Accent Hussy (It Had 2 B U) (34 page)

One year later . . .

My mom comes in the room smiling. “Are you ready for this, Everly?”

I take a deep breath. This is a monumental step in my life. I’m not sure if I’m ready, but I’m not going to let anyone else know that. I follow my mom into the living room. It’s covered in balloons and pink and purple crepe paper streamers. A giant sign hangs down from the ceiling that says, Happy Birthday Holly. She’s turning seven. It’s been one year and a couple months since she jump roped into my life. I can’t imagine another day without her. That’s why this is so big. Today marks forever. Today is one step into the future.

Max and Breezy are sitting on the couch. My nephew Braxton learned to walk five months ago and now he’s being a holy terror by trying to unwrap Holly’s presents. She wanted a giant dollhouse for her birthday. I’ve saved all year for it. It wasn’t easy, especially with the pay I’m getting, but I somehow managed to pay the layaway off last week. Now it’s hiding in the garage, fully put together thanks to my dad and Max.

Holly hasn’t arrived yet. Caleb took her out for ice cream so that we could decorate the house and get everything ready. Everyone is here: Maggie and Dashawn, Tony and Emma (who isn’t that bad once she finally warms up to you), and all of the girls from The Youth Center.

Caleb has been a godsend through all of this. I can’t believe I spent half of our relationship resisting him. He’s perfect. The way he is with Holly. How he treats me. I couldn’t ask for a better man in my life. Not to mention, my mother is in love with him. Half the time, I have to pry her off his arm.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I look down, suddenly overwhelmed with nerves. Am I really going to go through with this? Am I ready?

Caleb: Pulling up now is everything ready?

I quickly text him back.

Me: Yup!

A few minutes later, the door opens. Everyone is quiet and the house is dark. When Caleb flips the switch, everyone jumps up and yells “Surprise!” Holly cowers into Caleb’s side and starts crying. Instantly, my heart sinks. Why didn’t I think about it before? It’s idiotic to throw a surprise party for a little girl who’s been through so much.

I run to her and pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry baby, I should’ve known this would be too much for you.”

She wraps her little arms around my neck and I feel her tears on my skin.

“I’m happy crying, Miss Everly.”

“You are?”

“Nobody has ever cared about my birthday before,” she whispers. “This is my first real party.”

Tears form in the corner of my eyes and when I look up, I catch Caleb wiping away some of his own. This little girl has changed everyone’s life, not just mine.

“Thank you, Miss Everly. Thank you for caring about me.”

“Of course, Holly. You mean everything to me.”

I take her hand and lead her into the living room where the girls from The Youth Center swarm her.

“Happy Birthday, Hopscotch!” They all shout.

One by one, they hand her presents. None of them could afford to buy anything for Holly, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care. The only thing that matters is that they’re here now and helping her celebrate. After getting all the handmade cards and items from the girls, we have party games and cake. All the girls are having a blast. I’m pretty sure none of them have ever been to a party like this.

Braxton tries to keep up with them, but his legs are too short and these girls move fast. I can barely keep up with them myself. Breezy picks Braxton up and carries him into another room so she can lay him down for a nap. Max follows her. They’re so incredibly cute together.

After twenty minutes, they both appear again without Braxton. He must’ve fallen asleep. Max has his arm around Breezy and they make their way over to the adult table. Yes, there’s actually an adult table. Emma and Tony are off in the corner discussing something. Maggie is leaning up against Dashawn watching the kids, and I’m sitting next to Caleb while his hand plays with my knee.

“I’m so ready to have kids,” Maggie exclaims, watching the girls jump rope outside. “I want two kids, maybe more.” Dashawn suddenly looks uncomfortable and shifts underneath her. She must feel him move because she looks up at him and smiles. “What about you, baby? How many kids do you want us to have?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” he answers, taking a long drink of his water.

“Aww, come on, don’t you want children, Dashawn?” Max asks.

Dashawn glares at Max and takes another drink. “Someday, maybe.”

Emma pipes in. “I’m never having kids. I like my privacy way too much. Kids are way too much trouble.”

“I wouldn’t call them trouble. Just a lot of work,” Breezy exclaims. “The only thing that really sucks is the lack of sleep. Luckily, Braxy is sleeping through the night now.”

“Thank god. I was beginning to miss sex,” Max laughs. “Now I get my woman to myself every night.”

Breezy punches him. “They don’t need to know about our sex life or lack thereof.”

He kisses her temple and she smiles. “Our sex life is as it should be. We’re married with a baby. People understand that.”

“Yet another reason I will never get married or have a kid. I like sex way too much to sacrifice it for the sake of a child or a ring,” Emma remarks.

Now it’s Tony who looks uncomfortable. Everyone knows that he’s been thinking about asking Emma to marry him. Every time he goes out with the boys, he talks about it. I guess Emma isn’t ready for that kind of commitment yet. A year ago Tony would’ve laughed at the word marriage, but now he’s embracing it. Who would’ve thought?

All this talk about marriage and commitment and babies has my stomach turning in knots. It’s almost time for the big announcement, and I’m petrified of what everyone is going to say.

“Everly, can I open the rest of my presents now?” Holly asks, breaking into my thoughts.

“Sure, Sweetheart, why don’t you get settled into the living room? I’ll get your presents together.” She scampers off and I whisper into Caleb’s ear.

“House is in the garage. Can you and Max go get it for me?”

“Of course.”

He motions for Max to follow him and they disappear into the garage. Mom and Dad give Holly their presents first; a new dress, a ballet outfit, and some cute ballet shoes. They also give her a gift certificate for a local dance academy for ten free ballet lessons. We found out she wanted to learn while watching
So You Think You Can Dance
. She mimicked all the dance moves and told us she wants to be a ballerina.

