Quarterback's Secret Baby(96)

It was the box that changed my mental state from confused to weepy to overwhelmed with emotion in about three seconds flat. Was it really happening? Was he really doing what I thought he was doing?

"You - uh, I think you need to stand up for this part," he said, grinning and helping me to my feet.

My knees were shaking. So was my voice. "I don't - Kaden, I don't think I can stand up."

He looked up at me as he knelt back down. "Yes you can."

And because Kaden Barlow said I could stand up, because I loved him and believed in him, I could. He opened the small box as I watched, squinting as the setting sun caught the diamond just right, temporarily dazzling me.

"Oh my God, Kaden," I breathed. "Oh my God..."

"Hold it together, Tasha. Just - I need to say this. Let me say this."

I reached down and cupped his face in my hands, blinking furiously as the tears threatened to blur my vision. "OK," I told him, fighting to stay in control. "OK, Kaden."

"I love you, Natasha Greeley. That's the first thing I need to say. I love you completely. And you love me, I know you do. Whatever roadblocks life has given us or will give us, we can overcome them together. I want you to be happy and fulfilled and to live your life knowing you are loved, that I am always going to be there to catch you if you stumble. You're the only one there has ever been for me. Even if you say no, I want you to know that this is something I have to do. I can't live the rest of my life knowing I didn't even try. Will you marry me?"

"Yes," I said, more of a breath than a word, a response that came without any need to ponder it or turn it over and over and over in my head. Because Kaden was right - we could overcome the things that stood in our way. Love is precious - I'd always known it but the past few years had shown me in a way intellectual knowledge couldn't.

He stared up at me for a good few seconds before speaking again. "What?"

"Yes," I said again, louder that time. "Yes, Kaden. Yes, yes, yes. A thousand, billion times yes."

And then he took my trembling hand in his steady one and slipped the ring onto my finger. I curled my fingers, laughing with joy. "It's too big!"

"I know it is - the jeweler said we can easily have it resized."

I knelt down and we wrapped our arms around each other tightly, fiercely. Who knows how long we stayed there, clinging to each other in the dry, yellow grass, our hearts pounding with love. When we finally pulled away enough to look at each other we were both smiling so hard I thought our faces would break.

"Did we just do that?" I asked.

"We did," Kaden responded. "We fucking did. And now we have to do the rest. Together."

We got back into the car and I looked over at him as he maneuvered it backward down to the dirt road we'd driven in on, overwhelmed with love. I knew he wasn't glowing, but he seemed to be. All the sunshine in the universe seemed to be shining on him, my perfect, patient, gorgeous man.

"I love you," I said, still laughing, as we began the drive back into town. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm going to explode with it, Kaden. I'm just going to keep saying it, I think."

"Good. Now, where are we going? Back to your house to tell your family?"

I hadn't even thought about that and my first instinctual response was to say no, to institute some process of easing them into it. But that was the past me, always worried, always anticipating a bad reaction.

"Yes," I replied, brave because Kaden loved me and his love gave me the freedom to try on this new bravery. "Let's tell them."

Alisha greeted me at the door with Henry in her arms and immediately knew something was up.

"Why are you two grinning like a couple of fools?" She asked, handing Henry to me. "He's fussy - wondering where mommy is. Probably wondering where daddy is, too."

I handed my fiancé his son. "I'm going to help Alisha with dinner. I'll bring you his bottle."

When dinner was ready and we were all getting seated around the table, Rosa looked at me and then, slowly, over at Kaden.

"Why are they so happy?" She asked, turning to Alisha and Ray.

"I don't know," Alisha replied, "maybe they just won the lottery?"

I'd been thinking we would wait until after dinner but Kaden, holding a content Henry on his lap, spoke up: "Nah, it's better than that."

That got everyone's attention. All eyes were on us.

"Daddy?" Rosa asked, turning to Ray. "What's a lottery?"

"How about I tell you about that later?" He replied. "I think auntie Tash and Kaden have something to tell us."

Did they know? I could see the anticipation on all the faces around the table. Kaden pushed his chair back and stood up and I heard CeeCee make a small, excited noise.