of your eye sockets anytime they even touched someone else.