“Rowan, I know that you love your girls because well, who wouldn’t. But I’m going to tell you this once, and I hope you take it to heart. Keegan has given you simple guidelines to help keep her sister safe. If at any time you can’t stick to them, you should know that we will be coming to get Sarah, and she will be living with us from now on.”
Mom’s mouth dropped open. I think mine did too. He nodded his head at her before he put his hand on my lower back and led me out to the car. Oh Camden, you are full of surprises. But I couldn’t have been more in love with him for standing up for me, and the most important person in my life. Getting in the car I grinned at him.
“You are a ballsy son of a bitch, you know that right?”
“Yep.”
“Did you mean it?”
“Every word.” He gave me the weight of his russet eyes and winked at me before we pulled out of the driveway.
God he made me happy.
One year later…
“Alexis Peabody.” Clapping
“Miranda Pearl.” Clapping
“Keegan Phillips.” Clapping
I GOT UP FROM MY CHAIR and made my way across the short stage that was set up outside. Shaking the Dean’s hand, he passed me my diploma. When I turned to face the audience I saw my whole family waving their signs and snapping photographs. Everyone that I loved was here, Camden’s whole family, my mom, my sister, and Macie. I’d finally done it. After four years of intense work, over one hundred hours of clinicals, and a lot of lost sleep, I had finally received my Bachelor’s in Nursing. This had to be one of the most proud moments of my life. I sought Camden out in the crowd. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, and he looked downright delectable in a pair of cargo shorts and white button-down shirt. But the look on his face was priceless; it oozed pride, admiration, and love. He didn’t need to clap or cheer for me. No, that look said it all. He knew what I’d gone through to accomplish this, he’d been with me through the worst parts. I caught him winking before I went to take my seat and wait out the rest of the ceremony.
Last year I decided to enroll in an accelerated program that had nearly doubled my workload but would help me graduate in half the time. It was something new that the college was doing, and we were sort of the guinea pig class. I’d gone back and forth with doing it, because I knew I would have to quit my job, and going out would no longer be an option. My whole life would revolve around school. Camden was the deciding factor for me. He had sat me down after I’d been accepted into the program, and he said that I needed to do something for myself, to prove to myself that I was capable of bigger things. Naturally I fought him on it because…well, it was what I did. And of course, he won as per usual. I wasn’t happy about no longer paying for my portion of the rent, but Camden assured me that he didn’t mind and that I could pay him back in other ways. I didn’t quite know what he meant until later that night he showed me exactly what he was talking about. Talk about unforgettable.
When the final speech was given and the ceremony ended, I made my way through the crowd to my man. As soon as I met Camden’s eyes he started moving toward me, plowing through groups of people that were keeping me from him. It was like he was making a path for me to walk. People saw him coming and got out of his way. I leapt into his waiting arms, and he lifted me off the ground in a crushing hug. Even just the smell of him, that clean soapy scent of his skin, made me feel like I was home and gave me comfort. Lifting my head I placed my forehead against his.
“Congratulations Blue.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
He held me in the air, my feet dangling for some time as people walked around us. We were having a moment and nobody was going to interrupt it. He kissed me on my nose, then tenderly on my lips. It was a sweet lingering one that made me all melty.
“You finally have your degree that you’ve worked so hard for, what are you going to do now?”
I pulled my head back and put my finger on my chin. “Hmmm…join the circus?”
He chuckled. “Always the wise ass.”
“Always.” I grinned at him. Kissing him quickly I squirmed for him to set me down when I noticed the rest of the family was coming to greet me.
When I was placed on my feet, I was quickly lifted back up in another suffocating hug by Dodger… and then another by Turner. Poor Wrigley didn’t stand a chance when Camden stepped in front of him and simply stated, “No.” I giggled and slapped his arm.
Macie shouldered her way through all of the boys like a boss. “Move it y’all, she was my friend first.” We embraced, and I soaked in every ounce of love and support I was being given. Seriously, could a girl get any luckier?
“Oh man, I’ve gotta stop or I’m going to cry.” I spoke into her hair.
“Suck it up ya big baby!” She slapped my ass, and I heard Wrigley give a whoop. “I’m proud of you Keegan. You deserved this.”
Sniffling I said, “Thank you. Love you Mace.”
“Love you too.”
The rest of the family came up, giving me words of wisdom and expressing how amazing they thought I was. Just when I thought my heart would explode from happiness, my mom approached me. We have, for the most part, worked out our differences. Sarah was content and getting the attention that she deserved, and that was all that really mattered to me. The strain on our relationship was slowly diminishing, and I could see that she was making a genuine effort to make things right. I didn’t know if it had been my words, or Camden’s that gave her the wake-up call that she needed, but I was just pleased that she was trying. Looking at her now, I knew that everything would be alright. We would be alright.
Mom cupped my face in her hands and smiled at me. It was the same smile that was my own. “You did well baby girl. I can’t believe that I was blessed to have a daughter like you.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “You’ve grown into a beautiful young lady, Keegan. I’m proud of you.”
The dam was opened, and my eyes shed tears. “Love you Mom. It’s always you and me, always.” I hugged her, knowing that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.
Camden placed his hand on the small of my back indicating that it was time to go. We were heading over to his parent’s house for a lunch celebration and then play a round of baseball. What would a gathering at the Brooks’ house be if there wasn’t baseball? I walked over to one of my classmates that I’d grown closer to throughout the year, and let her know we were leaving. I’d found out that Annabelle Keaton was a loner. Not that she didn’t have friends. In fact she had a lot of friends, but halfway through the semester she told me that her parents had passed away in a car accident and that she’d been on her own since she was sixteen years old. Maybe that was why we got along so well. We both had to be independent long before a child should have to be. Either way, I wanted us to celebrate our day together, with a family that I knew would welcome her. Annabelle told me that she was going to grab her bag, and she would follow all of us over in her own car. I nodded, and we left for the house.
Donna had food all ready to go by the time we got there, so we loaded up our plates and sat down to eat. Chit chat was in full swing, and we were all having fun talking and teasing each other just like we normally did. I smiled that Annabelle was chatting away with everyone like she’d never missed a meal with this group.