Her hands fly to her mouth. “Hayes?—”
“Let me finish before I stop making sense.” I laugh under my breath. “You kindled something in me the first time you smiled at me behind your mom’s counter. And I’ve been yours ever since. So if you’ll let me…I’d really like to make this official.”
I open the box.
A simple ring. A single sparkling diamond. Classic. Timeless. Emmy.
“Marry me?”
For a heartbeat, everything goes quiet.
Then she drops to her knees in the snow and kisses me—hands cupping my face, lips warm and certain. She breaks away just enough for me to see the way tears and happiness shimmer together in her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispers. “Of course it’s yes.”
Relief nearly buckles me.
I slip the ring onto her finger and she stares at it like it’s a star I pulled out of the sky just for her.
Once I’m back on my feet, I lift her easily, spinning her once in the falling snow while her laughter fills the cold evening.
“Looks like my mom is going to get both of her wishes,” Emmy says before nervously biting her lip.
“Both?” I scrunch my brows in confusion. “Don’t tell me Gidieon beat me to it and asked your sister to marry him.”
“No,” she says, pausing for a heartbeat, letting the anticipation hang in the air. Then, soft, almost reverent, she adds, “Daddy.”
My heart lurches. I blink, thinking maybe I didn’t hear right the first time. Emmy pulls out something from her coat pocket. A small, grainy, black-and-white image.
I recognize it instantly. My stomach twists in a mix of disbelief and awe. A baby. A tiny little blob on the page, but already perfect. Already ours.
My fingers hover, almost shaking, before I take the image from her hands. I trace the edge of the paper like I’m afraid it might vanish if I don’t hold it gently enough. My breath catches, tight in my chest. I look up at her, eyes wide.
“You’re serious?” I whisper. My voice sounds strangled, hoarse with something I can’t name, some mixture of joy, terror, and most of all: love.
Her lips tremble, and she nods. “I wouldn’t joke about this,” she says softly. “Not now. Not ever.”
Snowflakes melt on her hair and eyelashes, catching the light like tiny prisms. My hands find her face, cupping her cheeks, and I feel like I could hold her forever and still not have enough time.
“We’re really doing this,” my voice barely louder than a breath. “You’re going to be a mom.”
Her hands on my chest, she holds on to me like I’m the fragile one. “And you’re going to be the best dad,” she whispers.
Her words strike me so deeply I can barely process them. I think of all the ways I’ve imagined our future, all the quietnights, the laughter, the holidays, and somehow, it all feels like it’s unfolding right now in the snow, in her arms.
I spin us gently again, careful not to let the snow or my elation throw us off balance. Emmy laughs, this time quieter, more breathless, and presses her forehead against mine.
“You know. I already can’t stop thinking about holding this little one. Watching them grow up to play t-ball?—”
“Hockey,” I interrupt.
She rolls her eyes. “Hockey. T-Ball. Football. Whatever.”
I swallow hard, words thick in my throat. “Em, I’ve waited my whole life for this,” I admit. “For you. For his moment. For a family of my own. I?—”
She silences me with a kiss, soft and sweet. “I love you.”
My arms tighten around her. “I love you too,” I say, my voice rough with emotion. “And I swear, I will protect you both. Every single day. I promise.”
We stand there for a long moment, holding each other in the cold snow, letting the world around us blur into nothing. I can feel the weight of everything. Past heartbreak from my own stupidity, near disasters, the holidays, the snow, the lights. But none of it matters now. Only Emmy. The tiny life growing inside her. And the future we’re building together.
As long as I live, I’ll never forget this night. The snow, the warmth of her in my arms, the tiny black-and-white snapshot of our future—our family. My heart feels like it’s been set on fire in the best way, kindled from the first moment I saw her, and now, it burns brighter than ever.
I pull her in for one more long, lingering kiss, the kind that says everything words never could.
“Let’s go home. We’ve got a lifetime to start celebrating.”
She laughs softly, a sound full of hope and love. “Home,” she agrees.
