With having time off, it was easy to get caught up with my girls. B was the apple of my eye. I woke up every morning to her bright smile.
Buying her a ring was never in my plans. Unlike my brother, I knew what Kat wanted most in the world was to wear her mother’s wedding ring. Since it had been stored safely at my parent’s house for years, I knew exactly where to find it when I was ready to pop the question, and boy was I prepared. It was all part of a big surprise I had planned. With the help of my family I was pretty close to pulling it off. All I could hope for was that when I presented it to her, she’d say yes.
“Earth to Kat.” She finally looked up from the gravesite to see me waving my hand in front of her. “Do I get a kiss goodbye, or are you going to stand there in your weird trance?”
She raised her brows and leaned in. “Sorry.”
When a little peck wasn’t enough, I held the back of her head, shoving my tongue in her mouth for added result.
Branch started making gagging sounds. “Can we go before I puke?”
Kat pulled away and wiped off her face while B came running in my direction. “Daddy, I go.”
“Daddy’s got to get you a surprise. Go home with Mama and I’ll see you there. Okay?”
B stuck out her bottom lip. “No. I go with Daddy.”
I kissed my little girl on the forehead and turned to Kat for some assistance at getting away. Ever since the first night I moved in she’d made it impossible to go anywhere without her.
Once I was in the car with my brother, I took a deep breath before pulling away from the parking spot. “I’m nervous.”
“What for? You’ve been married to Katy in your mind since we were kids.”
“What if she’s not ready?”
“It’s not like you’re asking her to marry you today, Brooks. I’d be more worried about the other part of the surprise. I mean, you really went all out.”
I smirked thinking about how hard my parents and the contractors I hired had worked to get the house next door ready for the big reveal. As soon as I saw that it was up for sale, I knew she was meant to have it. Luckily I managed to get a good deal on it, plus we’d have built in babysitters at our disposal one house over.
I think the biggest part of the surprise was going to be our daughter’s room, which happened to be Kat’s. I needed every detail to be perfect, but still wondered if I’d gone a little overboard. I mean, who buys a house to propose in?
“Don’t fret. I’m sure she’ll say yes. Apparently you’re the man of her dreams.”
I chuckled to myself after what he said. Branch and I had been getting along better in the past month or so. I think it helped that Melissa and Kat had buried the hatchet. They spoke almost daily. Little B really loved them, and I wasn’t the type of brother to keep my family away from my daughter. She deserved to be loved by all of them.
Nearly twenty minutes after we left the cemetery, we pulled back up in front of the house. I carried the cake in, praying to God that all this wasn’t going to blow up in face and be a disaster. The last thing I needed was to make Kat upset in any way though I was nervous how she would handle being back in that house again after so long.
“Katy, Katy, Katy. You’re about to shit your shorts.” Branch taunted Kat, purposely to get to me. I flipped him my middle finger.
My mom tossed a dish rag in his direction. “Cut it out. You aren’t kids anymore. Let your brother have his moment for once.”
When I walked up to Kat and extended my hand, it was obvious she knew something major was about to happen. “Come with me,” I requested.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
“Close your eyes.”
Just to make sure she didn’t peek, I tied a handkerchief over her eyes to prevent her from seeing anything. “Seriously, what are you doing? Why can’t you show me inside?”
I kept pulling her along, walking her out of the house. “I have some surprises for you. The first one is that I wanted to tell you that I got a job. It’s a good one, Kat. I won’t ever have to travel and I’ll be home for dinner every night.”
We came to a stop as we were facing the front of her childhood home. “The next surprise you may not like, but I want you to hear me out before you say anything. I’ve spent a lot of time and money on it, but if you don’t like it, for any reason, I won’t get angry. Branch said he’d take it off of our hands.”
“Is it a car? Did you buy me a new car?”
I kept walking her toward the house, spinning her a few times to confuse her. Once we were standing at the threshold, I loosened the fabric from her eyes.