The outside world. The clock. My heartbeat. Everything.
My mouth parts, but no sound comes out.
Jake’s forehead rests against mine.
“I love you,” he says again, rougher this time, like the words have been fighting to get out for a while now. “And if there’s a baby coming…”
His breath catches for just a second.
Then he lets out the smallest, almost disbelieving huff of a laugh.
“…then I’m the luckiest guy alive.”
Something inside me breaks wide open.
A sob tears out of me so suddenly it startles us both.
Jake’s hands tighten on my face.
“No, hey,” he says quickly, his own voice unsteady now. “No, Sunshine, that wasn’t supposed to make you cry.”
I laugh and cry at the same time, which is an ugly, messy sound, but I can’t stop. The relief is too big. The whiplash too severe.
“I thought—” I choke out, then have to stop and breathe. “I thought you’d hate me.”
His whole face softens in a way I’ve never seen before.
“Hate you?” he repeats, like the idea is absurd.
I nod helplessly.
“You said you never wanted kids,” I whisper. “I… I thought maybe you’d think I did this on purpose, or that I ruined everything, or that this would make you resent me and—”
He actually laughs.
Softly. In disbelief. Tender and wrecked and a little broken around the edges.
“Sunshine,” he murmurs, shaking his head. “I married you drunk and still kept you.”
A watery laugh escapes me.
His smile fades into something more serious.
“You really thought I’d believe you trapped me?”
My silence is answer enough.
Jake closes his eyes briefly, like that thought physically pains him.
When he opens them again, they lock onto mine.
“What I said was before I realized everything you mean to me. A lot has changed since then. And now I can’t imagine living my life without you by my side.”
He pauses, his voice softer.
“If we weren’t already married, I’d ask you to marry me.”
My heart stutters.
