A/N: Okay everyone this is the last chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!
I feel like a new man. I can't help but smile as I walk down the street, an extra spring is apparent in my step. It's like I'm fifteen.yet again. The sky is suddenly brighter, the birds are chirping just for me and it feels like nothing can bother or touch me. Today is the day that I, Dawson Leery, got my shit together. I want Joey and today is the day that I get her and my son back, on her wedding day, her wedding day to another man. Now part of me feels bad for what I'm about to do, for what I have to do, but after last night I can't feel guilty. She told me to take action and Pacey told me in California that with the right motivation she would leave John so today I'll give her that. I'm going to tell her what I should have said at her first wedding, her wedding to Christopher, setting the ball in motion to bring us where we are today. I won't leave without her.I can't live without her.not anymore.
Unfortunately because I was up thinking about her last night and how good it felt to kiss her, I didn't get to bed until late and now overslept, enjoying the brighter than usual sun and everything as I run to the church. The wedding starts in a half hour. Pacey left me a note with the location and time of the wedding, causing me to jump out of bed and change immediately into my suit so I could make it before she walks down the aisle. Approaching the church finally, running the last mile of the trip because of stupid traffic, I see the limo with the "Just Married" sign on it and the sound of church bells, signaling the near beginning of the ceremony. I stayed up late, scripting what I would say to her, what I would do when I arrived, but right now, staring at the doors, I can't think of a damn thing I meant to say.
Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I pull the doors open and adjust my eyes to the indoor light, frantically looking for Joey. My heart starts pounding when I see Joey with Bessie, arm in arm, walking down the aisle. They're only a third of the way down so I could still grab her, but I'm frozen for a moment in my place. Could I really do this? Could I really interrupt her, stop her from doing this when part of her really wants to marry this guy? Well I don't know that for sure but she's walking down the aisle! Contemplating my next move, whether or not I should do this, I get my answer when I see Joey meekly peer over her shoulder, looking for someone to come up behind and stop her.
"Wait, Joey," I stammer, finally getting my courage back. She doesn't hear me over the organ so I begin to walk toward her, stepping out of the protection of the balcony overhang and into the church, where everyone can see me get closer behind her, grabbing her elbow. "Joey," I say a bit louder, causing her to spin around.
I wish I could really describe what the look on her face was. Looking back, I think it was shock, surprise, horror.relief, as if part of her knew I would come for her.
"What are you doing here?" she asks nervously, smiling weakly at me.
"I need to talk to you," I say again, peering over her should to see Pacey take a deep breath and close his eyes in relief as well.
"Now?" she asks, again smiling at me, this time taking my hand. God it feels good to hold her hand again and she initiated it! I'm smiling back now.
"Yes," I say, grabbing her other hand, smiling like a damn fool and dragging her out of the church, ignoring the collective gasps and whisperings and taking her to the bridal suite, hearing her giggle and locking the door behind me. Turning, I see her standing on the opposite side of the room, flushed and looking at me, wondering what I'll say or do next. With the soft light through the windows she looks like an angel and so without another thoughts I pull her into a tight hug, feeling her gasp a bit but wrap her arms around me like she can't get enough of me.
Pulling back a bit, I chuckle and cup her face in my hands, taking a minute to get lost yet again in those eyes. Without yet another thought I pull her close to me, kissing her so hard it hurts. We fight one another at first, seeing which one can devour more of the other person. I want to kiss her neck so bad but I can't manage to tear my lips away, missing the feel of them against mine. Exercising some restraint, I pull away, looking at her slightly swollen lips and glassy eyes, remembering the last time she looked at me that way.
"I love you, after that kiss last night I spent the evening thinking about you and what I wanted," I say pulling her back for another kiss. "I'm so sorry I hurt you.you've never been a mistake to me.you're the only thing that matters," I say again between kisses. Part of me is terrified to let her go, afraid she'll leave and get married.
"Dawson." she starts, trying to get a word in.
