“Maybe a mix.”
“A mix would be good,” she gushes, and then she kisses my shoulder. “We’re really doing this.”
I mock. “Kiska, we’ve been doing this for a while.”
She exhales lightly. “We can move in next week.”
My heart skips a beat. “Really?”
“Really,” she says softly, leaning into me. “I want to move in too. I hate my apartment.”
I sigh dramatically. “Me too!”
She laughs as she wraps her arms around me.
“I’m ready to start our lives here.”
“Agreed,” she says, and I lean my head to hers as we look out the windows into the huge backyard. We plan to put a massive swing set back there. When I was growing up, that was all I wanted. Somewhere to play. And now that I have the chance to give that to my child and play with them, I’m stoked. I kiss Harper’s temple as our future plays out in my head.
I can’t wait.
“Shea and Elli found a place.”
“Good,” I say as my grin grows. “I know he was stressing.”
“Yeah, she was too. Driving me nuts.”
I chuckle softly. “You know he told me he’s thinking of asking her to marry him.”
Harper’s eyes widen as she looks up at me. “No way!”
“Yeah, I sent him to Piper.”
She points to me. “Good looking out. My sister is broke. That’s going to be a great commission.”
I laugh. “I think she’s doing just fine after the ring she sold me.”
Gone is the grin, and soon, her eyes widen. “I’m sorry, what?”
Her grin may be gone, but mine is just widening more. “She sold me a pretty badass ring. It’s huge.”
Harper just blinks.
“Wanna see it?”
“For real?”
I feel tears burning my eyes. I’ve been waiting for this moment, and to be honest, I didn’t realize this was it. I thought we’d be at a dinner or on a beach or something. I don’t know. Yet here we are. With emotion clogging in my throat, I say, “For real.”
Harper watches as I reach into my pocket, pulling out my wallet. I open the change section and take out the ring I’ve been carrying around, waiting for the right time to pull it out and ask this woman to be mine for the rest of my life. Her eyes fill with tears at the sight of the 2.5-carat round diamond that sits exceptionally well on a diamond-studded gold band.
She covers her mouth, but the sob still escapes. “Oh, Jakob.”
I let her go, slowly lowering to the floor on one knee. “Harper,” I start, but then the emotion takes over. “I fucking love you. I love all of you, and I want to make a life with you. I want to raise kids with you, I want to make this house a home with you, I want to grow old with you, and then I want to die beside you. Marry me, Harper. Please make all those hopes and dreams reality.”
She only nods before she throws herself into me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I fall back from the force of her embrace, holding her close as our lips meet. Her little bump presses into my gut, and love explodes inside me. We are doing it. We are living the life we are making.
When she pulls back, her eyes sparkling with tears and adoration, I hold her tighter. “Tomorrow.”
I furrow my brow. “Huh?”
“Tomorrow. I wanna get married tomorrow.”
I laugh. “For real?”
She smiles, her eyes bright. “For real! Something small, just us and Shea and Elli. I don’t want a huge to-do. I just want us.”
My body vibrates with excitement. “Yes. Fuck yes.”
She squeals as our lips meet once more—and once more, I feel as if I have fallen in love with her all over again.
If this is how it’s gonna be the rest of my life, I am about to be one happy dude.
We Won’t Break Up, Will We?
Harper
As I lie against Jakob’s ribs, he moves his fingers through my hair while I hold my hand up, admiring my gorgeous ring. He picked the most classic, most breathtaking ring I have ever seen in my life. I’d never thought about what I wanted my ring to look like, but this right here, this is it. While I lie here, I can’t believe this is where I am. I was so resistant to starting something with him. I always felt he cared more for me than I did him, but that’s not the case anymore. I think everything changed when he got hurt. That was the turning point in our relationship. The moment I realized I couldn’t live without him.
