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When he asks. Not if he asks.
My heart squealed and my mind swooned. Ceecee looked down at the table, her mind calculating. “So when you get married, that would make you my stepmom, right?”
Heart warm, I smiled down at her. “Yes, honey, it would.”
She breathed, “Cool,” and it sucker-punched me right in the gut. She wanted me to be her stepmom. Truth is, I was ready for it, even then. And one day, maybe we’d add another baby to the mix. When it came to Max and Ceecee, it came naturally. I trusted my gut and knew that whatever difficulties we faced, we’d do it together as a team. As a family.
Eyes smiling, Max’s arms tighten around my waist. “Never taking it off? Really? Never ever?”
I press a soft kiss to his cheek and promise, “Never ever.”
***
Max
Three months later…
This fuckin’ ring is burning a hole in my pocket. Proposing at a family dinner is probably not the way I should be doing this. Helena walks around my mother’s kitchen counter, holding two bowls of salad. As she passes me, she leans up, and instinctively, I lower my lips to hers for a quick kiss. When we separate, she winks at me. And I feel it in my cock. I can’t do this any longer. I can’t wait. I need to ask her to marry me. I need her to say yes. I need to make sure she’ll be with me forever.
I just need her.
Mama steps out of the pantry and calls out, “Dinner’s ready! Everyone out!” She finds my eyes as everyone moves out, and winks at me. Of course I had to tell my mom. She’d box my ears if I didn’t. To say she’s excited about Helena becoming a real member of our family is an understatement. There was a moment there when I thought Mom wanted to propose on my behalf.
Hell, I even called Helena’s family to ask permission. It seems it wasn’t just her dad’s permission I needed to get. I needed permission from them all. Including Asher. After a half-hour over-the-phone presentation on why I would make a good son-in-law, Helena’s dad gave me his blessing and I was good to go.
I take a deep breath and make my way outside to find Nat sitting on one side of Lena, and Ceecee sitting on the other side, while Lena and Nat feed Nat and Asher’s new babies, Willow and Daniel, AKA Low and Danny.
My brow bunches. That wasn’t part of the plan. I need to be sitting next to her to propose. I find an empty seat beside Nik and my mom. I sit there with a pout.
Now what?
Watching Lena feed Willow is something else. She looks down at the baby girl like she’s the most precious thing in the world. A vision of Lena holding a bundle with dark brown hair, her pouting lips, and my golden eyes flashes before me. I smile to myself.
Everyone works around me, filling their plates, but I can’t take my eyes off of her. When Ash steals Willow from her clutches, she sulks. My smile deepens. She stands, filling Ceecee’s plate, and when she’s done, she places the plate in front of Ceecee, smooths down my baby girl’s hair, and kisses her head. My smile turns into a grin.
Lifting her own plate, she starts piling food on it, and before I realize what I’m doing, I stand, reaching into my pocket. From across the table, I open the ring box and hold it out. Helena continues to fill her plate. Smiling like a damn fool, I ask loudly, “Helena, will you marry me?”
A few feminine gasps, then silence surrounds us. Pausing mid-salad-scoop, she looks over the table at me, stunned. Looking down at the ring, she recovers quickly. With a small shrug, she utters, “Uh, sure.” Then she smiles u
p at me. “Pass the potato salad, babe?”
I smile so hard my cheeks hurt. “Of course, cupcake.” Placing the open ring box on the table, I pick up the bowl of potato salad and hand it to her. She takes it, biting her lip to hide her smile. A small round of applause, some cheers, and then everyone continues what they were doing. We take our seats on opposite sides of the table, smiling at each other like a couple of clowns.
She mouths, ‘Love you.’
I mouth back, ‘Love you more.’
And I do.
I really do.
Later that night, Ceecee and I lounge around on the sofa, while Helena makes our celebratory banana splits. I turn to my daughter and watch her a moment before asking, “You happy, baby?”
Ceecee turns to me, smiling. “Yeah, I am.”
I nod. “That’s all I need to hear.”
We continue to watch in silence before Ceecee asks a hushed, “Am I going to have brothers and sisters?”