"No listen," I say, still holding her face in my hands as her arms wrap around my waist. "I should have done this years ago when you first got married. I knew you wanted me to say this but I didn't and I have regretted that and that night at the Plaza ever since so don't interrupt me." She nods and waits for me to continue. "I love you Joey, please, please believe that. I can't live without you anymore. I won't let you do this and I won't let this slip away from us again. Marry me Joey, leave John and this church and come away with me and I promise I will spend every day making up for all the time we've lost. You told me to take action so that's what I'm doing. I won't leave here without you and our son Joey so we can do this the hard way or the fun way." Palpable tension fills the small room.
"I need you.please don't leave me," I say, tears starting in my eyes. She looks at me, slightly shocked by what I'm saying. The seconds in silence are torture, me waiting for her to say something, anything. With her heartbreaking smile, she takes my hands, holding them tightly.
"See all you had to do was say something.that's all I wanted you to do to show that you wanted me like I wanted you," she whispers, holding my hand tight and leaning in to rest her forehead against mine. I can't help but let a tear roll down my face, which she kisses away, running her fingers through my hair. At this moment, I feel like my life has started over yet again, but this time there won't be any more distractions.
"Joey are you okay, Joey open the door," John says through the door, trying to get it to open, throwing his body lightly against the door. The sound of his voice pulls us apart, now joined only by our hands. We look at each other and smile lightly, scanning the room for what we should do next.
"What do we do?" she asks, leaning in to wrap her arm around me. Looking over her shoulder I see the window and drop her hand to push it open lightly, noticing that a person could fit through there.
"We're leaving," I say, grabbing a chair to give us a boost.
"Dawson how? They'll rush us when we open the door," she whispers fiercely, trying to block out the nagging noises outside of the door.
"We're not using the door, we're going out the window," I say, turning to take her hand and help her out.
"You're crazy, we can't!" she squeals, pulling back for a minute.
"Yes we can.Joey don't think about this, don't analyze this, let's just go.now.together," I say with a smile, reaching again for her. She looks at me for a second, unsure, but then takes my hand and lets me help her out. Giggling like children, she drops easily out of the window, kicking off her high heels and peeling off her veil, waiting anxiously for me in the grass outside the church. Squeezing myself through the window, I stop and look at her, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.
"Dawson come on," she urges, grabbing my arm, kissing me softly on the lips before dragging my over to the lot. "Where's you car?" she asks, frantically searching the lot.
"Ah I ran the last mile," I say sheepishly.
"You ran? Are you nuts?" she cries, looking at me in shock.
"I would have run the whole way to make sure I got to you in time," I say sincerely, watching her blush a bit before pulling her in for another kiss. At this moment I can't get enough of her.
"Joey, Joey stop," I hear someone call, pulling away to see John and part of the guests standing at the front door of the church, witnessing us together. Fearing he'll come and take her away, I grab her hand and realize I have car keys in my pocket, Pacey's keys, slipped there by him before he left for the wedding. I catch his eye momentarily and he smiles, wiping his brow and then motioning for us to go.now.
"Come on," I say giddily, dragging her to his car, getting her secured there and then jumping in the drivers seat, peeling out of the lot, leaving everyone behind us. I still remember that feeling, driving away from the church, holding her hand and letting the warm breeze hit my face. Of all those moments I remember from that day, the one I love the most is when I glance over, still holding her hand and seeing her smile at me, looking like the Joey I fell in love with when I was fifteen. Staring at one another for a minute though we smile and she leans in to kiss my cheek, slowing making her way to my mouth, god that was a great day.
One year later
It's funny that a few years ago I remarked how different my life was from what it used to be, how it was actually a 180-degree turn. I guess things are like that now.my life is completely different again and I have only one...actually two people to thank. I am back in California, living in Sausalito, but not in the house I was in before. With two other people living with me now I needed more space.kids have a lot of stuff! So now we're in a three-bedroom home, right on the beach, with miles of water and sand in front of us. It's a nice place and Joey did a great job redecorating. She even kept some of my stuff from my previous house, stuff that works with her things and the new items we've purchased together. She said my "bachelor, woodsy crap" had to go, but I didn't mind. Oh wait I'm jumping ahead again.
