“Baby, she loves Lia, but it doesn’t come close to how much she adores you. She thinks you walk on water and could never be disappointed in anything you did.”

Molly shot me a look that clearly said she thought I was a dumbass and held up her left hand. “No?”

“Okay,” I conceded, smiling at the thick gold band glinting back at me “She was a little pissed we eloped.”

“A little?” Molly snorted. “It was two months ago, and just yesterday, she asked me when we planned on correcting our little mistake.”

I shrugged. “She’s traditional. She wanted the big church wedding with a seating chart that takes hours to decide where to put everyone so there isn’t a brawl. If she didn’t love you, she wouldn’t be upset about it. Give it time.”

“Vegas on Valentine’s Day is traditional.” She chuckled, shrugging. “In a white-trash-class sort of way.”

I could only laugh. Before Molly could respond, Gram came in. “Where is that granddaughter of mine?” she called out.

Molly turned, answering, “Nettie’s in the playroom with Emma. I’ll go get her.”

“I said granddaughter, not great-granddaughter,” Gram clarified. “Come give me a hug and show me what a wonderful job you did decorating this old place.”

As she obliged my grandmother, more guests started to arrive. Molly had wanted the party to be at our home or Nate’s farm, but for the element of surprise, it worked better in a rented hall. Over the last two days, she’d transformed the local church vestry into a space fit for a queen. Or king. A Kelly.

Noah set his present with the pile and grabbed a couple of beers before he headed my way, handing me one. I couldn’t help but notice how exhausted he looked. “You still getting hounded?”

He sighed as he leaned back against the wall and propped one ankle over the other. “It’s fuckin’ brutal. They’re everywhere.”

After things started to settle down for Molly and me, Noah had been discovered. He’d always been in the limelight – he was a Kelly after all. Yet, something shifted when Molly went public about our relationship. Suddenly, she wasn’t as interesting.

Noah became the guy to watch. People speculated he’d start a solo career before long, one that would rival his brother’s. Women came out of the woodwork to throw themselves at the kid. Most men thought he was lucky, but I knew what a burden it really was. The sudden pressure, plus the family shit he was dealing with, and I knew it was just a matter of time before he cracked.

He took a deep breath and tipped the end of his beer bottle toward the decorations, changing the subject, “It looks awesome.”

“All Molly, man. If she ever decides she doesn’t want to sing anymore, she can have a successful career as a party planner.”

His eyes watched her across the room. “Marriage looks good on her, Carson. If she ever decides she doesn’t want to be hitched anymore, she can climb on me any day of the week.”

“She’d taken.” I ground out between clenched lips. “Eat dick, asswipe.”

He shook his head. “Can’t do it, man. I’m strictly vag-itarion.”

I didn’t want to laugh, but that was funny shit. Leave it to Noah. I coughed when I realized Emily was working at the table next to us and probably heard every word. Noah followed my gaze just in time to see Em’s cheeks flare bright red before she turned and ran back to the kitchen.

“Goddammit! I’m so fucked.” Noah followed her, pausing only to leave his bottle on the end of the table. I stared after them for a minute. That was an interesting new development that I couldn’t wait to share with my wife. Molly had been worrying about him lately, claiming something was off and he hadn’t been himself. Looks like she didn’t have to worry anymore. How had I missed that in Vegas?

I stood there, pulling on my beer, as my friends and family filled the room. One by one, the ‘Bama Boys filed in next to me, each a little more than uncomfortable. Molly drifted around the room, greeting women, hugging babies, and flirting with men. She was fucking beautiful and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

“Honeymoon phase still going strong I see.”

I nodded at Finn’s words. The honeymoon phase was fucking amazing. I got to spend every night wrapped up in the most beautiful woman in the world. Once the kids were in bed, I started off our nights attempting to count Molly’s tattoos – for some reason, I always got distracted. One day I’d get to them all. Until then, I’d be thankful I was the lucky son-of-a-bitch who got to call Molly his wife.

“She’s glowing. I’ve never seen her look so happy.”

“She is.”

“Is that your way of telling me I’m going to be an uncle again in a few months?”

I tore my eyes away from her, snapping my head in his direction. “What?” Even I could hear the surprise in my voice. “Nah, man.” We’d talked about kids, but we’d been so focused on buying our house and getting the kids settled into our new hometown that we’d pushed the subject to the backburner and hadn’t mentioned it since. My eyes sought her out again, trying to observe her objectively. “She’d tell me, right?”

Finn laughed. “Not if she doesn’t know.”

Well, fuck.

Now would be the perfect time to add to our little family. We were finally settling in, getting used to all being together. There were ups and downs, struggles that we worked through, but at the end of the day, I had the people I loved most under one roof, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything, even if the last few months had been a constant flow of life altering changes.

Before we’d gotten the paternity test back proving that Janet was biologically my daughter, we’d filed paperwork for custody. Molly, because she was who she was, had started gathering information before our lives blew up. To my surprise, legal fathers had parental rights in some states. When things got nasty with Julie, Molly wouldn’t let me give up. She fought for my kids and she fought for me. Hell, she’d even dragged my ass to Vegas, giving up her dream paradise beach wedding, so that we could prove we were more stable than a couple just living together.

Now she was the kind of stepmom every child deserved. She loved them just as much as she would have if she’d given birth to them. She called Julie regularly, even though I knew she despised the woman, just so Julie wouldn’t miss anything. And Molly insisted that when Julie was ready, she’d help her relocate out here.

We’d all gone to meet Bryant for his birthday in January. Molly had worried herself sick, afraid that he’d be angry she had a family now but she’d given him up. Of course he wasn’t. Bryant and Jake had clicked immediately, and with his parent’s permission, they now talked and emailed each other constantly. The kid was wise beyond his years - when it was time for us to leave, Bryant pulled her aside and told her he was happy she wasn’t alone anymore. She sobbed all the way back to the hotel. I had no doubt we would see more of him as time went on.

We’d found our dream home. A money pit that would require constant maintenance, but it was exactly what we’d hoped for. The kids had adapted to Alabama life well enough. We’d gotten a small place in Maine so we could vacation near my family and be near the kids while they were spending every summer with their mom. A fact Julie had been pissed about, but since we’d been awarded primary residency, she couldn’t say much. The farm, a few miles up the road from the Kelly’s, was our home base, though.

Molly had offered to move to Maine for me. Yet, she was offered the chance of a lifetime and needed to be near Nate and the ‘Bama Boys. Or, Molly Ray and the ‘Bama Boys, as they were now called. It only made sense – Molly only performed with them and they all worked fabulously together. Plus, Nate needed more time for his family and wanted to share the spotlight with his best friend.

Nate and Mols spent most days writing songs for the new album, and pretty soon, they’d all be heading into the studio to record. There was no tour in the immediate future, everyone deciding they needed to take some time off from traveling constantly. They still performed, a couple times a month at the most. But it was never more than a weekend trip.