Sentenced

“Heyyyy everybody,” Bex’s raspy voice jumped in. People loved her. “My sexy hubby and I have been working hard on this song for you. Are you ready to hear it? It’s our wedding present to you.” The crowd screamed, jumping up and down in anticipation. She looked over at me. “This song is called ‘No Longer Broken.’ It was co-written by the two of us. It’s kind of our story.”

Our eyes met and we began playing, the crowd fading away. It was just us. “Here we are . . . we used to be lost and lonely, always in pain. All we ever wanted was to be loved, but didn’t think it would happen. Life crushed our spirit, made us hardened and angry . . . We were broken. . . . so broken . . . until the day we put each other back together again. Now we’re no longer broken . . . no longer broken . . . because we have each other. Through the pain, through the trials . . . though we thought we weren’t able to be fixed . . . we were wrong . . . so wrong . . .”

As we went back into the chorus, both of our voices in sync with each other, I looked over at Bex. Her eyes were closed as they often were when she sang. The lights from the stage illuminated a fine sheen of sweat on her face, her guitar hanging from her while I played alone to the melody of her voice.

Our voices began trailing off as we reached the end of the powerful song and she opened her eyes, smiling at me. I stepped towards her and kissed her, not caring that we were being watched by hundreds of people. The crowd screamed and cheered.

I smiled as I pulled away from her. We were both breathless, partly from singing and partly because we were a fucking combustible force together. I put the microphone between us so we could sing the last line together.

“We were once locked up, sentenced to a life of pain and misery. But we’re not broken anymore . . .”

“Come here, Le

“I’ll get her,” I laughed. Le

Just before I reached her she plopped on the ground dissolved in giggles. “Da! Da!”

“Come here you silly girl,” I scooped her up. “Mommy wants us to come over there. Then you can run.” Just like always, Le

While her mom had changed my life almost two years ago by playing at The Outrigger, Le

Now here we were, together as a family, on the a

I reached Bex’s side, settling Le

Le

Le

Tears shone in Bex’s eyes. “Gibson is your brother. Put the bear here for him.”

Le

“Yes, baby. Give the bear to Gibson, Le

Le

“Wuv da,” she said, turning her face so she could see Bex. “Wuv ma.”

“I love you,” I said to Bex. I knew this was a very hard day for her. As happy as we were together, she would always wonder what her life would’ve been like had she gotten the chance to be a mother to Gibson.

“I love you, too,” she said, wrapping Le

“Believe it,” I said, leaning over to kiss both of my girls and rub Bex’s belly where my son was growing.

Our record with the big label had come out two months ago. It had spent every day since it’s release in the top ten on the rock charts. Six months from now, after our family settled from having our second child, a son we would name Jaden Jonathan at Bex’s insistence, we would start our own tour around the country as the headliners. We would be making it a family affair and bringing the kids with us.

Julia and Carter had welcomed baby Julian a few weeks before Le

My parents had come out for both Julian and Le

When I thought back to the life I had before I’d met Bex, it often felt like I wasn’t even the same person. But then again, I guessed I wasn’t. Back then I’d been determined to keep myself in my own self-imposed prison, locking myself away from any possibility of feeling anything or doing anything that I loved ever again.

But once Bex found the key to my cell and opened up the bars, I’d been free ever since. My sentence had been served. It was time to live. She’d freed me, and I’d freed her. Together, we put the past behind us and moved on to bigger and better things.

THE END

THE LIVING AGAIN SERIES

(all standalones, but best read as the series)

Living Again (Living Again #1)

Reaching Rachel (Living Again #2)

Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3)

Finding Forever (Living Again #4)

Breaking Free: A Living Again Novella (Living Again #4.5)

LIVING AGAIN BOXED SET

Living Again Boxed Set

THE TWISTED SERIES (NOT standalones)

Twisted Souls (Twisted #1)

Twisted Paths (Twisted #2)

STANDALONES

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