Page 91 of Falling Together
Before Erin could comprehend what she meant, Blair was down on one knee in front of the bench. “When you asked me to be your girlfriend two years ago, you told me that me, you, and Nolan were meant to be a family. I think it’s time we finally make that official.” Blair reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring box, which she opened to reveal the most gorgeous diamond ring Erin had ever seen. “Will you marry me, Erin Soon-to-be Breckenridge?”
“Yes! God, yes! Yes! Yes!” Tears poured from Erin’s eyes as Blair slipped the ring onto her finger. There was a time in her life when Erin truly believed she would never be able to feel this much joy again, but everything that fell apart had to happen so something so much better could fall together.
After the ring was on her finger, Erin brought her hands to Blair’s cheeks and pulled her close to kiss her. She kissed her as if it were just the two of them, because at that moment, it really felt like it was.
That was, until she heard a little voice yelling for her. “Mommy! Mommy! Did Bear ask you?”
Erin pulled away from the kiss but kept her hands on Blair’s cheeks. “You told him?”
There was a wide smile on Blair’s face and tears running down her cheeks as she nodded. “I had to make sure I had the blessing of the man of the house. Plus, I wanted to make sure he was ready for me to officially be his other mom.”
“Look, Mommy, I got a ring too.” Nolan brought his hand to a large wedding band that was hanging from a necklace around his neck.
“That’s so cool.” Erin ran her fingers over the ring then looked back at Blair. “You got this for him?”
Blair shrugged. “Igaveit to him, but it’s my dad’s ring. He got a new one a few years ago and was saving this for something special. We both agreed this was definitely a special occasion.”
Now, even more tears came to her eyes. When Erin started dating Blair, she didn’tjustget Blair. She got her whole family, along with the father she never had growing up. The fact that her dad would give his wedding band to Nolan meant more to her than she was sure he even realized.
“It’s perfect,” Erin said, her voice cracking as the tears continued. When she looked up, Blair’s dad and mom were standing in front of her, and her dad had a proud smile on his face. “Thank you so much for this. I’ll never be able to tell you how much it means to me.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Blair’s dad held his arms out toward her, and when Erin stood up, he wrapped her in a big hug. “You’re family. This wedding will make it official, but you have been from the beginning.”
“Now,I’mgoing to cry.”
Erin whipped around at the sound of her sister’s voice and found her mom and sister standing behind her, both with tears in their eyes. “What are you two doing here?”
April pointed at Blair. “Did you really think your future wife was going to propose without your family here? Speaking of which, Wyatt and the kids apologize for not being able to make it. Sports, you know.”
Erin didn’t quite understand it yet, but they were going to soon since they had just signed Nolan up for both T-ball and soccer to try to help him get out all of his extra energy. “I’m just so happy to have you two here,” she said before pulling both her mom and April into a tight hug.
The faint sounds of an ice cream truck had barely reached Erin’s ears when Nolan started to shout. “Ice cream! Ice cream! Let’s get ice cream! Pleaaaaase.”
Blair laughed. “It sounds like the king has spoken.”
Erin looked around at their group.Her family.“What do you all say? Celebratory ice cream?”
Blair’s dad took her mom’s hand. “Sounds good to us.”
Erin’s mom pointed toward the truck. “You three lead the way.”
Nolan stepped in front of Blair and reached his hands up. “Can I go on your shoulders?”
“Of course, buddy. You’re getting down once you have your ice cream, though,” Blair said with a laugh.
“Okay. Thanks, Bear.”
Erin laughed. Even though Nolan could pronounce Blair’s name correctly now, he still chose to call her Bear. “I feel like you’re going to be Bear for the rest of your life,” Erin said as Blair hoisted Nolan onto her shoulders.
“Kind of.” Blair smiled up at Nolan. “Wanna tell Mommy my new name?”
Nolan giggled and nodded his head a bunch of times. “She’s not just Bear anymore. She’s Mama Bear now.”
Blair’s eyes glimmered from the tears she was clearly trying to hold back. “Yeah. I’m Mama Bear.”
Blair held her hand out toward Erin and played with the ring on her finger as they held hands and walked. The ring that meant Erin got to spend the rest of her life with the amazing woman walking next to her. The woman carryingtheirson on her shoulders. This was everything Erin had spent her life searching for, but so much better than she could’ve ever imagined.
Three years later
