Some Say This Can't Be Real.

-Lisa's POV-

I thought I had fallen asleep and dreamed about Zack proposing to me, but when I didn't hear an alarm of any kind and realized that I was already awake, my jaw dropped as tears stung at my eyes. “Zacky? Did you just...”

He smiled. “Yes, I did just ask that. Now will you answer me?” He chuckled.

“Yes I will. Zachary James Baker, I will marry you.” My smile had to be going from ear to ear as hot tears trailed down my cheeks.

He took my left hand and slid the white gold band around my finger. “Lisa, I love you so much, you have no idea.”

I let out a tearful chuckle. “I know you do, and I love you right back.”

Everything about the last hour I just wanted to replay over and over. My daughter being born, Zack asking me to marry him, the exact moment when I felt my life become absolutely perfect. My thoughts were interrupted by a ringing phone. Mine was turned off, so I knew it was Zack's. “It's Johnny. You want it?”

I grabbed the phone quickly and answered it. “Hey, bitch,” I said, still wearing a smile.

“Congratulations. Zacky made it in time?”

“Plenty of time to spare.”

“How are you doing?”

“Johnny, I couldn't be happier right now. Well, aside from the fact that I will be in the hospital for two more days or so, everything is just absolutely perfect.” I locked eyes with my now-fiance and grabbed his hand. In my mind I wanted to keep the proposal a secret until they had all returned, but my mouth just couldn't keep shut. “Your sister is exhausted, your niece is sound asleep, and your future brother-in-law is taking care of both of them.”

“That's good to kn-wait, what!?”

“Don't tell the others yet, but I just got engaged about twenty minutes ago.” My eyes remained glued to Zack's as he now wore an ear-to-ear grin.

“Congratulations again. Jesus.” Johnny laughed. “We're going to pack up and hit the road for the night. The guys send their congrats to you guys, and I won't tell them the rest of the news. You guys get some rest, I'll call you tomorrow.”

“Alright. I love you, Johnny.”

“Love you too, sis.”

Zack stayed around for a while, and was allowed to stay the night, but aside from the single hospital bed I had, there was just a tiny loveseat against the wall. It didn't look very comfortable, but both of us hadn't had a chance to really sleep anyways. Zack fell asleep almost instantly when he laid on the couch, and I had dozed off shortly after. It felt like five minutes had gone by before infant cries had woken us both up. It was then that I was glad Zack was too stubborn to go home because I tried to sit up to get out of bed and go to my daughter, but I had felt so much discomfort that I had fallen back into the pillows. “Relax, sweetheart. I got her,” Zack murmured sleepily as he picked up Lilliana.

“Bring her here. She's probably hungry.” I took her tiny body into my arms and adjusted accordingly so that she was able to get milk. “Thanks for being stubborn,” I said with a smile.

“I really wasn't about to leave you alone just a few hours after you gave birth.”

When she was done, Zack took her from me, resting her against his shoulder and softly patting her back until the small belch was heard. He shifted her to his other shoulder and gently rubbed her back, walking around the room until she had fallen back to sleep. When she was back in the bassinet, he sat in the chair next to my bed. “I guess we better get used to this, huh?” He chuckled.

“I guess so. Go lay back down and try to get some more sleep.”



As the next two weeks passed and everything settled down, the time was approaching for the guys to be returning from tour. I still hadn't told anybody about the engagement, and hadn't even been wearing the ring. We were going to surprise everybody at the welcome home party for the guys.

The morning they were returning, Valary had let us into their house along with Leana and Karlee to help set up for the party while she went to the airport with her sister, Lacey, and Amy. Everything was ready with about an hour to spare and I was in their spare bedroom feeding my daughter before changing into nicer clothes. I put the ring on and was adding a few finishing touches to my unruly hair when I heard the excited chatter of voices enter the house.

“They're here!” Zack called from outside the door, imitating an old popular horror film.

I picked up my cooing daughter and headed out of the room. It was in the hallway that I nearly ran into Matt who was bringing his bags to his bedroom. “Oh, my God!” he exclaimed in a whisper. I let out a laugh as I followed him and when he set his bags down, he turned with his usual dimpled smile. “She is too adorable. You and Zacky made a cute kid.” He proceeded to make baby talk at her for a moment before his eyes caught something else. I was already grinning before he said anything because I knew what he had seen, given how I was holding my daughter. “Seriously, if you weren't holding a two week old infant right now, I would probably have you in a huge congratulatory bear hug. That is a very nice rock you're wearing.” He smirked.

I smiled. “Zack asked me shortly after I gave birth."

“Well, I'll give him an extra strong bear hug then. Come on.”

Laughing, I followed him downstairs where he nearly tackled my fiance to the floor, wrapping him up in a hug while shouting at him. “Congratulations you little whore!” Instantly, everybody had forgotten I was holding a newborn baby and were staring at the two men in a tangled mess on the floor. A few moments later, Zack was up and at my side.

