“You were stalling me deliberately,” London accused, laughter in her voice.
“Do you really think I’m such a bad friend that I’d ask you to help me online shop for my baby’s nursery on your birthday?”
London giggled harder. “I thought it was a bonding moment.”
Soon my wife was surrounded by everyone wishing her individual happy birthdays. It was difficult to order any kind of takeout here, so we’d bought what constituted as party food from the bakery and mini snacks from the supermarket wecould heat up in the oven. Angus, despite being younger than Kelly, followed my daughter around, clinging onto the only other person in the group even close to his age. Akiva went out onto the deck, lying down, face between her paws, eyes flickering drowsily as she stayed out of the way of the noise.
When it was time for cake, we all sang “Happy Birthday” loudly and out of tune, much to London’s delight, and she spluttered everywhere while blowing out the candles when Forde announced, “Now the dirty bastard is only ten years older than you!”
“Children present.” Quinn smacked Forde across the back of the head, much to my gratification.
“Ouch.” Forde rubbed at the injury, but he still wore a shit-eating grin.
Tierney raised her glass of water to the mechanic. “Hey, I highly recommend an age gap.”
“Forde has a problem with those.” Cammie shot him a sharp look before she clapped her hands to distract everyone. “Now presents!”
“I thought we were having cake?” Angus whined. “You can’t bring out a cake and then just leave it. Cake feels sad until it’s in your tummy.”
Quinn’s, as well as everyone else’s, shoulders shook with their constrained laughter.
“Angus, you really need to stop anthropomorphizing baked goods,” Taran teased, bending down to press an affectionate kiss to the top of his head.
“What does anthromorizing mean?” Angus wrinkled his nose in confusion.
“Anthropomorphizing. It means to attribute human characteristics to things that aren’t human.”
“Nah.” Her soon-to-be stepson turned back to the cake. “I can tell it wants me to eat it. If that makes it human, I don’t know what else to tell you.”
London magnanimously cut Angus the first piece.
“Nowpresents!” Kelly hurried over to the pile on the dining table and rushed back into the kitchen with hers in hand. “Happy birthday, London.”
London’s expression was amazed and maybe even a little shy as she took the gift from Kelly. She was delighted with the card and book and hugged my daughter hard, whispering something in her ear. Kelly’s cheeks turned red, but whatever London said it made my daughter smile as she stepped back to let everyone else hand over their gifts.
I waited until London had opened everything from everyone else, and then I’d quietly taken her hand to lead her out onto the deck for privacy. Akiva opened her eyes, flicking us a somewhat annoyed look at disrupting her peace, so I led London farther down the balcony.
The sound of the sea whooshing gently in the background was the perfect soundtrack to the moment. It had been a dry, clear day, and the sun hung low, casting a golden glow across London’s face. It caught the flecks of gold in her turquoise eyes, and she placed a hand above them to shield them from the blinding sun.
I took hold of her waist, turning her ever so slightly so her back was to the sun entirely.
“Thank you for my party.” Her plump lips twitched and then she looked past my shoulder to check something. Seemingly satisfied with whatever she found, London pressed her body into mine, my blood instantly heating. “I can’t wait to be alone with you tonight so I can thank you properly.”
Those words were enough to send all that hot blood southward. I groaned and eased her gently away. “Please don’t.I think it might be inappropriate if I walk back in there with a stiffy.”
London burst out laughing, bowing her head against my chest. Love expanded so big in my heart, it almost felt uncontainable. Smoothing a hand over her hair, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and whispered, “I have a gift for you. I wanted you to open it in private.”
Her head popped back up comically fast, and I couldn’t help but steal a quick kiss. I loved how flushed the encounter left her, despite how brief it had been.
Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out the velvet ring box.
London’s lips parted in shock.
“It feels a bit of a travesty that you never got a proper engagement ring.”
Her breath hitched, her gaze flying to mine. “Murray … are you sure?”
Heart racing hard, I opened the box, watching her expression light up. “We’re married, London. We can take our relationship as slow as you need, but we are still legally married. Andmy wifedeserves an engagement ring.”