So yes Joey ran out on her 200 guest wedding with me, causing quite a stir, yet not really surprising some of the guests who knew about me and our history. John was upset, understandably, and after we spent the most amazing 24 hours together...ah.celebrating, she left to see him and straighten things out. I never thought she would return as quickly as she did, let alone with our son in her arms, grinning like a kid.
"Mitchell, I want you to meet someone very close to Mommy, this is Dawson, can you say hi baby?" she cooed, looking between the two of us. I froze again, but he reached for me immediately, crawling into my arms and clinging to me just like his mother did at times.
"Hi Dawson," he whispered, giggling and looking quickly at Joey.
"Hello Mitchell," I stammer, still trying to process this moment. With her famous half smile, Joey pushes us back into the hotel room we're staying in and we spent that whole day as a family, playing, talking and listening, mostly me listening to every sound my child made while Joey and Mitch told me stories about him as a baby, his favorite things, etc. No one has ever turned me upside down like Mitch did.well maybe with the exception of his mother.
That night when Mitch went to sleep, sleeping soundly on the king size bed, Joey and I sat up and talked about the future, what we wanted, where we were going to go.
"So we'll stay in Boston," I said, holding her tightly on my lap as she traced her fingernails up my bare arm.
"Why? Why don't we start over, just the three of us?" she asked, yawning a bit.
"Well your career is here Joey, I don't want to take you away from that," I say, kissing her head, suddenly aroused yet again by her touch and presence.
"Dawson I'm a writer, I can write from anywhere!" she laughs, turning to face me. "I don't want to stay in Boston.I want us to go somewhere together, buy a nice house and just be together. No more bad memories, no more memories of us apart."
"Well I do have a house in California.it'll be too small with the three of us, but we could buy a new one and live right on the water." I start feeling my daydream come to life again.
"I could write on the beach while you and Mitch play and we could go for long walks alone and wake up with the sound of the ocean," she says dreamily, almost as if we're having the same thought.
"We could get married on the beach, just the three of us and the priest." I saw dreamily, feeling her shift to rest her cheek against my chest, glancing over at our sleeping son.
"But what about you?" she asks, breaking the silence. "What about your career? What have you done for money the last few years?"
"I invested a lot of my 'Creek' money so I lived comfortably on the interest from that and I had some saved, but trust me Jo if you saw what I was accustomed to.it wasn't like I cared about money or used much of it," I laugh.
"I want us to be somewhere where we can be together but be successful too," she says, leaning in to kiss me softly. "I can write anywhere so you just name what you want to do and we'll go there." There's another moment of silence as I ponder this.
"I don't know what I want to do Jo, but I know that I want to spend as much time as I can with you and Mitch so let's go to California together and buy a new house and just focus on being a family," I whisper, kissing her again.
"Okay," she whispers, snuggling close to me again.
So we went back to California and bought a new house. I began writing again slowly, finding the most amazing inspiration with Joey and Mitch around. I shouldn't be totally surprised by this though because she always brought out the best in me. My favorite moments were us sitting together in the living room or on the beach while Mitch played in front of us, both of us furiously typing or writing and drawing next to one another. We would work for awhile and then she or I would tell the other to stop and sit in each other's arms or hold hands from our respective chairs while our son played and laughed. Sometimes while Joey would go into town for stuff I would just sit and play with Mitch, listening to his endless conversations and wisdom, even at almost five years old. I took him fishing and taught him how to partially drive a boat.we don't tell Joey about that though. After three months in California it happened.Mitch asked about his dad again and this time it happened while we were on the boat together, without Joey to help me out.
"Dawson do you know about my daddy?" he asked, catching my completely off guard.
"Ah well Mitch what did your mom tell you about him?" I ask, realizing Joey and I never discussed what or when we would tell Mitch about me.
"She said he had to go, but that he loved me very much and one day would come back for me," he said, not realizing the strings this little guy was pulling for me.
"He does.he loves you very much Mitch and he loves your mom too," I say, trying to hold myself together.
"If he loves me and Mommy so much, why isn't he here?" he asks, sitting closer to me.
