I tilt my head up at Harper silently asking if she knows she’s having a boy already, but she shakes her head, lifting her shoulders in a slight shrug “We don’t know yet, but…maybe.”
I let out a shaky laugh and pull Connor into my chest, holding him tightly against me.
“Okay,” I say. “You win, Connor.” I push him back enough to be able to see his face. “Whatever you want me to do is what I’ll do. As long as it’s okay with your mom.”
He stiffens. “Really?”
“I’ll give it another year. Ten years if you want,” I say, pressing a kiss into his hair and glancing up at a now tearful Harper. “At least one more season for sure. You’ll get your year. I promise, but only on one condition.”
His arms lock around my neck like I’m the only solid thing in the world. “Okay, what?”
“I’m going to need your mom to marry me,” I tell him.
Connor’s eyes grow wide at my words, his hands clutching mine.. His head tilts ever so slightly and half of his mouth turns up in a goofy little smile. “You want to marry my mom?”
“More than anything in the world,” I say, my gaze shifting to Harper.
She’s frozen, one hand pressed to her mouth, the other to her stomach—our baby—as tears spill down her cheeks. I stand and take her hand in mine.
“Harper Richardson,” I say, my voice steady despite my racing heart, “I’ve loved you since I was nineteen years old. I’ve never stopped loving you. And now you’ve given me a son and you’re carrying our second child…” My voice breaks. “If I’m going to continue to play hockey, then I want to do this right. All of it. I want to love both of our children and I want to be your husband, if you’ll have me.”
“Dad!” Connor tugs at my sleeve, his voice urgent. “You’re supposed to kneel! That’s how it works in the movies!”
I laugh, wiping my own eyes. “Oh shit. You’re right, buddy.”
I drop to one knee right there in the hallway outside the locker room. Connor sits on my knee and I wrap a strong arm around him, holding him to me as I take Harper’s now trembling hand in mine.
“I don’t have a ring yet,” I admit. “This wasn’t exactly planned, but I swear to God Connor and I will go find you the most beautiful, most expensive ring we can find.”
“Harrison…”
“And we’ll buy a house,” I add, not letting her speak. “A big house with a huge yard where the kids can run and play and?—”
“Harrison…”
“And we can even get a dog. No, two dogs because a dog deserves to have a friend too.”
“And a cat!” Connor adds, lifting his arm up like he’s answering a question in class. “Because dogs like cats.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I nod, approving of Connor’s addition. “And a cat.”
“Hey H?”
I finally stop to take a breath. “Yeah?”
“When do I get to say yes?”
My heart stops, then thunders back to life. Harper’s face is a beautiful blur through my tears, but I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Uh, you can say yes right now. Anytime now. We’ll wait, right Connor? We’ll just uh, we’ll sit here and wait for you to say?—”
“Yes.” She laughs, the sound watery and perfect. “Yes, Harrison Meers. Of course I’ll marry you.”
She bends down to kiss me and Connor squirms between us, his small arms wrapping around both our necks, pulling us into a messy three-way hug. “Fuck yes! My dad is gonna marry my mom! We’re gonna be a real family!” he shouts, loud enough that I’m pretty sure the entire arena can hear him.
I don’t even care about the language.
Let them hear.
