“What’s wrong, love?”
“I’m just processing.”
“I know you still haven’t—”
“I love you,” she says, cutting me off, and I swear if I feel one more big emotion today, my heart will explode. “I didn’t think I should, because it’s too soon, but I think time clearly doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
“It never did.” I kiss the tip of her nose.
“I still want that proposal,” she murmurs, earning another laugh from me.
“I’d propose right now if I had a ring,” I promise—then step back.
Nina’s brows draw together as she watches me walk to my desk and pick up a small rubber band. I return to myLittle Fae.
“Will you marry me, Nina?” I ask, offering her the elastic. “I promise I’ll replace it later—but will you marry me?”
She bites her lip.
“I don’t want you to do this just because of the baby. I know it would be complicated, but we could—”
I silence her with a kiss. Deep and intense, with lips, tongues, and teeth—one meant to leave no doubt about how much I want her.
“I want to marry you, Nina,” I whisper against her lips. “I want this child—and ten more.”
“Ten? I’m not a copy machine, Nero. Be happy if I decide to have a second one, and definitely many years from now!” she protests, and my mouth stretches into what must be the biggest smile of my life. “What?”
“Is that a yes?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, Nero. It’s a yes.”
I wrap the elastic around her finger three times before pulling her into my arms and sealing our mouths together again.
***
“You have a problem,” Nina says later, as we lie in my bed. I keep tracing a trail of kisses across her stomach, doting on our baby.
“Not today. Today, problems don’t exist, and life is perfect,” I murmur against her skin, and her whole body shakes with laughter.
I stroke her thighs and brush my nose against her navel. My eyes burn again, like they have all day, every time I stare at myLittle Fae’s belly for more than two seconds. Father. Fuck. I’m going to be a father.
I’d never made plans for this. There had never been anyone in my life with whom I wanted to make this kind of plan. I wouldn’t bring a child into the world without being certain they’d be loved and cared for as every child deserves—and I always knew I’d only take that step if I had absolute trust in the other half of the equation. Until Nina, I didn’t think this was a real possibility.
That’s why, after she said yes this afternoon, I ignored everything else that still needed my attention at the company and brought her home. Our home. I wanted her in my arms—without restrictions, without restraint, without anything.
I lift my eyes to her face and find a tear track on her cheek. This isn’t the first time Nina’s cried today.
After the initial shock and insecurity of the day’s whirlwind, she allowed herself to relax, and the tears came as part of the process. Tears of joy, she assured me. Of anticipation too—about everything that’s about to change in our lives.
I climb up her body until my mouth is level with her face and kiss the entire path the tear took, drawing more laughter from her lips.
“The groomsmen,” she finishes what she started. “You can only have two.”
“Any chance we get married in Las Vegas, love? Because if I choose two and leave one out, there’s a good chance you’ll be a widow before the wedding,” I say, and she laughs again. I drink in the sound.
“Well, Drako can always be the flower boy,” she suggests between laughs. Seeing her blank expression earlier today issomething I never want to experience again. I lie beside her but keep my hand on Nina’s belly.
“Hi, baby,” I say to the warm skin of her abdomen, then look at myLittle Fae. “Do you think it’ll be a girl? I think it’ll be a girl. Somewhere up there, there’s probably a guardian angel who was just waiting for someone to volunteer to pay for my friends’ sins. We’re always together—I wouldn’t be surprised if the angel thinks I do the same stupid shit.”
