“Later,” I whispered against her bee-stung lips, “I can’t wait to celebrate with you.”
“Why did you plan a party if you knew you were going to ask me to marry you? Now I want to call the whole party off.” She stood Birdie on the ground, who went about taking off all the cushions Stella had just put on.
I chuckled as I pulled her up and out of the chair. “It will be a short party, I promise. They all know I was planning on asking you. That’s why my dad is flying in today. He’s going to watch Birdie for the weekend, so I can take you up to the mountains, and we can sit in front of a fire.” I pulled her body to mine and slipped on her engagement ring as I spoke softly into her ear. “There’s a no clothing allowed rule for the entire time we’re in the cabin.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that. I don’t even have to worry about what to pack.” Leaning up on her tippy toes, Stella pressed her lips to mine for a long minute. “When do we leave?”
Wrapping my arms around her middle, I nuzzled my face into her neck and let the scruff of my jaw tickle her. “Tonight after the party, and before you worry about packing on such little notice, it’s all taken care of.”
“You’re making this the best birthday ever.”
“That’s the plan. I want to make each day better than the last.”
A throat clearing had us looking up to find Lexie standing on our deck with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face. “I’m assuming by all the kissing going on over here, she said yes.”
Stella held out her hand, showing off her ring. “Isn’t it gorgeous!”
“So gorgeous!” Lexie answered back as they hugged, squealed, and jumped in place. “And don’t worry about Birdie. I told Remy’s dad if he has any trouble, we’re right next door.”
Stella sighed in relief. “That does make me feel better. While he’s watched her for a couple of hours, two days is a lot to take on.”
“Aww, she’ll be good for her PawPaw. She adores him, and he adores her.” Lexie broke away and started for the stairs. “I just wanted to come over and say congratulations. Maybe when you two get back, you’ll have a wedding date picked out.”
“Hardly,” I laughed. “We’ve got better things to do than pick a date.” Both women turned to look at me with fire in their eyes. “Plus, whatever date Stella wants to get married is fine with me.”
“Good save,” Lexie laughed. “I’ll see you guys tonight for the party.” She waved as she ran back over to her house, where Ryder was in the pool with both of their daughters. They were little fish that would spend all day in the pool if you let them.
Wrapping my arms around her from behind, I rested my chin on the top of her head. “We should probably finish getting ready for your party. How about one of us takes Birdie down to the beach? It’s going to take forever to get anything done if she’s going to follow along and undo everything.”
Turning to look over her shoulder at me, she asked. “Are you sure you can do everything if I take her down?”
“If I can survive being at war in Afghanistan and putting out fires, I’m sure I can handle putting up some decorations and making sure everything is without tiny handprints all over it.”
Stella smirked up at me. “We’ll see about that. You have no idea how easily she can destroy a room when she’s determined.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll tackle whatever mess she’s made. It’s your birthday. You shouldn’t spend the day cleaning.”
“Good luck, hot stuff.” She grabbed Birdie by the hand and then slapped me on the ass on the way down the stairs to the beach.
Seriously, how bad could it be?
I shouldn’t have asked. Walking back into the house, I immediately smelled something off but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Following my nose, I found myself outside of Birdie’s room, afraid to go inside. The smell of poop was strong as I entered the room. I thought maybe she’d gotten into a diaper and left it open, but no, I couldn’t be that lucky. Birdie had smeared poop all over one wall and all over her bed.
Did Stella know what I was walking into? If not, how did Birdie get her hands clean from the feces she’d used to paint her room? I found my answer a minute later when I went to strip her bedding off her bed. A hairbrush for one of her dolls had shit caked into the bristles.
Not wanting to ruin Stella’s day, I got the cleaning supplies and went to work while gagging. With each swipe, the rag smeared the horrendously smelling poop making it nearly impossible to clean up, but I manned up and didn’t stop until Birdie’s room looked brand new. While cleaning Birdie’s room took most of my time, I got the house picked up before anyone arrived for the party.
In T-Minus three hours, we would be on our way to the mountains for our own private celebration.
Stella
Leaning over the console of Remy’s truck, I kissed his cheek and then rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you for today. It was absolutely perfect.”
Kissing the top of my head, he asked, “You didn’t have any idea?”
“Not a single one. I’m shocked Pen and Lexie kept quiet about you proposing.” They had asked a lot of questions lately about if and when Remy and I would tie the knot. Truthfully, I’d been happy having him as my partner and the father of my child. I didn’t think I needed the piece of paper or the ring on my finger, but that all changed the moment he popped the question. I realized then how much I wanted to become Stella St. James and to be able to claim him as mine with a ring on his finger.
“I swore them to secrecy.” He flipped on the windshield wipers as snow started to fall steadily.
“The party was great. I can’t believe they let us leave without any hassle, though. I thought for sure it would be late before we got on the road.” Sitting up, I turned to look at him.
“They understood,” he chuckled while keeping his eyes on the road.
“Yeah, because you told them we had to leave so we could consummate our engagement.” I laughed at the absurdity of it.
“It worked, didn’t it?”
“I’m glad it did. I like that I got to spend the day on the beach, and tonight I’ll be cuddled up to you in front of a fire while it snows.”
“Oh, we’ll be doing a whole lot more than cuddling. If I have my way, I’ll be getting you pregnant with Birdie’s brother or sister.”
A laugh of surprise escaped me. “Don’t you think maybe we should be married before we have another baby? I’m not vain or anything, but I don’t want to be a whale when I walk down the aisle either.”
Remy chewed on that for a minute. Taking my left hand in his right, he laced our fingers together and placed them on his thigh. “Do you want a big or a small wedding?”
“Small. Only close friends and family. You?”
“Small as well. Okay, how long do you think it would take you to plan the wedding of your dreams?”
That was hard to answer. I had the big wedding before. A wedding I worked my ass off to pay for, and look where that had gotten me. I didn’t need two hundred and fifty people. Only the closest and dearest to my heart.