What the fuck. And I pull out the ring I bought the
day Erin opened her eyes again and I was reborn.
“Erin O’Neill.” I breathe in as deeply as I can
and smile at her with all I’ve got. “Marry me and
make me aman.”
She laughs, she cries and then laughs again and
cries again. Something tells me I hit the nail on the
head.
“Patrick Doyle,” she says, drying her face with
the back of her hand and looking me in the eyes.
“You are the most wonderful man that there is on
the earth. There’s nothing you need to do to make
us love you, because we already do, we have
always loved you and could never love any other
hothead.” As she talks she caresses my face. “And
if you want us, if you really want us, then we’ll be
yours unconditionally. Because you, Patrick, are a
man who stays, the morning after and the days that
follow. Forever.”
I’m a man who stays.
This woman has given me hope, dreams and a
future. And I intend to love her and the child for
the rest of my life.
I take her in my arms and hold her to me. And I
kiss her, finally, and I will continue to do so all my
fucking life. And she rubs my nape and laughs and
cries and I don’t let her up for a breath.
“Did she say yes?”
Rain’s voice calls up and we burst out laughing
like two idiots. I look at her carefully because
