Alive // bxb

Chapter 25

guys,,, this is the final chapter. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

360 Days Later

Liam's POV:

The past almost-year had been complete bliss.

Being mated had changed a lot of things in Milo's and my relationship, but simultaneously it had changed nothing at all. The awkward confessions, the hugs and cuddles, those hadn't changed. The way we acted around each other gradually did.

The light in his eyes when he looked up at me, the beaming smiles when I did something he called 'Liam-like', the silent hours we'd spend on the couch or the bed, just holding each other, those grew to be new things that I loved more and more with each passing day. And now, within the last half-year, there was more to look forward to.

Half a year after Julie had told us she was willing to surrogate for us, we had taken her up on that offer, and now her stomach had a noticeable bump where Milo's and my child was gradually growing.

There were only a few months left until the fourth member of our small household would arrive, and I planned to spend every moment of that with my mate, from innocent kisses and hugs during the daytime and not-so-innocent ones during the hours when the world was thrown into darkness. I was sure that I had already made him feel wanted, and my hope was to continue that until the day I died.

Today was just a part of that plan.

Last fall, I had surprised Milo by getting down on one knee and proposing. He had started crying and sat down next to me, hugging me fiercely, before chanting out a million 'yeses'. Today was the day we actually tied the knot.

Well, the knot had been tied almost a year ago when we completed the mating ceremony. This was just the human equivalent of that- double knotting it, if you would. A doubly secure bond.

I reached up to fiddle with my tie again and Sage reached over to slap my hand away, catching my eyes in the mirror we were both standing in front of. Julie sat in the corner of the room, legs crossed and hands smoothing out her light blue dress. My father's office inside the Ceremony Hall had been taken over by us as our dressing room, while Milo and Adriel were in the meeting room across the hall.

"Stop doing that," my best friend muttered to me, "it looks perfect already."

"You know I don't trust your judgement," I countered, using my other hand to tilt the bottom of the tie just slightly off center. Sage kicked me. "Ow."

"Stop doing that," he said again, louder this time.

"Both of you shut up, pregnant woman in the room," Julie commanded, causing us both to shut up. Even after all this time and a year away at college, Julie was a force to be reckoned with.

The door behind me opened, and after turning around, I came eye-to-eye with Paisley. She was thirteen now, a step into teenagedom, but she still found extreme joy in the prospect of being the flower girl slash ring bearer.

"Dad says five minutes 'till showtime," she informed me, meeting my gaze before grinning brightly and jumping at me. "I can't believe you're getting married!"

"Me either!" I laughed in response, because she had said the same thing twenty times over the past hour and this was what I had always said in response.

"Don't ruin each other's hair!" Julie called, sounding annoyed. "Especially you, Liam! Or the makeup!"

"Ah, shut up," I grumbled at her, turning around as Paisley left the room.