I stroke my hand over my growing belly and sigh softly. When Jakob’s hand covers mine, I smile as I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are closed, and he looks so peaceful. Things are progressing so wonderfully for us. The movers are coming at the end of the week, and we’ll be moved in before he leaves for his next week-long trip. The Assassins are making a huge push for the play-offs. They’re in third right now, and they really want to end in first so they’ll play the last seed and then have home-ice advantage. I laugh at myself in surprise; I’m shocked by my hockey knowledge, but it comes with the player. Jakob has made sure I know everything, and I don’t resist him. I let it happen because I care. I care about his job—and about him.
Crazy how things change.
What’s really crazy is that when he gets back, he’ll come home to our home. We’ll find out what we’re having soon, and then it will be baby room time. I was terrified early in the pregnancy, but I feel so great now. I feel the baby is secure inside me and not going anywhere. I never was able to fall in love with my baby before, but now, I am so totally and helplessly in love with it that the thought of losing it nearly ruins me. Jakob, being the wonderful man he is, won’t let me. He’s too damn positive, and I’m so thankful for that.
I can’t help but smile. This life, all this, is what I thought I never wanted, but then he came along.
He turned my world upside down.
Jakob slides his hand along my jaw, cupping my chin before running his thumb over my lip. “Did you call Elli?”
“Not yet. I am waiting for the minister to get back to me.”
He lies there, a serene look on his gorgeous face as I gaze at him. “I tried calling Shea, but he isn’t answering.”
“That’s odd. Usually he answers, huh?”
“Yeah,” he says, but he doesn’t seem very worried. “So, we’re thinking tomorrow?”
“I think so, depending on the minister’s schedule.”
“Cool.” He slips his fingers into my hair. “And we’re sure we don’t want our parents there?”
I smile. “Do you want your mom and dad?”
He opens his eyes then, and he looks sheepish as he says, “I kinda do.”
I smile. I love this man. “Okay, we’ll plan for Friday morning, so it gives everyone time to come.”
He leans up, kissing me on the lips. “Thank you.”
I kiss him back, and he grins against my mouth. When he lies back, he exhales and says, “I feel we should name the boy Jakob Junior.”
I scowl. “No way. I hate Juniors.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know,” I say, dialing Elli’s number. It goes straight to voice mail. Weird. “I mean, he has your last name, and he’ll carry that on. Why do we need to give him your first name?”
He shrugs. “Fine, then something Russian.”
I nod. “I can go with that.” I dial Elli’s number once more, thinking maybe the first time was a fluke. “I want Allison for a girl, though.”
“Allison?” he asks. This time, it does ring, but then it goes to voice mail. Again, weird.
“Yeah, Ally for short,” I say, typing out a message to Elli.
“Why?”
I grin. “When Elli and I were younger and had our baby dolls, mine was always Ally and hers was always Posey. It reminds me of that friendship, and I want to honor that. You can pick the middle name, though,” I say with a wink, and he laughs.
“That’s sweet. Special, even. I’m good with it.”
I beam. “You’re the best,” I say, and finally, Elli answers.
“Harper, not right now.”
Oh no, something is wrong. I sit up quickly, holding my stomach as I ask, “Are you okay? You sound bad. Do you need me—”
“No, I’m—” She pauses as a sob escapes her. “I saw Shea and Victoria kissing.”
My eyes widen, and I actually gasp. “No way.” Shea? Kiss Elli’s sister, Victoria? I mean, she is gorgeous, model-skinny and all that, but I thought Shea was better than that. I thought he loved Elli. Surely this is a joke. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! I saw them, Harper!”
My stomach drops. I can’t believe it. For a solid five minutes, she sobs. She can’t speak, and I don’t ask her to. I just listen to her cry, slowly but surely breaking my heart.
“Can I come over?”
“No, I’m a mess.”
“I don’t care,” I say, getting up and putting my shoes on. “I’m coming.”
“No. Please, just let me be. I need to breathe. I need to cry, and I don’t want anyone here for that.”
I bite my lip. “Elli, I can bring over candy and food. We can binge and talk shit.”
Another round of sobs. “I can’t. Not right now. I need to be alone.”