"It's a long story kiddo but I know.he might be closer than you think," I say, stopping because I shouldn't do this without Joey with me.
"You love my mommy don't you?" he asked.
"Yes I do, I love your mother so much Mitch that it hurts," I whisper, sitting him on my lap.
"Do you love me?" he asked.
"Yes, I love you as much as I love you mother.and that's a lot," I say with a smile.
"Well if my daddy loved me and my mommy but couldn't be here then why don't you just be my dad," he asked, causing me to almost lose it.
"I think I can do that," I say, holding him close.
Joey could tell something was up when we got back and that night I told her what happened and not long after we told Mitch the truth, which he understood fairly well for a young child.
With that little bomb taken care of, we settled into a comfortable routine. Joey and I wrote, Mitch played and soon began school. Joey and I cooked together with Mitch sitting in the kitchen with us and we all went for a walk on our beach at night. Even now I can remember how it felt, walking in my bare feet against the cool sand, holding Joey's hand tightly in mine and watching as our son threw stones into the ocean and ran ahead of us, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. Just before we came back to the house though he would turn around and jump in Joey's or my arms and we would carry him home, still holding onto one another tightly. The vision of our child and my Joey against the settling California sun is another image burned into my retinas, but this one doesn't cause me the heartache that the other image I had burned in my head.
Not long after Mitch began school, I asked Joey to marry me. Well it wasn't the romantic proposal I initially thought of, but she didn't care. I ended up asking her one night while we were making dinner together and Mitch was coloring on the counter with a stool holding him up. I wanted to ask her for a while but I was nervous and wanted to ask Mitch for "permission" beforehand. But in the end I asked her while I was cooking noodles and she was cutting up green peppers. She was shocked but pleased, thinking I was initially crazy but soon realized I was dead serious when I produced a ring that I was carrying around constantly for the last week and a half. She started to cry and said yes immediately, pulling me in for a hug and deep kiss, causing Mitch to groan and interrupt the moment to show us his drawing.
So now here we are, we're all caught up. At this moment I'm standing on our beach, dressed in a linen shirt and pants with Joey in a white linen sundress, her hair curly and fastened with flowers. Mitch is there, serving as best man with Bessie as the matron of honor. I'm not really listening to the priest because I'm too busy recounting this story for you so you know how happy I am at this moment. You know now how we survived everything and what lead us here. Standing here, barefoot, with Joey holding my hand and our son and family behind us, I feel like everything we went through wasn't for nothing. I could still be married and unhappy with Sarah, living in LA or NYC without Joey, who might still be married to Christopher. I could be bitter and angry that we've lost so much time together and I missed the first few years of my child's life, but amazingly I'm not. I'm not angry or bitter because I have them here with me now and in a few moments, Joey will be my wife, finally after thirty-some years. I don't know if we'll have more children but I don't really worry about it. We have Mitch, who is a gift, and if he should get a brother or sister along the line, that's fine and if not, that's fine by me.
"Do you Dawson take Joey to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish until death do you part?" the priest asks, breaking me from my thoughts.
"I do," I say with a smile, feeling her hand squeeze mine a bit.
"Do you Joey take Dawson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor and cherish until death do you part?" the priest asks her in return.
"I do," she says instantly, giggling as I rub her hand with my thumb.
"So by the power of god vested in me and by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife.you may kiss your bride," he says, noticing as I quickly pull her into my arms, hearing her laugh a bit before we kiss, feeling the entire world fade away. There's clapping and cheering behind us, causing her to blush when I deepen the kiss, but I don't care.
"Ah guys, maybe we should go back and get the reception started and you can join us whenever," Pacey laughs, leading the way back up to our house.
We stay there for a minute, Joey and I, kissing happily, still processing the fact that we're actually married. Mitch stays behind too, laughing and pulling on my pant leg, motioning for me to lift him up. With another quick kiss from my wife and our son in my arms, I put my arm around her and we begin our way back up to the house. Today, my second wedding day, was a great day and I was fortunate enough to have everyone I love there with me and now I have Joey and our son with me. Life really can't be much better.
