I have to laugh. I think I’m in shock.
“Because even if you don’t take me back today, you will,” he says. “You have to. We have this connection that will bring us together over and over until you relent. I know it. It’s the only way it can be.”
I hang my head and try to calm down.
“You bought the entire thing? What are you going to do with it?” I ask.
“I thought we’d figure it out. Maybe we could put a house on a piece of it.”
My face snaps to his. He’s serious.
“It would make a hell of a photography studio,” he says.
“My … I don’t know what to say.”
This is too much. Way too much. And way, way too much considering he doesn’t know we’re having a baby.
Shit.
I blow out a breath and hope that I don’t puke.
I have to tell him now. I have to tell him even if it wipes out everything that he’s said and changes the trajectory of this conversation—and our future. Because he has the right to know and the right to make decisions for himself.
How do I do this gently?
“You told me that you don’t want to get married or have kids,” I say carefully. “That’s big stuff.”
He chuckles. “I was wrong.”
“Just like that? You were wrong.”
He gets on one knee in front of me. “I don’t have a ring. Don’t panic.”
I laugh, verging on panic.
“It turns out that my father isn’t a complete idiot, and he taught me a few things about myself lately,” Wade says. “And I guess I can’t control the entire world like I thought. Crazy, right?”
I grin. “True. But you didn’t answer my question.”
I hold my breath while he chooses what to say. I say a silent prayer, too, that this resolves well and what that means, I don’t know.
For us both to be happy. For us to be friends. For us to figure out a way to make this work for the sake of our child—regardless of anything else.
Finally, he smiles. It’s a cheek-splitting, ear-to-ear smile that I’ve never seen on him before. It lights me up on the inside, and I feel like my stressors have been lifted by this one thing.
“I’ll put it to you like this,” he says. “If you want to get married today, I’m in. And if you told me you were having triplets today, I’d be thrilled.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Well, maybe not thrilled, but I’d be happy. Mostly. I mean, okay, maybe not triplets. But I want to have children with you, Dara. I want you to be the mother of my children. I want to …” He closes his eyes. “I want to let go of the past and build a future.” He opens his eyes. They shine like diamonds. “With you.”
I lean away, putting a little distance between us. “Well, I have something to tell you.”
“Lay it on me.”
“We are having a baby.”
He laughs. “Shut up.”
“No, we are.”
His laughter fades as he searches my eyes.
His smile falters.
He gets up off his knees and stares down at me.
“Do you mean it?” he asks.
I nod, tasting sweet potatoes in the acid of my stomach. I grab the book with a trembling hand.
“See? Rusti bought this for me a few days ago.”
“How did you …? When did you … find out?”
“At the hospital.”
His face pales. “Oh, fuck. Are you okay? Dara. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were kind of having a meltdown,” I say, standing up and tossing the book on the sofa. “I didn’t want to add to your mayhem.”
“But I … You let me just walk out of there.”
“I wasn’t going to beg you to stay with me!”
“Why not?”
“Because I have some pride. If you don’t want this baby—which is what you explicitly said to me—then that’s fine. I’ll be fine. You—”
“Marry me.”
I cover my face with my hands. He pries them off one at a time.
“Marry me,” he says again, more emphatically this time. “I need to take care of you. God knows that I need to apologize to you and make it up to you. And I need to punish you for not telling me this and allowing me to hurt you even more.” He pulls me into his chest again. “Never let anyone hurt you, Dara. Not even me.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and sigh. “Don’t let me hurt you either.”
He grins. “I love you.”
“And I love you too.”
He kisses the top of my head. “And I guess we have more to love, huh?”
I can feel his body stiffen and his heart race with my hand on his chest.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask.
“Anything.”
“I’m a little scared.”
His body shakes as he tries to withhold his chuckle. “I’m happy to hear that … because I’m fucking terrified.”
I laugh, relieved as I’ve ever been to know that someone else is afraid.
“You’ll be a great dad,” I tell him.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll sure as hell try.” He screws up his face. “But I share DNA with Boone. What … What does that mean?”
My laughter grows as he pulls me against him even more.
“Well, Boone has good points,” I say.
“Name two.”
“He’s charming,” I offer.
“Debatable.”
“And he’s funny.”
“Eh. Also debatable.” This time, he lets his chuckle go free. “We’ll figure it out, though.”
I shrug. “We don’t really have a choice.”
“You always have a choice, my lady.”
I turn in his arms and take in his handsome face. He really is my Catnip. So beautiful. So kind. So creative and intelligent … and mine.
“I choose … this. Whatever it is,” I say. “I choose the baby, and I choose … you.”
He smirks. “Damn good thing because you didn’t have a choice about me. I’m yours whether you want me or not.” He kisses my hand. “No big wedding, though, okay? I mean, if you really want to, but let’s not.”
“I haven’t even agreed to marry you yet.”
He laughs. “Well, hurry up and agree to it so we can move on.” He looks down and smiles. “Together.”
I want to tease him. I want to poke at him like I always do and make him lose his mind. But I think we’ve been through enough over the past few weeks to last for a while.
“Our baby is due in the summer,” I whisper.
He places his hand on my stomach. “I’m going to need you to agree to be my wife now.”
“And if I don’t?”
He growls, making me laugh.
“Wade Mason, I would love nothing more than to be your wife.”
“Good. Because you didn’t have a choice.”
He picks me up gingerly and carries me to my bedroom. He lays me on the blankets and covers my body with his.
“I thought I’d never have this again,” I whisper.
He brushes a strand of hair off my face. “We needed a break to realize how much we were meant to be together.”
“You think?”
“I know. I know everything, remember?”
My laughter is caught by his kisses, and I fade into his arms.
Like an old man once told me, nothing worth having ever comes easy, and this happy ending took some work.
But it was worth every second for this sweet resolution.
EPILOGUE
Dara
Six weeks later