Page 151 of Over Time Advantage

“I love your mommy so much.” I tap the left side of my chest near my shoulder. “My heart hurts when I’m not with her.”

Harper shakes her head. “Did you know your heart isn’t all the way over on the left side of your chest? It’s only just left of center. Daddy and Uncle Cheetah taught me that.”

“Good to know.” I tap closer to the center of my chest. “My heart hurts when I’m not with your mommy. I know I made her sad, but I want to spend the rest of my life making her smile. Did you know the first thing I noticed about your mom was her smile?”

Harper grins widely. “She has a pretty smile. People always say so.”

“You two have the same smile.”

Her eyes widen. “We do?”

“Yep. I know you don’t like to be called pretty. But you do have a pretty smile. Is it okay to say that?”

She nods. “It’s okay. I know I have pretty privilege.”

Kennedy snorts in laughter. “Fucking best kid ever.”

I’m about to chastise her when Harper gasps. “You owe money to our swear jar, Kennedy.”

I chuckle. “Why didn’t I think of that when Kennedy was your age? You’re so smart.”

Harper nods. “Thanks to Aunt Kam, we have enough money in our swear jar to go on vacation. That’s what Daddy says.” She looks at me with her big blue eyes. “Will you tell me the secret now?”

I get down on my knees on the ground so I can get a little closer to her, happy when she doesn’t flinch or anything along those lines. I make a bit of a show of whispering, “I want to ask her to marry me.”

Harper’s mouth widens. “You do?”

I nod. “I do.”

Kennedy quickly interrupts, “That will make us sisters.”

Harper screeches in obvious joy. “For real?”

“For real,” I answer. “And I have a son. You would have a brother too.”

I can literally see Harper’s wheels turning. “I would go from no brothers and sisters to four?”

“Yes,” I answer. “With your two new baby sisters, that will make four.” And hopefully more, but I choose not to share that with her.

“Wow,” she breathes.

Kennedy stands and waddles over to Harper, sitting next to her, and takes her little hand. She rubs that hand over her big belly. “It will make you an aunt to this baby.”

And…jackpot. Harper screams in excitement this time.

I chuckle. “I’m glad that makes you happy. I want to ask your permission though. You’re the most important person in the world to your mommy, and it’s important to me to have your blessing. Is it okay with you if I ask your mommy to marry me?”

Harper raises an unamused eyebrow. “She’s mad at you. I’ve never seen her so mad or sad about anything before.”

I swallow down my emotions. “Oh, I know. I’m going to apologize and then get down on my knee and beg her to marry me.” I pull a ring box out of my pocket as I move a little closer to Harper. Again, she seems at ease, so I move toward her until I’m on one knee right in front of her. Opening the box, I offer it to her.

She lifts her head to look inside, carefully examining the contents.

“I thought of you when I saw this ring because I love your smile and your mommy’s smile. This is for you. It’s my promise to only make you two smile, not cry. To never make either of you sad again. Will you accept it?”

It’s one of those cheap, yellow smiley face rings with a thick, smooth, plastic coating. At first I was going to buy her something truly nice, but I thought this would be more meaningful, and if she loses it, it’s easily replaceable because I bought an entire case of them to keep on hand.

She nibbles nervously on her lower lip as she first looks at the ring and then back at Daylen. He nods. “It’s a pretty cool ring. I wish I had one just like it.”