My Kind of Forever

I continue to play until all the guests are out of the area. The reception is at the marina, not far from here, and most people are on their way there by the time I get the piano put away.

“Are you ready?” Josie asks me as I take Paige from her.

“Yes, let’s go party,” I say, holding my daughter’s arm up in the air and waving it around gently. Josie rolls her eyes, but she loves me so it’s okay.

The reception is huge, with all their college and work colleagues. I can see why they kept the ceremony to just family; the beach isn’t big enough to accommodate everyone. It’s a slight exaggeration, but we’d probably need three hundred chairs.

Di

“Uncle Liam, we’re ready,” Elle comes over and tugs on my jacket. Just like at my wedding, the kids have put together a musical number for Yvie and Xander. Harrison and I are helping them get set up and making sure everything is tuned properly.

“Okay, Elle, do you remember your lines?”

“Yep, I know them.”

“Noah, are you good?” He gives me thumbs up.

“Qui

“I’m good, Uncle Liam.”

That leaves Peyton, but Harrison is taking care of her.

“This is for our Aunt Yvie and Uncle Xander,” Elle says into the microphone. Once the music starts people start moving in their seat. As soon as Elle sings the first verse to Elton John’s Tiny Dancer, Yvie and Xander are up dancing. Once they start, everyone joins in. I want to dance with Josie, but I need to be available for the kids in case something goes wrong.

The whole room is cheering loudly for the kids as they finish the song. They all bow and run off stage. One song a night is all they’re good for.

“That was awesome,” I say to Noah when he gets off stage.

“Thanks. I really like playing.”

“Me too,” I tell him.

The DJ starts in with his music and Noah asks Josie to dance. I take Paige from her who is wide awake and watching everything around the room.

“Someday, this will be you,” I tell her, earning a punch to the face from her flying hand. She starts to whine, so I stand and move back and forth with her for a bit until I decide that if I’m going to dance, I’m dancing with my daughter on the floor so everyone can see her.

Paige and I move out on the dance floor and stand next to Noah and Josie. Paige and I move to the music and she coos when she sees her mother and brother doing the same. There’s no shortage of love in this family, that’s for sure.

When Purple Rain comes on, Josie and I freeze. I pull her to me with my freehand and tell Noah to join us. This may not be the appropriate family song, but it’s a song that has deep meaning for Josie and me.

We sway to the music and I steal kiss or two from my wife, who has her chin resting on my shoulder. Our son has his arm around his mother and I hold our daughter in my arm. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m certain this is what my kind of forever looks like.

Read other books by Heidi McLaughlin

I never imagined this day – one where I’d write The End on a family of characters that I love dearly. These characters have shaped my life in ways I could only imagine and it’s hard letting go. Thankfully, they’ll live and always be a part of not only my life, but yours as well.

The Beaumont Series started with a picture and a ninety-minute email session with my best friend, confidant and beta extraordinaire, Yvette. I was writing another story and growing frustrated with it. Yvette suggested I take a break and write a story for NANO. Later that day, I saw this picture of a random guy and Liam was born. I came to her with a story of a guy who has returned to his hometown to make amends. What brought him back? Was the first question she ever asked about this story. His best friend died, was my answer. The title was: Returning Home.

For days I wrote, from sun up to sun down, ignoring everything and everyone around me, except Yvette. We brainstormed everything from names, is there a kid involved, and who do we see as Liam Page. During that time, the title changed to: Standing in Front of You. Once I was finished, I didn’t know what to do and ended up giving the manuscript to Jillian Dodd. Without her and Yvette, Forever My Girl would have never existed because I’m not sure I would’ve published it. This was in September of 2012.

From the moment I released Forever My Girl my life hasn’t slowed down. This is the little book that could and did, from hitting the USA Today Best Sellers List to selling my movie rights, each and every day this book makes me proud.

Fast forward to today. My Kind of Forever wasn’t supposed to happen. I never intended to go back to the begi

I’d like to thank the following people because without them, The Beaumont Series would not have happen:

Yvette Rebello

Jillian Dodd

Sarah Hansen

Holly Donaldson

Fallon Clark

Cari Renee

Eric Heatherly

Je

Stefne Miller

Carey Heywood

Traci Blackwood

LP Dover

Georgette Geras

Tammy Bertino

Emily Plice

Holly Malgieri

Amy Broom

Tammy Williams

Audrey Kay

Veronica LaRoche

Kelli Knechtly

The Beaumont Daily

Of course my inspiration:

Stephen Amell – Liam Page

David Beckham & Ryan Stevenson – Harrison James

Brandyn Farrell – Jimmy “JD” Davis

To every Blogger who has read, posted and talked about the series, I thank you!

A lot of have asked what happens next – well as I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again… the gang will be back when the kids have their own stories to tell.

Heidi is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author.

Originally from Portland, Oregon and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup, and their newest addition of a Highland Westie/Mini Schnauzer, JiLL.

During the day Heidi is behind a desk talking about Land Use. At night, she’s writing one of the many stories pla

Read on for a sneak peek at No Limit by L.P. Dover, a steamy romantic suspense standalone.