Sand In My Boots - Morgan Wallen Story

Chapter 26

A couple of weeks had passed since the airport incident. Katie had taken down her post a mere 15 minutes after Morgan and I had left her boyfriend's place. A few news outlets had still made articles on the subject and shared some of the pictures but all of them had had the common sense of blurring Ellie's face, which, honestly, was all I had wanted in the first place. Indie had spent two of the last four weeks with us, which had given us time to bond as a family. Both kids were excited to know that they would become older siblings and were already trying to get as involved as possible in their new roles.

Morgan and I were in escrow on a gorgeous 5 bedroom single family home on Acklen Avenue in Nashville. The house was modern, somewhat like the one he already had (which was now for sale), but still felt like a home that you could comfortably raise children in, with a nice yard and a park right around the corner. Ellie, Indie and the new baby would all get their own room which they were very excited about.

Morgan had been booked to play tonight at this local festival in Nashville. After over a month of being home and not getting to perform for anyone other than the kids and I, it was safe to say he was very excited to be playing in front of a crowd again. Ellie and I would be coming out to see him and it was going to be her very first concert. Katie and her boyfriend Luke had also asked Morgan for tickets so that they could bring Indie along, which I have to admit I was far from stoked about.

"Your mom's coming with us," I told Morgan. "We don't need to have her and her boyfriend hanging around, we can bring Indie by ourselves."

"I know, baby," he said, taking my hands into his. "And I totally understand why you don't want to see her, but it's her week with him. I already offered that we take him but she doesn't want to. I don't want to penalize my son over his mom's behavior. It would be shitty to make him miss out on something just 'cause we don't want her around. Don't you think?" He asked softly, looking into my eyes.

"You're right," I admitted.

"Imagine if my next baby mama don't like you, I can't penalize the baby for that!"

"Boy, I swear to God, if you-"

"I'm kidding," he laughed.

"Not funny," I snapped, giving him side eye.

"You're stuck with me," he said, pulling me into his chest and kissing the top of my head. "After all I've had to go through to get you to actually go out with me, there's no way I'm letting you go."

I secretly smiled against his shirt. I had to admit I don't think I had ever loved anyone the way I loved him. I had never been able to trust Josh, and with good reason. But, even though it had taken time for me to be able to fully trust Morgan, I could now confidently say that I couldn't imagine my life without him, nor did I want to.

We got to the venue a couple of hours before the show. People didn't only recognize Morgan; they were starting to recognize me too. I knew this would happen sooner or later; the amount of instagram followers I had had increased insanely since we had started dating publicly, but I still wasn't sure how to feel about it. People recognized Katie too, which I guess felt kind of bittersweet. I knew no matter what I did, she'd always be the mother of his eldest kid and I would have to figure out a way to put my personal feelings aside. But seeing how comfortable she was being recognized felt weird.

Morgan got on stage at 8:30 and the energy emitting from the crowd was breathtaking. Ellie was so excited to watch him play, I had to keep her from running on stage with him a few times. Lesli had dressed her up in Morgan's merch from head to toe and was proudly carrying her around on her hip.

"Are you Aubrey?" a teenage girl asked, making me turn around to face her.

"I am," I told the stranger. "Do we know each other?" I asked. She shook her head no.

"My dad works for the festival. I am a huge fan of Morgan's. Can we take a picture?" she asked timidly.

"You want to take a picture with me?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, it'll look good for the 'gram," she giggled.

"Oh, um, sure," I said awkwardly.

"I'll take it for you," Katie said, grabbing the phone out of the girl's hands. Great. I smiled awkwardly, posing for the picture. The girl took her phone back and looked at the photo.

"Awesome, thanks!" she said before leaving the backstage area. I smiled at her, still not sure of why she wanted me to be in her picture.

"You'll get used to it," Katie told me, smiling faintly.

"Oh, I don't know about that," I sighed, returning the faint smile. She walked closer to me.

"You can't avoid it so, might as well roll with the punches," she giggled.

"I guess so," I shrugged.

"I know you hate me," she sighed.

"I don't hate you," I admitted. "I don't particularly like you, but I don't hate you."

"Then you're a better person than most people 'cause you would have every reason to," she chuckled dryly.

"I love your son," I said. "He's a sweet kid and I want him to be comfortable around me. And if that means I have to bite my tongue and put my personal feelings aside then so be it."

"You're a good person," she said, seemingly genuine. "And I know you've been nice to Indie. He's told me all about it."

"I try to be," I shrugged.

"I'm sorry for the pictures. You were right, I shouldn't have involved your daughter in this. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, we all make mistakes. I shouldn't have said what I said to you when Indie was in the hospital," I admitted.

"He's never introduced our son to another woman before you," she confessed, looking at

Morgan. "I guess it just stung to know my baby would be around another girl. Still doesn't excuse what I did, but I didn't know how to act if I'm being honest."

I had never even thought of that. Because Josh had never taken care of Ellie, I guess that had never been part of my concerns. But, seeing my daughter around another woman would have definitely made me feel some type of way. I could easily relate to that.

"Well, if ever you want to get to know me, outside of the crazy drama that has been going on between us, you can just call me, you know? We could grab coffee or something," I suggested. She smiled.

"I would love that."

Morgan's set was coming to an end and the kids were both falling asleep in their strollers. He was playing his last song of the night and the crowd was singing along every single word. I smiled, looking at him. He was so passionate about his music. I felt like I could watch him play for hours on end. I'm so fucking in love with you, Morgan wallen.

"Well, well, well. If this isn't my little Aubrey, all grown up," a voice said from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I turned around to see who it was and immediately felt my blood run cold.

"Mom?"

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Xo

LadyBug