Nodding her head she said, “Alright Ashlynn, push on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

I watched as Ashlynn’s face turned bright red and with four pushes I heard our daughter crying and the doctor saying, “We have a baby girl!”

As much as I wanted to look over at our daughter I couldn’t remove my eyes from Ashlynn. I was just so damn proud of her. She was breathing heavily and I quickly wiped the tears away from her face and the sweat from her forehead. Leaning down I kissed her and said, “I love you Ashlynn.”

Opening her eyes she said, “I love you too Jason.”

A nurse walked over, handing our little girl to Ashlynn and a few minutes later she handed our little boy to me. I couldn’t believe they were finally here and then realized Jade was still in the room. Lifting my head, I saw my sister crying with a huge smile on her face looking between the two of us.

Walking over to her with Bennett in my arms she looked down at him and cried even more. Lifting her hand to his face she leaned in and kissed him. She then looked up at me and said, “I’m so happy for you two.” With an arm still holding Bennett I lifted my other over Jade’s arm and pulled her into a hug. I don’t think my sister will ever have a clue just how much I love her and what lengths I would go to protect her.

Looking back over at Ashlynn I noticed she had tears in her eyes and was smiling at the both of us.

Walking over with Bennett in my arms I sat down on the hospital bed and kissed Ashlynn. When, “I love you Ashlynn,” left my mouth I turned my head down and looked at baby Jaylin. Jade sat down on the other side of me and just looked in awe at both of mine and Ashlynn’s children.

I was still numb from the experience that I almost didn’t hear the nurse ask, “So what are these little one’s names?”

I looked over at Ashlynn and nudged my head for her to tell the nurse. Smiling at me she looked down at our daughter and said, “Jaylin Annabelle Williams.”

As I kissed her on the forehead she turned to our son and said, “Bennett Lee Williams.”

Once the nurse got our information and left we heard Sarah say, “I don’t hear screaming anymore.”

That’s when Jade looked at us in question and at the same time we both said, “Go get them.” Smiling she jumped off the bed and ran out the door.

Seconds later everyone came walking in with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes.

Choking up I said, “Ashlynn and I would like to introduce you to our daughter, Jaylin Annabelle Williams, and our son, Bennett Lee Williams.” For about a half hour we passed our children around to everyone and explained how we came up with the names.

Gabe had Sarah wrapped up in arms, Maddox was holding Isabelle’s hand and then I noticed Neil smiling at Jade while she held Bennett in her arms. Ashlynn must have noticed because she wrapped her hand in mine and mouthed, “Not now.” Shaking my head I then saw Derrick kiss Patrick on the cheek and my mouth dropped open. What the fuck was going on?

Everybody must have noticed my mouth drop because the room went quiet except for the little noises coming from our children. That’s when Derrick looked over at me and then to Ash and started laughing. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees and laughed, “You never told him, did you?”

What the fuck was he talking about?

I looked around at everyone in the room and they had these faces like they were trying not to laugh and then I made my way over to Ash and she was biting her lip.

Sitting down on the bed I said, “You want to explain something to me?”

Clearing her throat she pointed to Derrick and said, “We kind of fake dated. Derrick’s gay and he was dealing with some problems and I kind of vented about how I wanted to make you jealous …”

With wide eyes I said, “Go on.”

Gulping she said, “So we fake dated. Derrick wasn’t dealing with bullies questioning his sexuality anymore and um, well you know the rest.” She bent her head out of shame and I just started laughing.

Placing a hand to the bottom of her chin I lifted it up so she would look in my eyes. Smiling I said, “You better start picking out another name for a little one because the second you’re better I’m getting you pregnant again.” After I kissed her on the lips I got up and walked over to Derrick. Placing a hand out in front of him I said, “I’m sorry for acting like such a prick towards you.”

He looked down at my hand then pulled me into a hug and said, “All’s good man. I knew you had it bad for my girl over there.”

After I walked back over to Ashlynn’s side I couldn’t help but look over at Derrick and Patrick and smile. I kind of felt like an idiot because anyone could see just how much they loved each other. I was too blindsided by the “dating” aspect that I didn’t see the real picture right in front of me.

Once everyone got to hold both babies they gave us each a hug and kiss and left to go home. Sitting there holding Jaylin while Ashlynn held Bennett I pulled out my cell phone and made a quick call. I knew it was late but I wanted to give them the good news. I few rings in I heard, “H – Hello?”

Through a smile I said, “Hey Grandpa,” and then I heard the phone drop.

Pulling away from me I put it on speaker and heard, “What did you say Jason?”

“I said, ‘Hey grandpa’.”

“You guys had the babies already?”

Looking over to Ash she cried and said, “You are the grandpa to Jaylin Annabelle and Bennett Lee Williams.” I then heard Garrett choke and begin to cry. Ash told him all about the delivery and said that I was amazing throughout the whole process. I looked over to her and half smiled and teared up. If I was amazing then Ashlynn was fucking fantastic, amazing, phenomenal.

Getting off the phone I said, “Night grandpa,” and through laughter Garrett said, “Night mom and dad.”

Shutting the phone off and placing it in my pocket I looked down at Bennett and Jaylin.

We sat there for a few minutes in silence kissing and hugging our son and daughter but then Ashlynn jumped and said, “Oh my god.”

I didn’t want to take my eyes away from my daughter but I did and looked over at her beautiful mother. She was looking at me and then just started to cry. Lifting a hand to wipe away the tears I asked, “What’s the matter Ashlynn?”

