SARAH

LESS IS MORE,” Cass said as she took my eyeliner from my hand.

“I’m not ready to do this.” I chewed on my lip as I inspected my face in the mirror.

“You were born ready. E will be right with you the whole time.”

I smoothed my hands down over my gray dress, which stopped midthigh. I watched her eyes dance over the bandage on my arm.

“I guess I need to take this off, huh?” I asked, and she nodded. I slowly pulled back the medical tape from the bandage that covered my forearm.

“That looks amazing,” Cass said, looking over the sparrows that now covered my ROCK TATTOO.

“Thank you.” I rubbed my fingers over the raised lines from the fresh ink. One bird for E and one for me. It was us finally breaking free from the cages of our pasts. I smiled as I thought about how far we had come in the last few months.

I didn’t know where we would be tomorrow, but we just focused on the here and now, and slowly we grew stronger.

“You ready?” Cass asked as she cocked her head to the side as her hand absentmindedly rubbed over her growing belly.

I placed my hand over her stomach and smiled at her proudly. “Aunt Sarah is going to make you proud, little rock star.”

She smiled back at me, her face glowing. I walked down the hall toward E and the guys, and Cass followed me. As we walked into the room, I felt that I was home.

I knew I would always have my mother and sister, but my family had grown; it just took me a while to realize it.

“Don’t even say it, Tucker.” Cass waved her hand as she walked over to him and sat on his lap. He grunted as if she weighed a ton and she smacked him playfully on the chest. “I’m going out there to see your first concert of the tour. Sarah needs me.”

His hand covered her belly as he gave her a kiss on the nose. “It’s too loud.”

She rolled her eyes as I walked over to E and slid against his side, his arms wrapping around me as he laughed at Tucker.

“This is the end of rock and roll,” Terry grumbled as he shook his head. “Next he will have us playing lullabies.”

“You won’t be playing at all if I find out you are still texting my little sister.” I narrowed my eyes at Terry and he barked out a laugh.

“Showtime, guys. Let’s make history,” Dave, the new manager, called over the laughter as he pulled open the door to the room. We all stood and filed out of the cramped space toward the stage.

The excitement was palpable, and as scary as it was, we couldn’t wait to see what the future held for all of us.

The twins, Tucker, and Cass all lined up beside the stage, hidden behind the curtain as E and I made our way out in front of the crowd. I looked over at him, butterflies taking flight in my belly as my fingers wrapped around the microphone. He winked and mouthed, I love you, as he began to strum his guitar. The opening notes to the first song we had written together filled the arena.

As soon as I began to sing, the fear left me and all I could feel was the love of the man who sat to my left. Each song blended into the next until it was over, and the crowd cheered for us as E pulled me against his chest and kissed me proudly. I had tears in my eyes as I took the guitar from him and left the stage.

Damaged took the stage as E made himself at home behind his drums. Cass and I watched proudly as they played to cheers and screams from all of their devoted fans. We had been through a lot as a group, and this moment made it all worth it. The struggle and the fighting to overcome our demons all washed away as the world accepted us for who we were.

As the band played their final song, Cass began to cry as the crowd sang along to the words she had written. I looped my arm over her shoulders and we gently swayed along as Tucker sang, a proud smile on his face as he looked over at his pregnant wife.

“Thank you all so much for coming out and supporting us. It has been a long road to get here, but we are excited to continue down it and see where it leads.” The room went wild with support, and Tucker waited for the noise to die down before he continued. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to play one more song for you.”

The twins began to play, and now it was my turn to cry as “Free Bird” filled the air. Tucker smiled as he motioned with his hand for us to join him onstage. I gripped Cass’s hand in mine tightly as we walked onstage. Tucker took a step back from the mic as he wrapped his arm around his wife and pressed a kiss to her temple. I stared out at the sea of people, all supportive and cheering me on as I started to sing with tears streaming down my face.

Everyone sang along with me—the crowd, the band. My voice grew from shaky to confident as I gave everything I had to give to them. I glanced over my shoulder at E, who smiled as he sang along, knowing what the song meant to me. I fell impossibly deeper in love with him in that moment.

I poured my soul into every word as I let that part of my life go, accepting the unknown and ready to take on whatever life held for me with E by my side. I was finally free as a bird.