“You’re welcome. I thought we could put pictures of our family inside. I already added one from the baby’s sonogram.”
She rushed over to me and threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you. And thanks for making my mom so happy.”
My heart swelled with happiness, and I only hoped my proposal to Alexis would go as well. Sophia didn’t seem to care that I was younger than her mom, or her former nanny; she loved me. And I was relieved that most of the kids at her school didn’t seem to care either. If they’d teased Sophia about it, she certainly hadn’t mentioned it to Alexis or me.
When I dropped Sophia off at Brooklyn’s, she stood at the door and gave me two thumbs up. The entire drive home, I rehearsed my speech, relieved to find Alexis still awake.
“Hey.” She glanced at me over the back of the couch, typing something on her laptop. “Did you have a good time?”
She was already in her pajamas, and I removed my suit jacket and tie before heading over to the couch.Christina on the Coastplayed in the background, and I smiled to myself, thinking it was a good omen.
I grinned. “Always.”
“I think it’s super sweet that you took Sophia on a date. I bet she absolutely loved it.”
I nodded. “I think she had fun. I definitely did.”
“Let me just finish this email about the Miller property,” she said, returning her attention to her laptop.
Despite having to cut the showing short because of Sophia’s broken wrist, Alexis had sold the twenty-million-dollar property. It was closing soon, and I was so proud of her. And I knew having the extra money in the bank gave her a sense of security with the new baby coming.
When she shut the laptop, I sank down onto the cushions with a heavy sigh, hoping I wasn’t about to make a huge fool of myself. As long as she said yes, I didn’t really care.
“This,” I said, gesturing between us, “isn’t working for me.”
I hoped she’d remember those words, remember the night she’d spoken them. The night everything changed.
“Is it because I got mad at you for leaving the toilet seat up?” she asked, not looking away from the TV.
I shook my head. I couldn’t care less about that. I honestly felt bad I’d forgotten to put it down, but I was still getting used to living with a woman.
“If you want to redecorate so it feels more like ‘our’ home instead of ‘my’ home, I’m sure Lauren would be happy to help,” she said. “Oh man, look at their new pool.”
“Nope. That’s not it either.” I tried to school my face into a stern expression. Man, this was hard—hard to act like I was upset when I was bursting with excitement.
“Preston.” She lowered the volume on the TV and turned to face me. “What’s going on? I thought everything was great. Please, just talk to me. Whatever it is, we can find a solution.”
“This isn’t working because I want more. I don’t want to be just your boyfriend or your baby daddy. I want to be your husband.”
I knelt to the ground before her, smirking to myself when I heard her gasp. “I love you. I love our family, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
I reached into my pocket to pull out a small velvet box. I fumbled, nearly dropping it.
“Alexis Black, will you marry me?”
She stared at the rings for a moment without saying anything. All the while, my heart was pounding, blood whooshing through my ears.
“Oh my gosh.” She held her hands to her mouth. “Those rings are…stunning.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I grinned, pleased that she was so taken with the stacking rings I’d chosen. I removed the rose gold band with diamonds from the box and held it up. “This one represents my love for Sophia. She gave me her blessing, by the way.”
She held out her left hand, presenting it to me so I could slide the ring on. A tear fell down her cheek, and I wiped it away with my thumb.
“This one,” I said, holding up the black gold band with diamonds. “Represents my love for you. I chose it not only because of your last name, but because black is required for all the other colors to have depth and variation of hue. Much like you give depth and richness to each of our lives.”
I slid it onto her finger before removing the final ring, a white gold band with diamonds inlaid in a scalloped edge. “And this one is for our child—our future. It represents the hope you’ve given me.”
She cupped my cheeks. “Every time I think I couldn’t possibly love you more, you go and do something like this.” She laughed through her tears. “I love you. I’m so incredibly in love with you. And yes, I absolutely will marry you.”
