“The back pain and waddling beg to differ on that.”
“This doesn’t fit me!” Avery yelled out, pulling everyone’s attention to her—and the gold ring with a sparkly diamond that was dangling from her petite finger.
Collective gasps sounded around the living room, and from behind the couch, the biggest inhale of all signaled Charlotte’s entrance. I peeked over the back to find Beckham at her side, a confused look on his face.
When I swiveled back around, Callan was beside Avery, on his knee, facing a surprised Sage. The woman was speechless, eyes round and mouth agape.
“This kind of happened way out of order, but what else is new?” Callan said, and someone chuckled. He slid the ring off Avery’s finger, and once she realized what was happening, she screamed.
“Are you marrying Mamatoday?” Avery asked, her voice a high-pitched shriek.
Sage looked between the two of them. “Avery knew about this?”
Callan’s mouth twitched with a smile. “I had to ask her permission.”
“You kept a secret?” Sage asked her daughter, incredulous.
Pride showed on the little girl’s face. “I did. Daddy said he’d buy me another horse if I didn’t tell a soul.”
Sage frowned at him, but behind her false look of chastisement was so much love and adoration for Callan.
Callan shrugged. “It was a necessary bribe.”
Lennon cleared his throat like he was reminding his brother what he was there to do, and Callan shot him a quick glare before focusing all his attention back on Sage.
“Will you be my wife, Sage? For a million years and every day past that?”
As if the words had opened the floodgates, tears immediately pooled in her eyes, a few trailing down her cheeks. And she nodded. “Yes. A million times, yes.”
She leaned down, pressing her lips to his, and Callan scooped his two girls into his arms in one massive hug.
The room erupted in claps, cheers, hoots, and hollers as Callan slipped the ring on Sage’s finger and kissed it. And while the family gathered around them to say their congratulations, I tilted my head back to find Beckham with his hands braced on the back of the couch, his gaze focused on me.
I had no doubt we were both thinking of Ellis’s one question that stood out to both of us the most.
32
BECKHAM
The door creaked shut as I walked across the porch that was covered in a thin layer of fresh snow, my sights set on the girl who’d made this Christmas all the more special. I wrapped my arms around her from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder while nuzzling my nose into the warm crook of her neck.
Parker had a thick blanket wrapped tight around her, and tiny snowflakes had begun to accumulate on the fabric and in her hair. She looked out at the barn strung with golden lights, but I couldn’t focus on anything but her.
“Your nose is cold,” Parker murmured, though she leaned back into me.
My lips grazed the soft skin of her neck. “Warm me up.”
“When we get home, I’d love nothing more. But I don’t think we’ll get so lucky messing around on your parents’ porch a second time. Especially on Christmas.”
I groaned. “Today has been torture.”
“How so?” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“Watching you with my family and not being able to take you back to my old room and ruin this dress.” She’d worn a knitted beige sweater dress, each inch hugging her figure in a way that had my cock aching every time I looked at her—which was nonstop.
She slowly turned in my embrace, neck tilting so she could look at me. “You could have. I wouldn’t have complained.”
“Now you tell me?”
