All I feel is awe.
My love for her is so powerful it almost brings me to my knees.
I kiss her, hard, cupping her face with both hands, pouring every ounce of emotion into her. My bride. My angel. The mother of my child.
She really is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
She laughs against my mouth, breathless and radiant.
“I have something else to tell you,” she whispers.
I raise a brow. “You mean besides the whole pregnancy bomb you just dropped on me?”
She grins. “I got my first book deal.”
"The manuscript," I realize. She let me read it one night, after I needled her forever about it. I couldn't put it down until dawn. "They went for it."
She nods, giddy. “The agent called this morning. She said she loved it. They’re offering a two-book contract. Advance included.”
I stare at her, stunned. Then I start to smile. Big. Full. Real.
“I’m marrying a published author.”
She shrugs like she’s trying to be modest, but she can’t stop beaming. “Couldn’t have done it without you. You gave me the time, the space, the belief.”
“I just gave you what you always deserved,” I murmur, touching her cheek.
“Still,” she says, quieter now, “you were the first person who ever looked at me like I could be more. Not just a waitress, not just a tired girl trying to keep the lights on.”
“You were always more, Erin. I just refused to let the world blind you to it.”
She breathes in sharply, blinking fast, and then she surges up onto her toes and kisses me.
It’s not the kiss from before. It’s eager, excited, triumphant.
This one is slow. Lingering. Deep. Like she’s pouring every thank you, every I love you, every dream she never thought would come true into the space between our lips.
Her hands slide up around the back of my neck, fingers threading through my hair, and I can feel the smile ghosting across her lips as I cup her jaw, holding her steady like she’s the only thing tethering me to the ground.
And maybe she is.
She tastes like hope. Like promise. Like everything I didn’t know I was allowed to want.
When we finally pull apart, we’re both breathless, grinning like idiots. I press my forehead to hers, eyes closed, trying to soak it all in.
She’s mine.
And soon, she’ll be my wife.
As if on cue, music starts playing. "I should go wait for you at the altar," I whisper.
"Why don't we go together?" She flashes me a cheeky grin and holds out her hand. "One last walk as boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Besides, I don't really have anyone to walk me up there. Jack is way too immature to give me away." She blushes slightly. "All I have is you."
I take her hand and kiss it. "And you'll have me for the rest of my life."
