Chapter Fifty-Eight

Ifinish the last few lines of my song, smiling. I walk towards Archer, slipping my glittery white pick into my pocket before taking his hand for the final bow for the final night of the tour. The lights in the stadium go down, and we're slowly lowered below the stage.

"We have to go!" he shouts, taking off and pulling me behind him.

"Archer, what's going on?" I ask.

"Trust me," he responds, as he picks up the pace.

He pulls me into my dressing room and closes the door behind me. "Here," he says as he tosses a bag towards me. "Change. We have to be out of here in a few minutes. I'll be just outside the door."

He exits the room and leaves me standing there, completely dumbfounded. I look into the bag. He grabbed an outfit for me that I've never seen before. It must be new.

I quickly change out of my costume and put on the clothes he gave me. Comfy but cute. I take a quick peek in the mirror, straighten out my hair a bit, and then turn towards the door.

"Let's go," Archer says before I can fully open the door, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room.

He pulls me into his car, closes my door, and hops in the driver's seat. Within seconds, the car is running and we're on the road.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking out the window trying to figure out which way we're headed.

"Just trust me," he says again.

"I do trust you. With everything," I respond, laying my head back on the seat as he wraps his free hand around mine.

"The beach?" I question when Archer parks the car. Before he can even answer though, he's out of his seat and running to my side, opening the door for you.

"Milady," he says as he holds his hand out to me. I put mine in his and let him guide me out of the car.

"Why are we at the beach?" I ask again.

"We're all about those full circle moments, right?"

I give him a sideways look, trying to figure out what he's up to. He guides me to a blanket that's set up in the sand. An assortment of food is in front of us, just like our first date. The only difference is the screen set up a few feet in front of the blanket with a projector laid out in front of it.

"Here, sit," Archer says as he positions himself on the blanket. He guides me down so that I'm against his side.

"Archer, this is lovely, but what's going on?"

He turns towards me. "Remember when I first told you about my mom and what happened?"

I nod.

"Remember when I said she would've loved you if she had the chance to meet you?"

"Yes, and I said I think I would've loved her too." I raise my eyebrows at him, curious where he's going with this.

"Do you remember what her job was?"

I nod again. "A nurse."

"And how I said her face would light up when she talked about her patients?"

"Yes."

"Well, she loved telling us all about the patients that she met. But she would always go back to telling us about this one particular patient. I secretly always thought she was her favorite, but she would never say it out loud. I remember almost every detail from that story, she told us it so often. Except one."

He digs in his pocket and pulls out what looks like a scrap of newspaper.

"You see, she helped deliver this baby. The parents were traveling. They thought they still had some time left, but the mom went into labor early. My mom said that the mother looked so scared. It was her first child, and she was afraid she had done something wrong."

I listen intently, completely confused at why he's telling me this. He starts unfolding the piece of paper.

"Apparently, this was their miracle baby. They had tried for years to have a child but kept having no luck. They had given up. One day, the mom was feeling strange so she took a test and sure enough, she was pregnant. She had said it was the greatest blessing she had ever been given."

I look up at Archer. He smiles down at me, then continues his story.

"My mom had recently had me, so she comforted the mother as much as she could. Telling her stories of me and what it was like to be a mom. Apparently, they really bonded. My mom helped deliver her beautiful baby girl. That's how my mom always described her. The mother was so grateful for everything that my mom did, that she decided to name the baby's middle name after her. My mom thought it was crazy and tried to talk her out of it, but this mother was very insistent. Kind of like someone else I know."

He taps my chin and smiles. My eyes start to fill with tears.

"You never told me your mom's name," I whisper.

"Her name was Dorothy, after my great-grandmother."

"Archer," I barely squeak out.

He finishes unfolding the paper in his hand.

"At the time, my parents lived in a really small town. Like crazy small. Anything that happened in the town was considered news and it would print in the paper the next day. A couple coming from out of town and having a miracle baby was the biggest news they'd had in awhile. Well, something was nagging in the back of my mind recently and I couldn't shake it. So I went through some of mom's old boxes and found this." He hands the piece of paper to me. I scan the title.

