Christmas lights were strung through the trees, glowing like stars that had descended. Lanterns lined the stone path, leading straight to the place we’d planned to stand together—and there she was.
Aurelia was dressed simply, not in her wedding dress or anything, but she was glowing in a way no amount of lights could replicate. Strangely, our mothers stood on either side of her. I froze, my breath caught in my throat as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on.
Aurelia’s gaze found mine immediately as I emerged, and there was no hesitation in her eyes. No fear or uncertainty. Just love.
The kind of love that anchored me even when the ground shifted beneath my feet as I realized that she’d come. Despite the duty, the obligations, and the expectations of being a Van Alen, royalty in this town in her own right, she was here.
She extended a hand toward me, inviting me closer. Drawn to her like there was no other option, my feet moved almost oftheir own accord, but if I was being honest, my brain was also urging them to go faster. To run to her. Grab her and hold on with both hands.
She turned toward the women who had carried us, birthed us, and raised us, speaking before I’d even reached them. Her voice was calm and gentle, but every word was laced with steel and resolve.
“I asked you both to come here today because I want you to know that I love Harrison. I want to build a life with him and nothing you say, no ultimatum you throw at me, will change that.”
As I reached them, her hand slid into mine, her fingers strong and sure, her gaze never even leaving theirs, but somehow, she’d known I was close enough to pull me into her. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so stunned and so certain all at once.
Honestly, I’d never doubted her love for me. What I’d doubted had been her ability to walk away from her family in order to be with me, yet her voice didn’t waver and her mother was rightthere.
“This isn’t just about me,” Aurelia said, her hand tightening around my knuckles. “It’s about us.Hislife.Mylife.”
She glanced up at me then, tears sitting shallow in those vivid blue eyes, but she didn’t let them fall as she turned back to our moms. “All we want is the chance to make something of it together. I’m asking you both to put aside the resentment and the hurt that doesn’t belong to us, and give us that gift. The gift of a chance.”
The lights above us swayed slightly in the cold breeze, but she stood as steady as a mountain.God, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
Her gaze moved to only her mother then. “Whatever you did all those years ago is on you. Dad was with CC and you marriedhim, which meant that no matter the circumstances, you did steal your best friend’s man. I’m sure that even as a high school girl, you weren’t unaware of how much that would hurt her. Clearly, CC must have loved you very deeply to have been as hurt as she was. For her to still be feeling the ripples of that hurt.”
Aurelia glanced between the two of them. “Once upon a time, you were friends. Shit happened, but Harrison didn’t cause it. Neither did I.”
She turned to my mother next. “I know I’m never going to be your favorite, and that’s fine. I don’t need to be, but you said yourself that everything turned out for the best, so we’re asking you to let it go. To stop punishing my mother so that she might be able to give us the gift we’re asking for.”
Regina’s eyes narrowed, her gaze as cutting as ever, and my mother’s chin tilted with that familiar defiance, but Aurelia didn’t flinch. She looked at them with so much heart and so much truth, that it was like I couldn’t breathe.
All I wanted was to pull her into me, to kiss her until she knew how deeply I felt this too. My chest ached with it.
She was carrying both of us on her shoulders with that speech. Our futures. Our hearts. I considered making an impassioned plea of my own, but the truth was that if I opened my mouth right now, I was going to come down on Regina from a dizzy height.
She was a witch I wanted nothing to do with to have put her own daughter in this position. Eventually, I would probably have to let it go. If she gave us the chance Aurelia was asking for, anyway. But I sure as fuck wasn’t letting it go today.
For a long, breathless minute, no one moved. Then Regina’s lips pressed into a thin line, her gaze flicking between me and Aurelia. My mother’s posture softened almost imperceptibly, but I saw it.
“It seems that I may have overstepped,” Regina finally said, her voice clipped but trembling.
My mom’s eyebrows arched. “You think? I don’t even know what you did, but I can guess.”
Regina’s mouth opened, but Mom was focused on Aurelia. She reached out and took her hand, the one I wasn’t holding, cradling it in both of hers. “Darling, you already have my blessing. You know that.”
She reached for my free hand next, linking the three of us in a loose triangle as she gave me a watery smile. “I would never stand in the way of true love and the more I see of you two together, the more I believe that’s what you have. All I want is for you to be happy, Harry. Do I wish it was with someone else? Yes. Do I wish you’d wait a while before you start talking about marriage? Also yes.”
Her gaze suddenly flicked from mine to the twinkle lights overhead and the slight arch we were standing in front of, and she sighed but brought her eyes back to us. “Ultimately, however, I see why you chose her, Harrison. I really do. I might not know you well yet, Aurelia, but you’ve impressed me at every turn.
“The way you walked into dinner with us that first night,” she continued, her smile growing softer as her gaze locked on Aurelia’s. “I couldn’t believe your composure when you walked in with my baby’s ring on your finger and your head held high. Being right by his side when he sat Harlan and me down that night, demanding answers. Even the way you brought us here now…”
As she trailed off, she let go of our hands and turned to face Regina, her expression cooling, but clearly, she had something to say to the other woman. I was taking that as a good sign. “I have absolutely no idea what you’ve done to these poor childrenfor this to be where we are now, and I’m not sorry for anything I said about you back in the day.”
Aurelia’s face fell, but mine didn’t. My heart didn’t sink either because my mother’s tone was calm and laced with authority, the way it always was when she was laying down the law to her friends.
But that was the thing—she was speaking to Regina like she was a friend, and Regina must’ve recognized it too, because there was no anger or indignation at my mom for saying what she was. She simply held her old friend’s gaze and listened.
“You hurt me, Reggie,” Mom said, her voice softer now, the words clearly meant only for Regina. “God, you hurt me worse than anyone else ever has, but we’re going to be family now, which means that I’ll stop icing you out. I’m willing to give these kids the chance they’re asking for. Are you?”