Wiping away her tears with one hand with Bennett in the other she swallowed and said, “Jaylin and Bennett were born on March 12th.”

Nodding my head I said, “Um yeah and your point is?”

Ash just laughed and said, “Don’t you see?”

Shaking my head back and forth I said, “Apparently not. What’s the significance of March 12th?”

Choking through her words Ashlynn said, “The number 312. Jason, 312 was the number of mine and Jade’s room freshman year of college. It was the hospital room number where your father passed away and it was the day my mom was born.”

Taking my eyes away from Ash I looked between our daughter Jaylin and our son Bennett and just cried. Looking over at Ash I said, “If I didn’t think miracles existed before this I definitely know they do now.”

Smiling at me she said, “I knew miracles existed the second I met you.”

Closing my eyes I felt tears streaming down my face and opening them Ash was smiling at me. Taking a hold of my hand she asked, “Why are you crying Jason?”

Shaking my head back forth I said, “I just believe that a mess like me ended up with a life that’s so beautiful.”

Taking my hand to her lips and kissing it she said, “Well believe it.”

Epilogue — 2 months later

Jason

Today has finally arrived because today Sarah, Gabe, Isabelle, Maddox, Jade, Derrick, Ashlynn, and I were graduating from college. Garrett and Janie met us at the stadium where they held Jaylin and Bennett as their mom and dad walked across the stage and got their diploma. I just could not believe the whirlwind roller coaster Ashlynn and I had been on this past year and how far we’ve come.

Sitting in the back of the student class with Jade by my side I had a perfect view of Ashlynn as she sat and waited for her name to be called. One by one we were each called up to receive our diplomas. Derrick with a major in Education, Isabelle majoring in Journalism, Gabe with a major in Mathematics, Sarah receiving a Nursing major, Maddox with a double major in Business and Marketing, Jade with a double major in Chemistry and Biology, yeah I know my sister is fucking smart, and finally myself with a major in Biochemical Engineering.

Once we received our diplomas and threw our caps in the air I ran over to Ashlynn. Wrapping her arms around me as I picked her up by the waist our lips met. I could never get enough of having her lips on mine. She started to swipe along my bottom lip and I could not help growling.

Smiling against my mouth she said, “I love you Jason.”

Placing her back down on the ground I said, “I love you Ashlynn.”

Releasing her arms from around my neck she took my hand in hers and we started to search out Garrett and Janie because we just could not wait to see Jaylin and Bennett. That last two months of school were pretty difficult on the both of us. We barely got any sleep as we took care of our children yet somehow we graduated with High Honors.

How we did that I will never know.

We spotted Garrett and Janie and were on our way over when I saw Jade wrap her arms around Neil and he kissed her on the neck. I instantly fumed and started walk over in that direction but Ashlynn pulled me along with her and said, “Leave them be Jason. Your sister looks happy.” I was glad my sister was happy but Neil made me a promise and he broke it. Big fucking mistake on his part because I would be watching him.

Reaching Garrett and Janie I grabbed Jay while Ash grabbed Bennett. Kissing each of our kids on the foreheads Garrett and Janie then gave us a hug and kiss each and said, “Congratulations you guys.”

Ash then handed Bennett over to me and wrapped her arms around her dad. He kissed her on the cheek and hugged her while he said, “I’m so proud of you baby.”

Through tears she said, “I love you so much dad.” Letting go of Ash he then walked up to me.

I handed Jay and Ben to Ash and then Garrett hugged me and said, “I’m so proud of you son.”

Through tears I wrapped my arms around his middle and said, “Thanks so much, for everything.”

Leaning away from me he smiled and patted me on the back. Taking Bennett I handed him to Janie and said, “Ash, do you mind giving Jay to your dad?”

With this weird look on her face she nodded and said, “Okay.” Handing Jay to her dad she then turned around to see me on my knee in front of her holding out a ring.

Opening the ring I said, “I told you someday that I would tell you the conversation your dad and I had the first time we talked on the phone the night before Sarah and Gabe’s wedding.”

Looking at Garrett who had tears in his eyes I smiled and then looked back at Ashlynn. “Well, I asked him for his permission to marry you. I fought my feelings for you so much over the years because I didn’t want to drag you into my mess. I didn’t want to damage your beauty, but I broke the rules and I fell in love with you Ashlynn Miller.”

Opening the ring box I said, “Will you marry me?”

Falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around me she said, “Yes Jason! Yes!”

I wrapped my arms around her and just held on for dear life. I was never going to let this girl go. Standing up I placed the ring on her finger and kissed her. I heard cheers from our friends and even people we didn’t know.

Looking down at the ring she said, “I cannot believe this.”

Rubbing my thumb across her cheek I said, “Believe it.”

After getting congratulations from everybody Garrett and Janie handed us back our kids. I had an arm wrapped around Ash as I looked down at her and she looked up at me and then we saw a flash go off. We looked over and saw Jade had taken a picture of us. Wiping her eyes she said, “You guys just looked so beautiful.”

Smiling I looked back at Ashlynn, Jaylin, and Bennett. For the life of me I couldn’t get the huge smile off my face because I never thought I would be here. I never thought on the drive up to school my freshman year of college that my life would change so drastically. I never thought I would meet a girl who would completely change my world and make me question everything. I never thought in a million years I would ever find it in my heart to forgive my dad or fall in love with my best friend. I never thought I could have what I have right now: my soon to be wife, our son Bennett and our daughter Jaylin … a family.