“Everything moved so fast,” I say.
“Right? Who would have thought you would move in with me?”
“I thought I’d move in with you and you’d realize living with a kid isn’t what you wanted.” I took a big risk by moving in with him. It felt like I was stepping into a new world, one filled with many uncertainties. But I didn’t want that to hold me back, especially with the way Liam has always been with Amari.
He looks at me with a thoughtful expression. “You know I love Amari. I see her as my own.”
I take a bite of my cracker. “That’s what I love about you.” I lean in closer and take a sip of my wine. “What’s next for us?”
“Hmm. Something.”
“Like what?”
“You’ll have to wait and see,” he says, taking a sip of his wine.
Apingcomes through my phone.
Kai: Hey!
Me: Hi. Is Amari okay?
I stare downat my phone, watching the three little dots as Kai texts back. I hope nothing is wrong with Amari.
“Who is it?” Liam asks.
“Kai.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Not sure yet,” I tell him, my heart rate picking up speed as I wait.
Kai: Everything is fine. I just wanted to say hi.
I turnmy phone on silent and set it aside. I have no doubt Amari told him we go on dates when she’s with him. She’s asked me what Liam and I do when she’s not home. Is he trying to ruin the date? Lately, I never know what I’m going to get from Kai. Even Liam has been questioning him, and he’s never questioned him before.
“Everything good?”
“Yeah.”
After an hour of eating and talking, we cleaned up the area. Now, I’m resting on Liam’s arm, looking up at the star-filled sky. The sound of crickets fills the night air, creating a peaceful, quiet night.
Liam clears his throat. “So…” He pauses for a minute. “Have you ever wanted to get married?”
His question leaves me frozen in place, taken aback. I knew that this question was going to come. I just didn’t think it would come this soon. We’re barely coming up on a year of meeting. Can you truly know someone well enough to say yes to a question like that? So soon?
“Yes. I’ve always thought about marriage,” I say. Now, thinking about it, my heart skips a beat. Does he want to marry me?
“Do you want more kids?” he asks.
“Yes. I’ve always wanted my kids close in age, but given that I had Amari so young, I wasn’t about to pop out more kids as a teen—or even in my early twenties. What’s with all thesequestions?” Obviously, I know why he’s asking. I just want to know what he has to say.
“I’ve been thinking about our future together and wanted to know where you stand on important topics like these.”
“Oh. Well, how about you? Do you want to get married?” I say, tilting my head toward him and gazing into his green eyes.
He glances down at me. “Of course. I thought I’d be married with at least one kid by now, but school took a lot of time.”
Now that we’re talking about this, I’m wondering why we never talked about this sooner. I guess we were so caught in the moment of our relationship that we never stopped to think about the future. It was always something that was on my mind when I was dating, since I already had a kid. Liam was so different and laid back; I never stressed about this kind of stuff.
