Page 167 of Jay Bird

His mouth twitched. “Possibly.”

She laughed again, and somehow that made the moment even better. There was no fear sitting heavily in her chest, no feeling that she was walking toward something she had to endure. There was only Jay Bird standing in front of her, worrying so much about making sure she was comfortable that he was apparently prepared to turn this into a pre-mission briefing.

Then his expression changed again.

Jay Bird glanced toward the tree. “I actually have one more gift for you too.”

She blinked. “You do?”

“Yeah.”

He released her reluctantly and walked toward the Christmas tree.

Willow watched him crouch beside it and reach behind one of the lower branches. Her curiosity immediately kicked in because she had been the one arranging gifts beneath that tree for the last week, and she knew there hadn’t been anything left under there.

Jay Bird straightened with a small box in his hand.

Willow stopped breathing as she watched him walk back towards her, looking oddly nervous for a man who could jump out of airplanes and apparently walk into gunfire without thinking twice.

“Jay?”

“I had a whole speech.”

That made her laugh shakily. “Of course you did.”

“No, I really did. I practiced the damn thing too.”

Willow pressed a hand against her mouth.

“What happened to it?”

He looked down at the box. “I forgot every fucking word.”

A laugh escaped her.

Jay Bird looked back at her, and every trace of humor slowly faded.

“I spent a lot of years believing the best part of my life was already behind me. I thought I had my shot at a family and lost it, so I stopped looking for another one.” His gaze moved briefly toward Lily sleeping on the couch before returning to Willow. “Then you two showed up and completely wrecked that plan.”

Jay Bird took her hand. “You walked into my empty house and somehow turned it into a home without even trying. Lily took over my living room, half my bed, and apparently my entire paycheck.”

Willow laughed through the tears gathering in her eyes.

“And you...” His thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand. “You gave me something I never thought I would want again because I was too damn scared to lose it.”

Willow’s throat tightened.

“A future.”

He opened the box. Inside was a simple, beautiful ring.

Willow stared at it as emotion hit her so hard she couldn’t speak.

Jay Bird lowered himself onto one knee.

“Willow, I’m not asking because I think you need me to take care of you. You’ve already proven you can take care of yourself, and God knows you’re stubborn enough to remind me whenever I forget it.”

A laugh slipped through her tears.