THE END
I feel like a new man. I can't help but smile as I walk down the street, an extra spring is apparent in my step. It's like I'm fifteen.yet again. The sky is suddenly brighter, the birds are chirping just for me and it feels like nothing can bother or touch me. Today is the day that I, Dawson Leery, got my shit together. I want Joey and today is the day that I get her and my son back, on her wedding day, her wedding day to another man. Now part of me feels bad for what I'm about to do, for what I have to do, but after last night I can't feel guilty. She told me to take action and Pacey told me in California that with the right motivation she would leave John so today I'll give her that. I'm going to tell her what I should have said at her first wedding, her wedding to Christopher, setting the ball in motion to bring us where we are today. I won't leave without her.I can't live without her.not anymore.
Unfortunately because I was up thinking about her last night and how good it felt to kiss her, I didn't get to bed until late and now overslept, enjoying the brighter than usual sun and everything as I run to the church. The wedding starts in a half hour. Pacey left me a note with the location and time of the wedding, causing me to jump out of bed and change immediately into my suit so I could make it before she walks down the aisle. Approaching the church finally, running the last mile of the trip because of stupid traffic, I see the limo with the "Just Married" sign on it and the sound of church bells, signaling the near beginning of the ceremony. I stayed up late, scripting what I would say to her, what I would do when I arrived, but right now, staring at the doors, I can't think of a damn thing I meant to say.
Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I pull the doors open and adjust my eyes to the indoor light, frantically looking for Joey. My heart starts pounding when I see Joey with Bessie, arm in arm, walking down the aisle. They're only a third of the way down so I could still grab her, but I'm frozen for a moment in my place. Could I really do this? Could I really interrupt her, stop her from doing this when part of her really wants to marry this guy? Well I don't know that for sure but she's walking down the aisle! Contemplating my next move, whether or not I should do this, I get my answer when I see Joey meekly peer over her shoulder, looking for someone to come up behind and stop her.
"Wait, Joey," I stammer, finally getting my courage back. She doesn't hear me over the organ so I begin to walk toward her, stepping out of the protection of the balcony overhang and into the church, where everyone can see me get closer behind her, grabbing her elbow. "Joey," I say a bit louder, causing her to spin around.
I wish I could really describe what the look on her face was. Looking back, I think it was shock, surprise, horror.relief, as if part of her knew I would come for her.
"What are you doing here?" she asks nervously, smiling weakly at me.
"I need to talk to you," I say again, peering over her should to see Pacey take a deep breath and close his eyes in relief as well.
"Now?" she asks, again smiling at me, this time taking my hand. God it feels good to hold her hand again and she initiated it! I'm smiling back now.
"Yes," I say, grabbing her other hand, smiling like a damn fool and dragging her out of the church, ignoring the collective gasps and whisperings and taking her to the bridal suite, hearing her giggle and locking the door behind me. Turning, I see her standing on the opposite side of the room, flushed and looking at me, wondering what I'll say or do next. With the soft light through the windows she looks like an angel and so without another thoughts I pull her into a tight hug, feeling her gasp a bit but wrap her arms around me like she can't get enough of me.
Pulling back a bit, I chuckle and cup her face in my hands, taking a minute to get lost yet again in those eyes. Without yet another thought I pull her close to me, kissing her so hard it hurts. We fight one another at first, seeing which one can devour more of the other person. I want to kiss her neck so bad but I can't manage to tear my lips away, missing the feel of them against mine. Exercising some restraint, I pull away, looking at her slightly swollen lips and glassy eyes, remembering the last time she looked at me that way.
"I love you, after that kiss last night I spent the evening thinking about you and what I wanted," I say pulling her back for another kiss. "I'm so sorry I hurt you.you've never been a mistake to me.you're the only thing that matters," I say again between kisses. Part of me is terrified to let her go, afraid she'll leave and get married.
"Dawson." she starts, trying to get a word in.