Holly’s crying when she holds up the shoes and outfit and cries, even more, when she gets the gift card. She flings her arms around both my parents’ necks and says, “Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. McGowan. Now I can be a ballerina.”

She does a twirl around the living room, making everyone laugh.

Max and Breezy go next and give her the doll she’s been wanting. Maggie and Dashawn give her a gift card to Target, and Emma and Tony give her one to Wal-Mart. Finally, it’s my turn.

“Okay, Holly. Close your eyes.”

She closes her eyes and Max and Caleb carry the house into the living room. All the little girls squeal causing Holly to open her eyes.

“Oh my gosh! My own dollhouse! It’s the one I wanted! Thank you so much, Mommy.” It’s the first time she’s actually called me that. It’s what sends me over my emotional edge. I’m bawling and as she hugs me tightly, I realize just how much I’ve fallen in love with this little girl.

It’s finally time for her last present, and it’s the one I’m most nervous about. I grab her shoulders and lead her to the couch. Caleb stands behind me with a supportive hand on my shoulder.

“Holly, I have something for you. It’s sort of not a present—more of a question.”

She looks up at me in confusion. I place a small, thin, square box on her lap and wait for her to open it.

My heart is in knots. I’m so afraid of how she will react. She carefully opens the package and pulls out the piece of paper inside. This is big—really big. How will she react to all this?

“What is it?” she asks.

I take the piece of paper away from her, knowing she can’t read, and with tears in my eyes, I tell her.

“It’s your adoption paperwork. It says that we, Everly and Caleb Conaway hereby request to adopt Holly Conaway as our daughter.”

Caleb gasps beside me.

Yup, big fucking step.

The whole room murmurs as I drop to one knee in front of Caleb and take his massive hand. “Caleb, for the past year, I’ve done everything in my power to deny the connection you and I have. You’ve put up with my bitchiness, all of our fighting and bickering, and even chased me when I didn’t want to be chased. You’ve stood by my side and helped me on this journey to adopt Holly. You’ve treated her like any dad would treat their own daughter. I don’t want to finish this adoption unless you are a part of it. I want you to be in our lives. I want that for the rest of my life and Holly’s. I need you, Caleb. Will you marry me?” I pull a ring out of my pocket and hold it up to him. He’s not saying anything. His face is expressionless. Maybe I read our relationship wrong; maybe he doesn’t love me like I thought. Maybe he doesn’t want to marry me.

Next thing I know; Holly drops to a knee next to me. She takes Caleb’s other hand and that’s when I see the tears back in his teal-colored eyes.

“Caleb, will you be my daddy?” she asks. She’s smiling big, and this small gesture seems to break him. Everyone in the room is crying—even the guys.

Caleb collapses, grabbing both of us in a giant hug. Then he pulls something out of his back pocket—a black velvet box.

“I’ve been waiting for the right time to ask you,” he chuckles. “I guess since you beat me to it, now would be the time.”

“Everly,” he says in a flawless English Accent. “Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

He asked me in an accent!

I swoon.

“Yes,” I scream. I fling myself into his arms and he kisses me. It’s soft and passionate. It’s one-years’ worth of emotions all in one kiss. Then together, we put the rings on each other’s fingers while everyone in the room claps like idiots.

He pulls away from me and grins. “I can’t believe you asked me to marry you.”

“I can’t believe you asked me in an English Accent.”

“Well, I couldn’t risk you saying no. I know how much you love your accents.”

“Caleb, I may love accents, but nothing will ever compare to how much I love you and Holly.”

Caleb goes in to kiss me again, but Holly stops us.

“So does this mean I have a real mommy and daddy now?

“Once everything is official, yes baby, we will be your mommy and daddy.”

“This is so much better than the dollhouse,” she screeches. “Thank you for getting me exactly what I wanted, Mommy and Daddy.”

Just hearing those words brings the tears back. From this point forward, we’re going to be a family. Just me, Holly, and the guy of my dreams . . . Caleb.

I never needed an accent to make me happy, all I needed was that one guy to come along, sweep me off my feet, and just be there.

From the moment we met, that guy has always been Caleb.

He may not have an accent, he may be a pain in my ass most of the time, but I’ve come to realize that when it comes to love—Caleb is, and will always be, my Achilles’ heel.

Book Three and Four
in the

It Had 2 B U series

are coming soon!

Keep an eye out for:

Finding the Gray

Maggie and Dashawn’s story

And

May I Have Another?

Tony and Emma’s story

The idea for Accent Hussy came from a conversation I had with a former PA Paula. I was watching the Voice and made the remark that guys who have foreign accents are so hot. She retorted with something that made me call her an Accent Hussy. I was in the middle of writing Innuendos at the time, and I was like you know what I’m going to write a book about a girl who is obsessed with men who have foreign accents. Thus, Everly McGowan was born. In the original draft of Innuendos, Everly was named Angel. I can’t imagine her being named that anymore; she will always forever be Everly to me. Both Caleb and Everly have turned into one of my favorite couples to write. I wrote this book only from her perspective because, at the time, Everly was the only one who would talk to me. Now, Caleb wants his chance to talk, so I’m toying with the idea of a novella from his point of view. It could happen, but I have so many books in my head that picking one to focus on often proves to be difficult for me.

So with that said, if you enjoyed Everly and Caleb’s story, make sure you pick up Max and Breezy’s story in Book One of the It Had 2 B U series, Innuendos, (If you haven’t already) and make sure you keep an eye out for Maggie and Dashawn’s story, Finding the Gray, and Tony and Emma’s story, May I Have Another? Coming Soon

Thank you for reading this book. I truly appreciate each and every reader! I hope you enjoyed the story.

As always,

Laugh, Love, and Write

V. Kelly