All Your Life

Marleigh

"What's wrong with my girl? Is she hungry?" I cooed as Evie continued to fuss on our way into the kitchen. I grabbed one of her bottles and headed outside to the back deck to give Ry and Milan a minute to talk.

"You're my little trooper, huh?" I chuckled as Evie took the bottle without a fuss. Milan had a hell of a time trying to get Val to bottle feed, he took it pretty personally - like his baby girl didn't want him feeding her - but Evie has been a champ.

"How are my two favorite girls doing?" A familiar voice called and I turned to see Brad run over to our table, leaning in and kissing my cheek before swiping our baby out of my arms and flopping out in the chair beside me, "I've missed you two today."

"We've missed you too." I couldn't help but smile as I watched Brad making faces at Evie as she ignored him and enjoyed her bottle, "Brad, you're happy with this, right?"

Marshy looked up at me surprised, most likely at me calling him Brad, "With what? The wedding?" He asked and I frowned a little, nodding, "No, I'm not happy about marrying the love of my life and the mother of my daughter. Of course I am, you psycho." He laughed, beaming at me as he shook his head.

"So you're not going to leave me at the alter?" I asked and his smile faded away.

"Why the hell would I do something like that?" He asked as I glanced out over the river.

"I've done a lot of horrible things in my life, Marshy, you know that. Karma hasn't finished getting me back for a lot of them...like stopping my older brother's wedding."

"You stopped your brother from making the biggest mistake of his life. That's not a bad thing, Mar. Everyone involved is better off because of it, Britt is seeing somebody new, her and Milan are on good terms for Val's sake, Rylan and Milan will inevitably get back together and Val will have eventually two sets of parents that adore her. None of those are bad things." He smirked, assuring me in his know it all tone.

"And let me tell you something else, nothing short of an apocalyptic natural disaster will keep me from being there waiting for you at the alter on Saturday, you understand me, Lucic?"

"I love you, Marshy." I chuckled and he smiled back.

"I love you too, Mar." He settled back into his chair and glanced down at Evie still drinking her bottle quietly in his arms, "And I love you, monkey."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, making her kick her little feet in excitement and set us both of laughing.

"She's definitely your kid." I chuckled and he beamed proudly.

"The way she has me wrapped around her finger, she's definitely yours."

"Marliegh!" Milan yelled, storming outside and making me sigh as I turned to face him, I was just starting to fucking relax, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What are you going on about now?"

"Go for it you said! She's single you said! She's in a fucking relationship!" He yelled at me.

"Don't swear in front of Evie!" I yelled back, glaring at him, "Calm down and talk to me like an adult or come back when you can."

"Calm down? I just made an ass of myself in front of Rylan again! Why didn't you tell me she was seeing someone!"

"Because she's not." I shook my head, but that only made Milan angrier.

"She just told me she is! Why would I lie to you about that?" He insisted and my jaw dropped realizing he wasn't lying.

"Why would she lie to me?" I demanded and he shrugged, obviously fluster by the entire situation.

"I'll go talk to her." Brad offered, sitting up and handing me Evie.

"What makes you think she'll tell you anything different?" Milan demanded and Brad smirked.

"My last name isn't Lucic."

Brad

I walked into the living room where Rylan was sitting with her head in her hands and I frowned.

"Ry?" I asked and her head snapped up, sitting up straight as she wiped her eyes trying to hide her tears, "Ry what's wrong?" I asked, dropping down onto the couch beside her and pulling her into a hug.

"Why do I ruin everything?" She sniffled, pulling away to get an answer.

"Is is about Milan?" I asked and she frowned, nodding as she sniffled again.

"Tell me what happened." I asked and she sighed, nodding.

"We were talking about what happened last summer and he tried to kiss me. I panicked and told him I was seeing someone, but-"

"You're not?" I offered, finishing her sentence and she sniffled, nodding, "Milan hurt you, pretty fucking bad, and you're just trying to protect yourself from letting him do it again. Even though we all know he'd never make that mistake twice. He's learned his lesson, Ry, he knows what it's like to live without you and that's not something he wants to do ever again."

"I know that...but it still doesn't change what happened, Marshy. Part of me says I can't live without him and the other half screams at me to stop being an idiot, he shattered my heart once, he could do it again as he pleases and like an idiot, I'd go running back for more every time."

"What half are you going to listen to, the one that wants you to try and be happy or the one that wants you to die a crazy cat lady."

"I don't like cats." She crinkled her nose at the thought and I chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Then I think you know what you have to do."

Milan

I dropped Val off with my mom for the night in hopes of using it to prove to Ry that I'm serious about getting her back. I just needed to run back to Baker House to grab my wallet and...that's odd.

The white picket fence around the yard was covered in white Christmas lights, glowing dimly in the barely dark night, that hadn't been there this morning. I pushed through the gate and up to the front door, swinging it open to see it mostly dark inside.

"Rylan?" I called, thinking she might be upstairs.

"In here!" She answered back from the kitchen and I followed her voice, surprised to find her in the dining room we've never used. Dinner was already laid out on the set table, a bottle of wine was sitting between two glasses and Rylan was walking towards me, looking more gorgeous than usual.

"Hey." She smiled, wrapping me in a hug and I smiled into the crook of her neck as I held her tight and buried my face there for a moment, enjoying the mix of her perfume and the smell of her shampoo. It's the little things like that you miss the most.

"We need to talk." Ry frowned as she pulled away and I nodded, "I lied earlier, I'm not in a relationship, I was just...scared."

"Ry, I don't blame you for not wanting to trust me. Just give me a chance to prove myself."

"Truth be told, I think we both need to prove ourselves." Ry smiled reassuringly at me and I smiled back.

"And how exactly should we both go about doing that?"

"By going back to square one." She beamed, holding out her hand for me, "Hi, I'm Rylan Carter."

I chuckled, smiling as I shook her hand, "Milan Lucic."

"I think I know your little sister!" She exclaimed and I burst out laughing, nodding.

"I think you might."