“Yes, you impossible man. Of course it’s a yes,” she says, her voice rich with love. “Yes, Adrian, I will marry you.”
Relief so profound I feel it in my bones washes through me. I slide the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly. I measured one of her rings while she was sleeping one night. A risk, but one that paid off.
She stares at it for a second, then reaches for me with both hands.
“Get up before you hurt yourself.”
“I am trying to have a moment.”
“You can have a moment standing.”
I rise carefully.
“For various reasons, I can’t pick you up,” I say, making her laugh.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
I happily oblige.
The kiss is salty from her tears, soft at first, then not soft at all.
I wrap one arm around her waist and one hand over her stomach, holding both of them against me as the last of the evening light moves over the garden.
When she pulls back, her eyes are still wet, but her smile is bright enough to make my chest ache.
She takes my hand and presses it to her stomach. There’s a firm little kick against my palm.
It never gets old. It’s never not amazing.
I have no words for this.
After months, I still have no words.
For a moment, we stand in the garden where I almost died and feel our child move between us.
The place does not feel like death now.
Behind us, a speaker crackles.
“First vehicle at the gate,” Andrew says.
“Clear them through,” I say absently.
“My family is going to freak,” she says.
I groan, thinking of Teresa’s reaction.
The speaker crackles again.
Then Andrew says, “Also, congratulations.”
I look toward the nearest camera.
Caterina turns too.
Her mouth falls open, and her face turns red. “I forgot about the cameras. Oh, my God, how many people saw that?”
I smile and take her hand to start walking her back inside.
