“Mr. Kilo and Miss Nyomi, where y’all at?”
I stood, took Nyomi’s hand, and helped her up. Her face was covered in tears, and I could tell she was trying not to ugly cry, but she was as beautiful in this moment as she was the day I first laid eyes on her.
“Somebody go give my brother a mic,” Jill said.
A light beamed down on us as I got down on one knee and pulled a small blue box from my pocket. Nyomi covered her mouth and tried to take a few steps back, but I held onto her hand. Someone with a mic appeared out of nowhere and was gracious enough to hold it near my mouth.
“Nyomi, my beautiful baby. I don’t have the words to express how much I love you, but I’ll do my best. From the moment our eyes first locked, I knew there was something special about you. I felt like God’s favorite when he put us in the same space again. You tried to run, you had your guard up, but God allowed you to see me, to know my intentions were pure, and I’m so grateful you stopped running. We did everything backwards, but the love between us flowed naturally, and if we could start over, I wouldn’t change a thing. Nyomi Gabrielle Kurrie, will you marry me?”
She gave up on fighting the ugly cry and boo-hooed her little heart out as she nodded her head. The man with the mic put it near her mouth, and she said, “Yes, baby. I’ll marry you.”
The crowd gave us a five-minute standing ovation that led right into Jill Scott’s first song, which happened to be Nyomi’sfavorite song by her, “My Love.” We danced the night away in each other’s arms.
Six Months Later
“I can’t have the babies without him.” I cried.
“I know, baby. Kilo, Nyeem, Robby, and Knox are on their way. The plane just landed, and they have a police escort from the airport straight to the hospital,” my mother said.
My water broke an hour ago, just as Nyeem caught a winning touchdown in the Eagles’ first bowl game in ten years. By car, they were a few hours away and would surely not get here before I had the babies. Dr. Stackhouse was gracious enough to have the school’s jet waiting for them, to get them to me as soon as possible.
“Ahh!” I screamed through another contraction. “Oh my God, Mommy, it hurts. Please God, it hurts so bad.”
“I know, baby, but you got this.”
My contractions had been three minutes apart for over an hour, but Dr. Jordan said there was nothing to worry about.
“I need my husband.” I cried.
“Just breathe, bestie. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Kilo is on his way to you.”
I could only have two people in the delivery room with me, so my mother and Skye were by my side, while my father and the St. Patricks were in the waiting room. They purchased a home months ago and had been in Black Elm for a week, waiting for me to go into labor. Skye would have to leave when Kilo arrived.
“What if he doesn’t make it?”
“He will, Sweet Pea. Stop worrying,” my mother said.
Skye’s phone rang with a FaceTime call. She looked at the screen, smiled, and held the phone in front of my face.
“It’s Kilo.”
“Baby, please hurry.” I cried when his face appeared on the screen.
“Shh. Stay calm, baby. Remember what we practiced.”
“I can’t do it without you.”
“You can, baby, but I’m on my way.”
Once I got through my bout with morning sickness, the rest of my pregnancy was smooth sailing. My sons were so good to me, just like their big brother. I continued working out, adjusting my workouts when and where needed, I ate well, and Kilo made sure my life was stress-free.
After that beautiful, mind-blowing proposal, I fell deeper in love with him. I couldn’t believe he went through so much trouble to make that night one of the most memorable of my life. I wanted nothing more than to make him happy, because everyday he went out of his way to do the same for me and showed me how much he loved me.
The football season was busy, but all the long days and late nights he and his staff put into preparing for the season and each game paid off. Their regular-season record was ten and two, they won the conference championship and won the bowl game just a few hours ago.
Ambrose hadn’t been seen or heard from for several months. He was found guilty of assault for the incident involving me, but he only had to pay a fine. After my interview, he used his social media pages to counter what I’d said. It didn’t seem like many believed him, and he eventually let it go. As long as he stayed away from my family and kept our names out of his mouth, I didn’t care what he did.
“Ahh!” I screamed again as another contraction took over my body.