"No listen," I say, still holding her face in my hands as her arms wrap around my waist. "I should have done this years ago when you first got married. I knew you wanted me to say this but I didn't and I have regretted that and that night at the Plaza ever since so don't interrupt me." She nods and waits for me to continue. "I love you Joey, please, please believe that. I can't live without you anymore. I won't let you do this and I won't let this slip away from us again. Marry me Joey, leave John and this church and come away with me and I promise I will spend every day making up for all the time we've lost. You told me to take action so that's what I'm doing. I won't leave here without you and our son Joey so we can do this the hard way or the fun way." Palpable tension fills the small room.
"I need you.please don't leave me," I say, tears starting in my eyes. She looks at me, slightly shocked by what I'm saying. The seconds in silence are torture, me waiting for her to say something, anything. With her heartbreaking smile, she takes my hands, holding them tightly.
"See all you had to do was say something.that's all I wanted you to do to show that you wanted me like I wanted you," she whispers, holding my hand tight and leaning in to rest her forehead against mine. I can't help but let a tear roll down my face, which she kisses away, running her fingers through my hair. At this moment, I feel like my life has started over yet again, but this time there won't be any more distractions.
"Joey are you okay, Joey open the door," John says through the door, trying to get it to open, throwing his body lightly against the door. The sound of his voice pulls us apart, now joined only by our hands. We look at each other and smile lightly, scanning the room for what we should do next.
"What do we do?" she asks, leaning in to wrap her arm around me. Looking over her shoulder I see the window and drop her hand to push it open lightly, noticing that a person could fit through there.
"We're leaving," I say, grabbing a chair to give us a boost.
"Dawson how? They'll rush us when we open the door," she whispers fiercely, trying to block out the nagging noises outside of the door.
"We're not using the door, we're going out the window," I say, turning to take her hand and help her out.
"You're crazy, we can't!" she squeals, pulling back for a minute.
"Yes we can.Joey don't think about this, don't analyze this, let's just go.now.together," I say with a smile, reaching again for her. She looks at me for a second, unsure, but then takes my hand and lets me help her out. Giggling like children, she drops easily out of the window, kicking off her high heels and peeling off her veil, waiting anxiously for me in the grass outside the church. Squeezing myself through the window, I stop and look at her, feeling like the luckiest guy in the world.
"Dawson come on," she urges, grabbing my arm, kissing me softly on the lips before dragging my over to the lot. "Where's you car?" she asks, frantically searching the lot.
"Ah I ran the last mile," I say sheepishly.
"You ran? Are you nuts?" she cries, looking at me in shock.
"I would have run the whole way to make sure I got to you in time," I say sincerely, watching her blush a bit before pulling her in for another kiss. At this moment I can't get enough of her.
"Joey, Joey stop," I hear someone call, pulling away to see John and part of the guests standing at the front door of the church, witnessing us together. Fearing he'll come and take her away, I grab her hand and realize I have car keys in my pocket, Pacey's keys, slipped there by him before he left for the wedding. I catch his eye momentarily and he smiles, wiping his brow and then motioning for us to go.now.
"Come on," I say giddily, dragging her to his car, getting her secured there and then jumping in the drivers seat, peeling out of the lot, leaving everyone behind us. I still remember that feeling, driving away from the church, holding her hand and letting the warm breeze hit my face. Of all those moments I remember from that day, the one I love the most is when I glance over, still holding her hand and seeing her smile at me, looking like the Joey I fell in love with when I was fifteen. Staring at one another for a minute though we smile and she leans in to kiss my cheek, slowing making her way to my mouth, god that was a great day.
One year later
It's funny that a few years ago I remarked how different my life was from what it used to be, how it was actually a 180-degree turn. I guess things are like that now.my life is completely different again and I have only one...actually two people to thank. I am back in California, living in Sausalito, but not in the house I was in before. With two other people living with me now I needed more space.kids have a lot of stuff! So now we're in a three-bedroom home, right on the beach, with miles of water and sand in front of us. It's a nice place and Joey did a great job redecorating. She even kept some of my stuff from my previous house, stuff that works with her things and the new items we've purchased together. She said my "bachelor, woodsy crap" had to go, but I didn't mind. Oh wait I'm jumping ahead again.
