Noel giggled and bounced around. “Hurwee, Daddy! Pwease!”
Turning to Emma, I sighed. “This is what life would be like if you agreed to be…”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my grandmother’s engagement ring I had asked my mother for yesterday. Opening the box, I held it out. Emma’s eyes grew wide, and tears instantly sprang free.
“My wife and Noel’s mother.”
A hand slowly came up to Emma’s mouth and she let out a sob.
“It’s fast. Supersonic fast.”
Her eyes lifted and met mine. A beautiful smile spread across her face as she softly said, “You jump, I jump.”
“Me too! I jump too!” Noel said as she stood and promptly started to jump.
Emma threw herself into my body and wrapped her arms around my neck. I fell back and Noel jumped onto both of us.
“What is going on here?” my mother asked from the kitchen where she was setting food down on the counter.
“Gwammy! Em is gonna be my new mommy!”
My mother looked at all three of us piled on top of each other and laughed. “What a beautiful way to start Christmas Day!”
“When can you be my mommy?” Noel asked as she wrapped her arms around Emma’s neck.
“Um, I don’t know,” Emma replied as she looked at me.
“The sooner the better.”
“Harrison. What if Emma wants to have a big wedding?” my mother asked.
“I don’t,” Emma quickly said. “I want something small, with just friends and family.”
She turned to my mother. “Will you help me plan something?”
Mom’s face lit up. “You tell me when and where, and I’ll take care of whatever you want.”
“Tomorrow!” Noel yelled out as we all started to laugh.
“How about we see what Santa brought first, then we’ll talk about it,” I suggested.
Noel scrambled off Emma’s lap and stood in front of the tree. Putting her finger to her mouth, she sighed dramatically. “Where to start!”
Ipaced back and forth while Preston, Doug, and Finn, Preston’s brother and another firefighter, sat and watched me.
“This is why I’m never getting married,” Finn stated as Doug laughed.
Preston stood. “Dude, you’re making me feel sick. Stop pacing the floor like that.”
“I can’t help it. What if we’re moving too fast? Am I doing the right thing for Noel? No, I know I am. But maybe we’re movingtoo fast? No, I want to marry Emma with all my heart and soul. Are we moving too fast?”
When I looked at my three friends, they stared at me, each with a different expression. Preston looked confused. Doug looked amused, and Finn, he flat out looked terrified.
“Yep, I’m never getting married,” Finn stated once again.
“When the right woman comes along, Finn, you’re going to change your mind,” Doug stated.
Pointing to me, Finn said, “If I act like that…no, thank you.”