Baby Girl Makes a Quick Appearance

I look up at Archer then back down to the paper to read the article.

Alison Dorothea Quick has made an unexpected appearance into the world yesterday, December 13 at 6:28 pm.

The rest of the words become blurry from the tears that are now streaming down my face.

"I met your mom," my voice cracks as I hold the paper out to him in my hand.

"And she loved you," Archer responds, kissing my cheek. "Just like I knew she would. She always called you her little miracle baby. Just like you're my miracle."

At that, the floodgates completely open.

"How's that for an invisible string?" Archer smiles. "It's like all along, even from the beginning, this string was tying you to me."

"Archer, I don't even know what to say," I look up at him and am hit with this burst of happiness. It's so strong it hurts, but in the best way. I don't know how I could be so lucky to have this.

"Just say yes," Archer answers before he turns me towards the screen in front of the blanket.

"What?" I ask, looking at him. He hooks his finger under my chin and turns my face towards the screen.

Juliet's face lights up the screen.

"Hey, Alison! It's me. The member of the Stiles family that you probably love the most." I laugh. "I just wanted to take a few seconds to tell you just how thankful I am that you decided to love my dorky older brother. I'm not sure why or how, but you do. And because of that, I've never seen him happier. He drives me crazy a little less now because of that. So thank you. Also, sorry that you have to deal with him, but remember you picked that. I had no choice." She sticks her tongue out at the screen. I turn my head towards Archer and smile.

The screen goes black for a second and then his dad's face is smiling at us.

"Hi, Alison. I don't know if I'll ever be able to express the gratitude that I feel towards you. You've brought me the happiest version of my son. You've helped him become the best version of him. The version that I've seen all along, but he forgot somewhere along the way. You've also brought so much joy into my daughter Juliet's life. And if I'm not mistaken, my late wife's life as well. Thank you for what you've done for us. I'll never be able to repay you."

The screen goes black again. This time, Willow appears.

"Hey, Ali. We've known each other forever. You're my best friend. My sister. I've loved you through everything and you've loved me through just as much. I've seen the highs and the lows. Everything. And I've never seen you this happy until now. I'm so glad that you've finally found someone that completes you. That understands you. It was getting kind of tiring being the only one that understood your craziness." She laughs. "But seriously. The fact that I got to see you through everything and now I get to see you live out your love story is the greatest gift. Love you, Sis."

"Love you, too," I mouth towards the screen.

The screen goes black again. Stephen's face takes over. This one surprises me.

"Alison, I just wanted to discuss your schedule for next week . . . just kidding. I'm pretty sure there's another guy you'd rather hear from right now."

I giggle and roll my eyes as the screen goes black one more time and then the face I love is there.

"Hey, Popstar. I don't know how to put any of this into words, but I'm going to try." He pauses for a second. "Before I met you, I was only part of a person. I didn't realize it though. I was living life day to day and I thought I was fine. I thought I was whole. But I wasn't. Once you came into my life, I realized there was a big part of me that was missing. Broken since my mom's passing. Somehow, you managed to put that back together one piece at a time. You took my broken shell and made me whole. I'll never be able to repay you for that, but if you'd let me, I'd like to try one day at a time."

I turn towards Archer. He stands up and drops to one knee. My jaw falls open. He pulls a small velvet box from his pocket and gently opens it.

"Alison," his voice comes out strong and sure. "Will you do me the honor of letting me try to pay you back for everything you've done? One day at a time for the rest of our lives? Will you marry me?"

I get up on my knees. "Yes, 100%, yes," I say as I rest my forehead against his. He pulls the gorgeous, glittering ring out of the box and slides it onto my finger. I take a second to admire it, before he hooks his finger under my chin and pulls both of us up to standing. He brings me to him and kisses me. He kisses me like he's never kissed me before. One that makes every part of me tingle. From my lips down to my toes.

"I love you," Archer says as he breaks our kiss.

"I love you, too," I answer. "I'm on your team. Always."

Archer pulls my lips to his.