“You sure you don’t need any help?” I ask her.
“Promise.” She stands on her toes and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll just be a minute.”
Heading into the house, I drop the cheesecake off at the fridge and then rush to the living room. Grabbing the ring box from its spot behind a frame on the mantel. I remove the ring and slide it into my pocket. I knew I wanted it to just be the two of us when I asked her. I had to leave it here so that I wouldn’t change the course of my plan.
“Come here, you.” I hold my arms open for her when she walks into the living room. She doesn’t hesitate to come to me as she wraps her arms around my waist. “Where are your things?” I ask her.
“Oh, I left them in the laundry room. I’ll grab them before we go to bed.”
She usually brings them all the way into the house, and I try not to think too much about it. I’m letting every little action or move stress me the fuck out. I can’t wait any longer. The suspense is killing me.
“Do you know how much I love you?” I ask, peering down at her in my arms.
She nods. “I love you too.” Her voice cracks.
“Sam.” My voice is thick with emotion. “I don’t ever want to know what my life looks like without you in it.”
“It looks like your past.”
I nod. “I only want to look toward the future. I see a wedding, those babies we talked about.” I place my hand over her flat belly, and she bites down on her bottom lip. I can see the emotion welling in her eyes. “I want to watch those babies grow and give them a safe place to thrive. I want to sit on a porch swing and watch our babies’ babies grow. I want all of that and everything in between. I want the good times and the bad times, and I want the love and the laughter. All of it, I want you by my side.” Taking a deep breath, I drop to one knee.
“Wh-What are you doing?” she asks. Her tears are now freely falling from her eyes.
“Samantha Wilson, will you spend your life with me? Will you help me create our future as husband and wife? Will you marry me?” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the ring and hold it up for her.
“You want to marry me?” she sobs.
“More than anything.”
“I-I need to tell you something.”
A knot forms in my gut. I knew something was off. “Okay.” I can barely speak the word as I climb to my feet and lead us to the couch. “You can tell me anything,” I say, steeling my resolve.
“I’ll be right back.” She stands and takes two steps before turning to look at me. “Don’t move.” With that, she rushes off toward the laundry room.
My hand is sweating from the fist I have around the ring I just offered her. I don’t know what she has to tell me, but nothing could make me change my mind about how I feel about her. Whatever it is, we’re going to work it out. Together.
“I got you something,” she says, holding a small red bag.
“Babe, I thought we said no gifts?” I ask her.
“You just offered me a ring the size of Texas, is that not a gift?”
“No. It’s a promise and a token of how much I love you. Besides, you didn’t take it.”
“I want to, Jase. I just— You need to hear what I have to say before I take it.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Forget everything else and tell me. Do you want to be my wife?”
She nods. “More than anything.”
Opening up my hand, I reach for her and slide my ring onto her finger. “Will you marry me?”
Her eyes dart to the bag as more tears stream down her cheeks. “Yes.”
The word is barely spoken before I’m pressing my lips to hers, wrapping her in a hug so tight I’m sure she’s struggling to breathe. “I love you,” I say, releasing my iron grip. I cradle her face in my hands. “I love you, and I will no matter what, until the day I take my last breath.”
“Open it.” She hands me the bag and wipes at her cheeks.
Removing the tissue paper, my hand dives into the bag and pulls out something that feels like jersey material. Holding it up, it’s the smallest football jersey I’ve ever seen. It’s dark blue and looks exactly like a mini practice jersey.
“Turn it around.”
Turning it around, my name is embroidered on the back. Why is she—? I drop the jersey and lock eyes with her. “What does this mean, Samantha?”
“Keep digging, player.” She nods toward the bag.
Reaching into the bag, I feel a small hard object wrapped in tissue paper. Slowly, I unwrap it, not sure of what it is, and what I find has my chest heaving. “We’re pregnant?” I say, my voice gravelly.
“Yes, and if you want to take it back, I understand, but I want this baby, Jase.”
“Take it back?”
She nods sadly. “The proposal.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growl. I toss the test and the jersey to the floor and lean over so that there are mere inches between us. “I want you, and I want this baby. There is nothing in this world I want more. You’ve made me a husband and a father all in one day.”
“Fiancé,” she corrects with a blinding smile.
“We’re really having a baby?” I ask in awe of the situation.
“Yes. I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it. I was so nervous to tell you.”
“I could tell something was off, but I never would have guessed that this was the reason. I want this.” I place my hand over her heart. “And I want this.” I place my hand over her belly. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hold her in my arms and let the realization wash over me. She made me work for it, but play-by-play, I won her over, and now she’s given me two of the greatest gifts. Her heart, and a piece of both of us—a tiny human that we created together. Life doesn’t get any better than this.
“Jase?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You’re telling Royce,” she says, and we both fall into a fit of laughter.