Coach steps back but rest his hands on my shoulders. “Need to let anything else out?”
“No. I don’t understand why he was here or what’ll come of it, but…I never thought I’d see him again. Hoped I wouldn’t at least.” I hang my head. “I told you I’d have happier stuff for you, and I wanted this day to be one of them.”
“I get it. You and Mia can still find a brighter spot for today and maybe it’ll recover some of it, but it’ll take a lot of good memories to really replace this one. The key is making ’em.”
I huff a weak laugh. “My daughter will never have to deal with this.”
“Repeat that for me.”
I repeat the words in my head at first and it truly nearly knocks me on my ass. “My daughter will never have to deal with this. Mia will never feel like I have power over her in our marriage. They will both always have me.”
He gives my shoulders a small shake before dropping his hands. “That feels good, doesn’t it? Knowing that the chain they’ve had for who knows how long is ending with you? It’s done.”
I nod and take one more deep breath. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it. You ready to go back downstairs?”
“I will be. I need to see Mia first.”
Coach gives me a nod and grabs the door handle. “I can send her up.”
“Oh, no need. I know my wife. She’s waiting at the top of the stairs already.”
We make it down the hall and, sure enough, Mia waits at the top of the stairs. My favorite thing about seeing her standing there is that she doesn’t sway nervously while she waits and she doesn’t give an unnecessary apology when she sees me coming for her.
“Thank you for checking on him, Reed.” She offers Coach a warm smile, but I can’t seem to get past the use of his first name.
I know it, but in some ways it feels like calling your average, loving parents their legal name. He’s Coach to me, and always will be.
“It was my pleasure.” He gives her a quick hug before heading down the stairs.
Mia and I watch him the whole way down, and when we’re alone, she reaches for my hand. “You okay?”
“I will be. Will you come with me?”
Mia quirks an eyebrow but lets me lead her down the end of the hallway into Foster’s nursery.
“What are we doing?” she asks with a soft smile on her face.
“Well, I originally planned on us coming in here later tonight, maybe putting a few things up, and I thought I’d bring your attention over to this little box on the rocking chair.” I pick up the ring box I put in here before going downstairs earlier, and turn back to Mia.
“I planned on being so cheesy with it because you give me this incredible smile when I do that. And then you get this small nervous laugh…” As I speak, she does it instantly, and my whole body feels lighter. “Just like that.”
I take her hand back in mine. “Mia, we’ve always been in this together. No, the timing is not what we planned, and if someone told either of us ten months ago that we’d be in this situation right now, I think we both would’ve laughed.”
“I can’t debate you on that one.” Mia rolls her lips, then let’s that smile come back. “What was next in your original cheesy plan?”
“Well, I was going to tell you how much I love you, and how excited I am for us to be parents. Then I’d get down on one knee and ask you to marry me… To plan that wedding you have in your Pinterest boards and let me take you on a honeymoon. I’ve been waiting for what I thought was going to be this perfect moment to ask you, but I’m tired of waiting.”
With a deep breath, I get down on one knee.
“I know you’re going to be the most amazing mother to our daughter, and I want this family more than I’ve wanted anything else in this world. Mia, you may already be my wife, but I want you to be my partner. I want us to plan so many more things and then deal with them going off the rails together for the rest of our lives.”
Mia lets out a nervous laugh again, tears pooling in her eyes. “I’m so happy you insisted on taking me on a date…and now I’m going to insist that you put that ring on my finger.”
“Happy to.” Taking the four-carat emerald cut ring out of the box, I slide it on her finger.
Standing, I brush her hair back while she admires the ring. I wait a few seconds, and then my patience for kissing her runs out.