“I thought all the attention would be on Lisa and Lilliana right now, but since it's not, I'll just say it. Lisa and I are getting married.”

Smiling, I shifted Lilly in my arms and held up my left hand, showing the ring. The next hour almost was filled with all kinds of congratulatory messages for us on the baby and our engagement. As soon as I handed my daughter to Zack, Brian had appeared out of nowhere, quietly asking if we could go talk in private. I already knew what it was about when we headed upstairs to the spare bedroom.

“Congratulations again, for everything,” he said as he sat on the bed. I could hear the slight tone of jealousy in his voice. “Seems like you've gotten everything you wanted.”

“Brian, how many times are we going to go over this? You and I are both fully aware that if things back then happened differently I wouldn't have run away and we would be together now. Yes, I know that if the past was different, I would be wearing a ring you gave me, and Lilly would be your daughter, but you have to accept the reality of it. Things happened in the past and it did affect the future.” I felt horrible for being so blunt, but I knew I had to be. “You can't dwell on this. I've forgiven you for it, and now we're friends. I'm back in Huntington Beach for good and I don't see any reasons for me to run away again. Plus, you have Michelle now. Doesn't she make you happy?”

“She does, believe me, I love her to death, but what you and I could've had will always linger in my mind.”

I gave Brian a warm smile. “It will stay in mine too, but we both know where our futures are going. They're going forward as friends. I'm going to marry Zacky, and I'm sure you're going to marry Michelle one day, but that doesn't mean we can't stay friends. It's not like we're never going to see each other again. You're in a band with my brother, my fiance, and some of my closest friends. Brian, I'm begging you to please just try and shut this away so we don't have to have these talks anymore. Can you do that?”

Brian's response was to pull me into a tight hug. “I'll try.”

“Good. Now we're missing the damn party. I need to go make sure that my baby is getting enough attention.” I laughed.

“You and Zacky made a hell of a cute kid.”

I laughed. “Matt said the same thing.”

Back downstairs, my daughter was getting more than enough attention. I grabbed her from Zack then went to find Arin and talk to him about the tour. Everything I had seen and heard had been positive, but I wanted to hear his experiences. He gushed for almost an hour about how much fun he had with the guys and playing the shows. He went on about how fans had given him a positive reception, and some of the ones that he had gotten to talk with had told him how he sounded just like Jimmy. I couldn't be happier for Arin at the moment. I gave him a huge hug before turning our attention back to the others when Matt had spoken up.

“Okay so obviously we're touring with the album still. We're doing Uproar this year and more shows to run into the end of the year before we plan on putting this album to rest. Lisa, it's up to you. We'd like you to drum for us, but obviously, you have a newborn daughter, so we understand if you don't want to. And if not now, how about the future for our next album?”

“You know I'd love to drum for you guys. Honestly that would probably be one of the most surreal things to ever happen in my life, but I'm sorry. I don't want to ditch my girls-”

“Damnit Lisa!” Karlee piped up. “Are you actually going to turn this down!? It's Avenged Fucking Sevenfold!”

“Language!” Zack called out. “Children present!”

I laughed. “I'm not ditching you guys, and honestly-” I paused to turn my attention back to the guys. “Arin would be much better suited for the band. Take him.”

“Seriously?” Arin and Matt asked in unison.

“Yes. Take him. I'm gonna stay with my girls and we'll open for you if you want.”

Matt nodded in approval and turned his attention to Arin. “Well, you heard her. Now what about you? We'd love to have you with us if you want it.”

“Yes!” Arin jumped up. “I mean I know I wouldn't replace Jimmy, but I'll do the best that I can.”

“Kid, you have more talent than you give yourself credit for,” Johnny said. “We all had so much fun on this tour with you around, and for once, nobody's picking on me anymore.”

The group laughed before Arin spoke back up. “Okay okay. Stop embarrassing me. I said I'm in.”

While all the attention was on Arin, I snuck out with my daughter to my car and made the short drive to the cemetery. I held Lilly as I sat down in front of the familiar grey stone.

“Jimmy, if you were here right now, life would be perfect. I have a healthy baby girl, Zacky and I are getting married. Damn, my life is so great right now that I almost said that this can't be real. It is though.” I smiled, holding my daughter close to me.

“Sneaking out of the party?” I heard Zack's voice behind me, and before I could turn around, he was sitting next to me wrapping his arm around my waist.

“Sometimes I feel like this can't be real. How happy I am about life. Obviously it would be more perfect if Jimmy was still here.”

“We think about him everyday. He'd be ecstatic right now.”

I leaned against my fiance, resting my head on his shoulder. “I love you so much.”

His lips pressed against my temple. “Baby, I love you too. You and Lilly. You have no idea how excited I am for our future.”

I smiled as I thought about it. Us getting married and growing old together. Growing old with our friends. Aside from wanting Jimmy here, I couldn't wish for anything better, and I don't think it'll ever feel real.