“Yep.”
“Then, yes. That’s exactly what it looked like,” I say, looking up at him. “Looks like our friends might need our support.”
West turns into me, smiling as his arms lock around my back.
“Good thing I like doing stuff with you.” He smiles.
“Thatisgood.” I take off his hat, spin it backwards, then set it back on his head. “Because I love doing life with you.”
14 months later
I don’t know if my heart is racing with excitement or nerves. Aurora, Maevyn, and I touched down in Tromso, Norway, nine hours ago, heading straight to our hotel to dump our bags, put on a third layer of clothing, and get straight into sightseeing.
We fed reindeer. Never in my life did I think I’d cross that off my bucket list, and now, thanks to Aurora, I can’t stop singing damnFrozensongs. Actually, it’s more like my mind can’t unhear her singingFrozensongs off-key. But I don’t really care, not when I’m here with my two best girls.
After seeing the reindeer, we stopped at a tiny, yellow pop-up bar in the heart of downtown that sold hot dogs and hot chocolates. I think I’ll be taking ten kilos back home with us, with the amount I’m drinking just to keep warm.
“How long do you think until we see them?” Aurora asks, tipping her head back to the dark sky above.
After two hours on the bus, we’ve now been sitting around a fire with our tour group for another hour, waiting, hoping to see the Northern Lights. I bought the airline tickets for them as their Christmas present last year, then together, we planned the rest of the trip. Maevyn’s pole studio opened earlier in the year, and I didn’t want to take her away when she was still settling into that. Plus, I wanted to give us a bit more time together before I was ready to enact the second part of my plan for bringing them here.
Maevyn and I have been together for over a year now. I moved in with her and Aurora a few weeks after Callie had her daughter, Navie. Maevyn’s lease runs out in three months, and we’re thinking of buying something together, something that fits the life we’re building.
I can’t even remember what my days looked like before her. My world has been altered to fit with them; doing school pickups, self-defence classes as a family, Sunday morning breakfasts with my parents. Lately, Aurora keeps referring to me asDad. She hasn’t done it to my face yet, but I’ve heard her on the phone or when she says goodbye to her friends at school.
And that’s why I’m shitting bricks right now. I’m waiting for these damn lights to appear so I can take the cookies hidden in my twelve ply snow suit and ask Aurora to be my daughter, and Maevyn to be my wife.
“I don’t know, sweetie,” I say. “It’s not guaranteed. We gotta cross our fingers we get lucky.” If not, I’ll be waiting outside in the two-degree cold every night we’re here until I see them. I’ve been envisioning this proposal for almost a year.
“I’ve been trying to mentally prepare myself for this cold,” Maevyn says, clutching her mug of hot cocoa. “But being Australian truly does condition you for warmer climates.”
I tighten my arms around her, pulling her back to my chest. “Maybe our next trip can be somewhere tropical.” I run my nose along her jaw, making her flinch and squeal from the cold, but it only sends her burrowing into me further, my favourite place to keep her. “Fiji or the Bahamas? I still haven’t swum with sharks.”
“Well, you have fun doing that.”
“You’d make me go by myself?”
Maevyn looks over her shoulder at me, smiling before the ease is replaced with wonder. “The lights! The lights!”
She scrambles up from between my legs, and we all turn to see the faint green lights striking the dark sky. Our tiny group is silent at first as we all marvel at the phenomenon, but as themoments pass, the lights grow brighter until they almost look neon.
“Mum, are you okay?”
My head whips to Maevyn, seeing her eyes shining as she holds her gloved hands to her face in awe. I wrap an arm behind her shoulders, rubbing up and down, before I bring my hand to her chin, tilting up so I can kiss her, soft and light.
“Aurora,” I call and nod my head for her to stand closer, then I reach into my pocket. “I brought something for us.”
Maevyn wraps an arm around her daughter and uses her other hand to swipe away the tears. I turn away slightly so I can sort through the individually labelled ziplock bags I have each of our cookies stored in. I had Liv make them for me. She spent weeks practising to ensure she got them perfect, considering one of them would have an engagement ring going inside.
I can hear my heart beating in my ears, and there’s a strong likelihood I’m going to bring my dinner back up, but I still turn back, and with shaking hands, I hand them their cookies.
Aurora yelps delightedly. “You brought cookies to commemorate this?”
“It’s an important moment.” My eyes flick to Maevyn’s. “Together?”
She nods, and we all wait until we’ve got our hands in place before cracking them open.
As soon as I see Maevyn’s hands move, I drop down to one knee, catching the exact moment she realises what’s happening. Almost instantly, steady tears fall down her cheeks.
