preston
“Welcome to the United States,Ms. Thorne,” the USCIS officer says, stamping her passport, and we practically hop our way out of the room.
The elevator can barely hold our excitement—neither can I. My hands don’t care about cameras or decorum. The doors breathe open, and I welcome the city noise as if it’s a live orchestra. I half-expect blue cartoon birds to come out singing.
As soon as our feet hit the steps, Callie, April, and Lily explode out of the coffee shop. Liam jaywalks in a suit’s version of a sprint, then looks sideways, pretending he didn’t. Balloons surround us, confetti pops above us, and champagne hisses in celebration. Lily gives Mia a bouquet and chants, “She’s staying, she’s staying,” on repeat.
Calista skids to a stop. “Wait. Did she say yes?”
“Wha…” I blink one too many times. “Of course she did. Why wouldn’t she?”
“Because you’re sweating through your collar and she’s hugging us like she just escaped a hostage situation,” Calanswers, patting Mia’s hair. “Forgive me for checking,” she teases. “And that café didn’t give us the best seats to watch the proposal. Fucking pedestrians kept getting in the way,” she adds, annoyed.
Mia lifts her head, one arm around Calista’s neck, another around Lily’s back. “He cried,” she says, tear-bright and shameless.
Calista nods, triumphant. “He would.” She pivots to me, eyes pure mischief. “Tell me you had a speech. You did, didn’t you? Give us the director’s cut.”
April laughs through her own tears, tidying Mia, thumb swiping under one eye, a quick straightening of her dress. “Let the man breathe, Cal. Bride comes first.”
“Fiancée,” Mia corrects her, stunned and flushed pink, the three-carat diamond ring throwing sunlight in every direction.
Tiny sneakers slap stone over and over. “You’re really staying, right?” Lily double-checks before launching into Mia’s middle. “For real?”
Mia catches her up on her lap and sways. “I am, love. I told you I was. And now I’ve got a stamp that says I don’t need to go home for a while.”
“And you’re marrying Dad?”
Mia laughs, tucking Lily on the side of her hip. “Only if that’s okay with you.”
“Oh yeah, I gave him my permission this morning.” Laughter ripples up the steps, surrounding us. “Wait. Does that make you my new?—”
Mia cups her cheek, gentle and sure, before the word “mom” leaves her mouth and breaks us all. “I’m your Mia.You call, I come. The important thing is, I’m not leaving you. Ever.”
Something in my chest gives—a clean, good give—and I have to look up so I don’t drop to my knees on these steps again.
Callie makes a noise loud enough to send a whole tree of birds into flight. April presses a tissue into her hand without looking. “Breathe,” she tells her friend after a hiccup of her own.
When Mia sets Lily down, April nudges her elbow and tilts her chin toward the ring. “Did you read inside?”
Mia slips it off and turns the band until she finds it. The inscription says:Forever starts now.
Her eyes find mine. “I think ours began way before we started counting.”
Liam clears his throat, the only one still fighting to keep a straight face. “Congratulations,” he says to me, then, softer to Mia, “Welcome to the madness.” He kisses her temple and steps back, pretending his eyes aren’t glassy.
I lace my fingers through Mia’s, and the ring bites sweet against my knuckle. “Big wedding? Small ceremony?”
She opens her mouth, but another idea is already out of mine. “Or—hear me out—Vegas. Today. The three of us.”
“Six,” Callie yelps, scandalized. “Can’t surgeons count?”
“We could pull this off,” April says, already sorting logistics and counting on her fingers. “Flights, license, chapel.” Her brain’s already boarded when her eyes meet Liam’s. “Call the pilot. Tell him to get the jet ready.”
He slides an arm low around her waist and murmurs—nowhere near quietly enough—“You have no idea howfreaking hot it is when you stop pretending my money isn’t yours too.”
He straightens to business, already typing on his phone, then looks at Mia. “Name a designer. Two, if you want options. I’ll have them meet us there. Fittings on the tarmac, huh?” Madman. He must be hanging out with Calista too much.
Mia laughs against my mouth, a little breathless, very disbelieving. “Are we really doing this?”
