I cross the last few steps between us, watching as she turns, eyes meeting mine with that quiet knowing. Like she already sees right through me. Like she knows what I’m about to do before I even do it.
“You’re quiet,” she says, a coy smile playing on her lips. “That’s never a good sign.”
I huff out a laugh, slipping my arm around the small of her back, pressing my palm flat on the barely there curve where our child is growing.
Mine.
Ours.
I rest my forehead on hers. “I was just thinking…”
“Dangerous,” she purrs.
I chuckle, brushing my lips over hers, but when I pull back, I sober. “I was thinking about how this time last year I had nothing. How before the end of this year…” My throat tightens. “…I’ll have everything. I have you.” I laugh to myself. “And I went from no kids to three overnight.”
She teases, “Even for you that’s reckless.” Her fingers trace up my chest to my jaw. “You’re ready for this?”
I let out a breath. “So ready. Does that make me boring?”
She frowns slightly, light in her eyes, and places her palm on my cheek. “Impossibly boring.”
I catch her hand and plant a kiss on the back of it. “I never thought I’d be the guy who got to have it all.”
Kat’s lips part and I see it—the way she understands. Because she never thought she’d get this either.
And that’s why I brought her here.
To our tree.
To the place it all began.
I step back slightly, just enough to reach into my pocket. Her eyes flick downward, the breath she pulls in is sharp.
Then I lower myself down on one knee.
She cups a hand over her mouth, and I feel the shake of my breath while I stare up at her, every damn thing I’ve ever wanted standing right in front of me.
“You were the first thing in my life I ever wanted just for me,” I say, heart pounding, every nerve alive. “And I knew the second I saw you that there was no walking away. I didn’t just want to share this place, Kat—I wanted to share everything. And I still do. For the rest of my life.”
Her eyes shimmer; her fingers tremble against her lips.
I swallow, my heart hammering harder than it ever has in my life.
“I love you, Kat. I love our family, and I love the life we’re building. I’ll give you everything you were ever told you couldn’t have.”
I flip the box open, and her breath hitches.
“Say yes,” I murmur, my throat tight. “Say yes, and let’s finish what we started.”
Tears slip down her cheeks, and then she’s nodding, throwing her arms around me.
“Yes,” she laughs through her tears. “Of course, yes.”
Relief, joy, love—everything crashes into me at once, and I catch her, pulling her close, sealing my mouth over hers, pouring every ounce of devotion into the kiss.
My girl. My family. My forever.
And this time, when we walk away from this tree, we leave with something we didn’t have before.
A future that belongs to us.