So yes Joey ran out on her 200 guest wedding with me, causing quite a stir, yet not really surprising some of the guests who knew about me and our history. John was upset, understandably, and after we spent the most amazing 24 hours together...ah.celebrating, she left to see him and straighten things out. I never thought she would return as quickly as she did, let alone with our son in her arms, grinning like a kid.
"Mitchell, I want you to meet someone very close to Mommy, this is Dawson, can you say hi baby?" she cooed, looking between the two of us. I froze again, but he reached for me immediately, crawling into my arms and clinging to me just like his mother did at times.
"Hi Dawson," he whispered, giggling and looking quickly at Joey.
"Hello Mitchell," I stammer, still trying to process this moment. With her famous half smile, Joey pushes us back into the hotel room we're staying in and we spent that whole day as a family, playing, talking and listening, mostly me listening to every sound my child made while Joey and Mitch told me stories about him as a baby, his favorite things, etc. No one has ever turned me upside down like Mitch did.well maybe with the exception of his mother.
That night when Mitch went to sleep, sleeping soundly on the king size bed, Joey and I sat up and talked about the future, what we wanted, where we were going to go.
"So we'll stay in Boston," I said, holding her tightly on my lap as she traced her fingernails up my bare arm.
"Why? Why don't we start over, just the three of us?" she asked, yawning a bit.
"Well your career is here Joey, I don't want to take you away from that," I say, kissing her head, suddenly aroused yet again by her touch and presence.
"Dawson I'm a writer, I can write from anywhere!" she laughs, turning to face me. "I don't want to stay in Boston.I want us to go somewhere together, buy a nice house and just be together. No more bad memories, no more memories of us apart."
"Well I do have a house in California.it'll be too small with the three of us, but we could buy a new one and live right on the water." I start feeling my daydream come to life again.
"I could write on the beach while you and Mitch play and we could go for long walks alone and wake up with the sound of the ocean," she says dreamily, almost as if we're having the same thought.
"We could get married on the beach, just the three of us and the priest." I saw dreamily, feeling her shift to rest her cheek against my chest, glancing over at our sleeping son.
"But what about you?" she asks, breaking the silence. "What about your career? What have you done for money the last few years?"
"I invested a lot of my 'Creek' money so I lived comfortably on the interest from that and I had some saved, but trust me Jo if you saw what I was accustomed to.it wasn't like I cared about money or used much of it," I laugh.
"I want us to be somewhere where we can be together but be successful too," she says, leaning in to kiss me softly. "I can write anywhere so you just name what you want to do and we'll go there." There's another moment of silence as I ponder this.
"I don't know what I want to do Jo, but I know that I want to spend as much time as I can with you and Mitch so let's go to California together and buy a new house and just focus on being a family," I whisper, kissing her again.
"Okay," she whispers, snuggling close to me again.
So we went back to California and bought a new house. I began writing again slowly, finding the most amazing inspiration with Joey and Mitch around. I shouldn't be totally surprised by this though because she always brought out the best in me. My favorite moments were us sitting together in the living room or on the beach while Mitch played in front of us, both of us furiously typing or writing and drawing next to one another. We would work for awhile and then she or I would tell the other to stop and sit in each other's arms or hold hands from our respective chairs while our son played and laughed. Sometimes while Joey would go into town for stuff I would just sit and play with Mitch, listening to his endless conversations and wisdom, even at almost five years old. I took him fishing and taught him how to partially drive a boat.we don't tell Joey about that though. After three months in California it happened.Mitch asked about his dad again and this time it happened while we were on the boat together, without Joey to help me out.
"Dawson do you know about my daddy?" he asked, catching my completely off guard.
"Ah well Mitch what did your mom tell you about him?" I ask, realizing Joey and I never discussed what or when we would tell Mitch about me.
"She said he had to go, but that he loved me very much and one day would come back for me," he said, not realizing the strings this little guy was pulling for me.
"He does.he loves you very much Mitch and he loves your mom too," I say, trying to hold myself together.
"If he loves me and Mommy so much, why isn't he here?" he asks, sitting closer to me.
