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“Oh my gosh. Maddy!”

I laugh into her shoulder.

“Congratulations! That’s wonderful.”

Twenty minutes later, apparently everyone knows. My mother cries when she sees the ring. Betty cries harder. Emma tears up when my mother hugs me. Jack hugs Javier hard enough to lift one of his feet off the floor.

Noah examines my ring with grave concentration.

"That's a lot of diamonds."

"Just one diamond."

He points.

"What are those?"

"Sapphires."

He considers this.

"Still expensive."

Javier coughs into his fist. I look at him.

"Did you teach him that?"

"No."

Helen raises her hand.

"Probably me."

Noah looks at Javier.

"So you're going to be my uncle?"

Something shifts in Javier's expression. Just a little.

"Looks that way."

"Good."

Noah hugs him. Javier closes his eyes, only for a second. Then his arms go around the boy.

I look away before I start crying again.

Julian appears in the doorway.

"All right, everybody. The guests are waiting." He gestures toward Javier and me. "It's time."

We follow everyone outside.

And for a moment, I stop. The patio is beautiful.

Javier and I spent weeks arguing over every detail, but tonight it looks exactly the way I imagined it.

Heavy timber beams frame the wide stone patio, with wisteria winding along the wooden canopy and spilling in soft clusters overhead. Tiny string lights weave through the vines, beginning to glow as the last of the evening light fades.