“We’ll help out on our days off, of course. Gladly,” Leo says.
I’m thankful for their unending support, but I still sense a tension, just scratching beneath the surface. They stealglances at each other. They fidget in their seats a little too much.
My guys are confident pillars of the community, my dashing firemen, my heroes through and through. Yet I’m seeing a side of them that I haven’t seen before.
“Okay, what is it?” I ask when the silence becomes too much.
“What do you mean?” Dax replies, his eyebrows arched in confusion.
I love the way the setting sun casts an amber glow across his handsome face, golden specks dancing in his salt-and-pepper beard as he looks at me. The steel in his eyes softens as I curl my lips into a smile.
“Come on, there’s something going on,” I say. “I’m not sure what it is, but you three are fidgety. It’s unlike you.”
“Fidgety,” Dax repeats, then glances at Leo and Beck. “Fidgety, she says.”
“I would’ve gone for nervous,” Leo replies, his dark eyes glued to mine.
Now I’m the one confused. “Nervous? What could you possibly be nervous about? I’m the one who’s going to be pushing out two babies soon. I’m going to be—what was the term again—ah, yes, a kept woman,” I laugh. “I’m not used to unemployment, my darlings.”
“You’re having twins in a few months,” Beck reminds me. “Pretty sure unemployment should be the least of your concerns, especially since we’re building a family together here.”
“My bad,” I shoot back. “You’re absolutely right.”
“For what it’s worth, your independence is one of the things we love most about you,” Dax says.
“And there are so many things that we love about you, baby,” Leo adds.
I lose my breath as Dax takes out a small blue velvet box. His strong hands tremble ever so slightly as he opens it. It’s a simple gesture fraught with so much meaning that I already know what’s going to happen.
“And because we love you, because we love every single facet that makes you so wonderfully you, we figured we’d make it official. As official as the law will allow us, anyway,” Dax says.
“What are you saying?” I whisper, my heart throbbing, my pulse galloping beyond my control as I take it all in.
The ring is gorgeous. A pear-shaped diamond crowned by tiny sapphires and mounted on a slim and elegant white gold band. My fingers tingle with excitement as I stare at it for what feels like forever, the silence between us growing thick and heavy.
Anticipation builds, and I know there’s a question coming.
I’ve already got my answer.
“Will you marry—” Dax is about to ask, but the word escapes before I can even register it.
“YES.”
The guys look at me for a second, then at each other before they burst into laughter.
“Can you let me ask the full question first?” Dax says.
“Whatever it is, it’s got everything to do with spending therest of my life with you. It’s a resounding yes, obviously,” I reply, doubling down since I’ve already jumped on this track.
“Will you marry us?” he asks anyway.
“Yes. Three times, yes. A thousand times, yes,” I insist.
Beck eagerly takes the ring out of its velvety nest, blooming with joy as he puts it on my finger, then kisses me. Deeply, wholeheartedly, fully. I feel his every emotion transferring from his lips to mine, wrapping my very soul in the comfort of his love.
I kiss him back with everything I have. I give all my love, giving every unspoken word a chance to seep into his body, my energy flowing freely as I welcome this new chapter of my already-peculiar life.
“I love you so much it hurts,” I tell Leo as he comes in for his kiss.
