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I had given Dusty a squeeze and followed my mother who immediately turned around and informed me that I better get my woman a ring.
So, I had a ring in my pocket.
And it was one year to the day that the carbon monoxide alarms rang, an event that had brought us together in the first place.
I was out in the hall, having just knocked.
She wouldn't check the peephole because she was expecting Bry.
And she was expecting Bry because he was in on it with me since I had not only asked her uncle, but him for permission when I finally got my shit together.
"Coming!" she called, sounding distracted. "I just have to get these cookies, damnit!" she hissed and I felt myself smile. She didn't curse often, but when she did it, it was with real flourish.
It was another minute before the door pulled open and I found her whole front covered in powdered sugar. There was a smear of it over her cheek as well.
And I knew just what kind of cookies she was making.
"Oh," she said, brows drawing together when she saw me.
I watched her as I lowered down by her feet, seeing her lips part, her gorgeous green eyes going wide with understanding.
"I thought about setting off an alarm," I admitted, making her lips turn up, "you know, for authenticity purposes," I added, reaching into my pocket for the ring- one that Fee and Lea had helped me pick out because 'men knew nothing about this kind of thing'. It was a simple halo diamond on a platinum band. Really, it did suit her perfectly.
"Ryan..." she said, her voice airy, but somehow heavy at the same time.
"Marry me," I said simply, reaching for her hand that was visibly shaking and sliding my ring on her finger.
Eight months later, she did.
After weeks of debating, she eventually thought it was best to just have a small family thing. So she, Fee, and Lea transformed my parents' backyard. We had a Justice of the Peace, family, Bry, and Lo from Hailstorm and that was it. And that was more than enough.Dusty- 2 years"It's such a crapshoot," Fee told me, climbing in the bed with me and pulling the blanket back from the baby's face. I was musing on what his eyes and hair would look like seeing as the eyes were a very dark blue that neither of us had and the doctors said were likely to change and he was almost bald. "I have two with green eyes and one with blue. The hair is different too."
It was a full day after I had given birth before Fee showed up because 'no new mom wants to be gawked at five minutes after having her vag sewn up with a pile of ice in her panties'. She also brought makeup which I had forgotten.
"I know you just gave birth, but everyone wants to look decent in their hospital pictures," she told me as she applied some mascara and concealer with expert hands. "Did you guys pick a name yet?"
"Danny," I supplied automatically. Easy. We actually had it picked out from the moment I knew I was pregnant. Danny, the only father I had ever known. I figured if we kept popping out boys, we would eventually pay homage to his father and then maybe even Bry.
"Love it," she declared, meaning it. While my uncle was never used to a big family dynamic like me, he had somehow fit in effortlessly with the Mallick clan. They were just... accepting. He came with me and that was all they needed to know to consider him family.
"I wish Eli..." I started, feeling the pang somewhere deep.
"I know," Fee said, looking sad.
Eli was always a heavy heart topic.
"You think he would let..."
"No," Fee cut me off, voice firm. She wasn't being cruel, just honest. And I knew she was right.
"Mark just lost a hundred bucks," I said, changing the topic to lighter things.
Mark was losing big on the baby betting department. He got the color of Shane and Lea's firstborn, Jason, wrong. Then he went ahead and got the bet on the sex of the next being a girl. It was twins and they were both boys, for which his brothers made him pay double.
"I think he just wants more girls in the family now," Fee said, smiling wistfully. Enough that I wondered if she was maybe reconsidering her 'three is more than enough Mallick offspring' idea.
"Then maybe he should start making some," I said with a smile. "He's got the girl now. What are they waiting for?"
"You know Mark," she said, shrugging.
And I did. Mark was the most go-with-the-flow of the brothers. He certainly would never plan on something like making babies. If it happened, it happened. Other than that- he was content with what he had.