"It's a long story kiddo but I know.he might be closer than you think," I say, stopping because I shouldn't do this without Joey with me.
"You love my mommy don't you?" he asked.
"Yes I do, I love your mother so much Mitch that it hurts," I whisper, sitting him on my lap.
"Do you love me?" he asked.
"Yes, I love you as much as I love you mother.and that's a lot," I say with a smile.
"Well if my daddy loved me and my mommy but couldn't be here then why don't you just be my dad," he asked, causing me to almost lose it.
"I think I can do that," I say, holding him close.
Joey could tell something was up when we got back and that night I told her what happened and not long after we told Mitch the truth, which he understood fairly well for a young child.
With that little bomb taken care of, we settled into a comfortable routine. Joey and I wrote, Mitch played and soon began school. Joey and I cooked together with Mitch sitting in the kitchen with us and we all went for a walk on our beach at night. Even now I can remember how it felt, walking in my bare feet against the cool sand, holding Joey's hand tightly in mine and watching as our son threw stones into the ocean and ran ahead of us, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. Just before we came back to the house though he would turn around and jump in Joey's or my arms and we would carry him home, still holding onto one another tightly. The vision of our child and my Joey against the settling California sun is another image burned into my retinas, but this one doesn't cause me the heartache that the other image I had burned in my head.
Not long after Mitch began school, I asked Joey to marry me. Well it wasn't the romantic proposal I initially thought of, but she didn't care. I ended up asking her one night while we were making dinner together and Mitch was coloring on the counter with a stool holding him up. I wanted to ask her for a while but I was nervous and wanted to ask Mitch for "permission" beforehand. But in the end I asked her while I was cooking noodles and she was cutting up green peppers. She was shocked but pleased, thinking I was initially crazy but soon realized I was dead serious when I produced a ring that I was carrying around constantly for the last week and a half. She started to cry and said yes immediately, pulling me in for a hug and deep kiss, causing Mitch to groan and interrupt the moment to show us his drawing.
So now here we are, we're all caught up. At this moment I'm standing on our beach, dressed in a linen shirt and pants with Joey in a white linen sundress, her hair curly and fastened with flowers. Mitch is there, serving as best man with Bessie as the matron of honor. I'm not really listening to the priest because I'm too busy recounting this story for you so you know how happy I am at this moment. You know now how we survived everything and what lead us here. Standing here, barefoot, with Joey holding my hand and our son and family behind us, I feel like everything we went through wasn't for nothing. I could still be married and unhappy with Sarah, living in LA or NYC without Joey, who might still be married to Christopher. I could be bitter and angry that we've lost so much time together and I missed the first few years of my child's life, but amazingly I'm not. I'm not angry or bitter because I have them here with me now and in a few moments, Joey will be my wife, finally after thirty-some years. I don't know if we'll have more children but I don't really worry about it. We have Mitch, who is a gift, and if he should get a brother or sister along the line, that's fine and if not, that's fine by me.
"Do you Dawson take Joey to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish until death do you part?" the priest asks, breaking me from my thoughts.
"I do," I say with a smile, feeling her hand squeeze mine a bit.
"Do you Joey take Dawson to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor and cherish until death do you part?" the priest asks her in return.
"I do," she says instantly, giggling as I rub her hand with my thumb.
"So by the power of god vested in me and by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife.you may kiss your bride," he says, noticing as I quickly pull her into my arms, hearing her laugh a bit before we kiss, feeling the entire world fade away. There's clapping and cheering behind us, causing her to blush when I deepen the kiss, but I don't care.
"Ah guys, maybe we should go back and get the reception started and you can join us whenever," Pacey laughs, leading the way back up to our house.
We stay there for a minute, Joey and I, kissing happily, still processing the fact that we're actually married. Mitch stays behind too, laughing and pulling on my pant leg, motioning for me to lift him up. With another quick kiss from my wife and our son in my arms, I put my arm around her and we begin our way back up to the house. Today, my second wedding day, was a great day and I was fortunate enough to have everyone I love there with me and now I have Joey and our son with me. Life really can't be much better.
THE END