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“Home,” he repeats in a low tone as he takes the flowers from me. “I’ll never get tired of that. Our home, Bianca.”
“Our home.” I smile. “Our life.”
“Our wedding.”
My heart stalls for a beat. “What?”
I stare in disbelief as he drops to one knee in the middle of the bridge. People passing us slow as they near where we are.
He sets the flowers down before he tugs a small box from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “My beautiful Bianca. I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere along the way, I became the luckiest man ever to live.”
My eyes swell with tears as he goes on, “I can’t imagine living a day without you. I can’t fathom what a future without you feels like. You are the person who knows me best and the one who holds my heart.”
“Roman,” I whisper. “I love you.”
“Marry me,” he says. “Let me love you forever.”
Nodding, I almost fall forward. “Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you!”
Applause erupts around us as Roman slides a beautiful silver ring on my finger.
Through falling tears, I stare at it.
He skims a finger over it as he holds me close. “That’s my birthstone, our girls’ birthstone, and yours is in the center.”
“Our girls,” I repeat.
He kisses me softly. “Our daughters.”
I hear them before I see them. Dora’s screams and Georgie’s shriek of happiness flood me with pure joy.
I turn to see them racing toward us holding hands.
I scoop up Dora. Georgie clings to her dad.
“You’re our mommy,” Dora whispers as she rests her head on my shoulder. “We can call you mommy now?”
They have been on and off for weeks. I’ve never corrected them. Roman hasn’t either.
It’s who I am. It’s who I always want to be.
“Yes,” I answer softly. “I’d love that.”
“For the wedding, can we get a gift?” Georgie asks.
“No dog until you’re eight,” Roman says. “I promise when you’re eight, we’ll adopt a dog.”
“I wasn’t talking about that.” She swats Roman’s shoulder. “We want a baby brother.”
My gaze darts to Roman. His eyes widen. “We’ll see what we can do.”
I’m right there with him, nodding along. “We’ll see.”
Georgie kisses Roman’s cheek. “I love our family so much.”
“I love it more.” Dora pumps her fist in the air.
“I love it most,” Roman says.
I step closer to him so the four of us can share a big embrace. “I love you all the most.”
I do.
This wonderful man and these beautiful girls have given me more than I could ever have asked for. I feel loved in a way I never imagined I would, and I love them all in a deeply profound sense that I know will only grow with each passing day.
“Let’s go eat.” Georgie slides down my body. “Granny Angie is waiting. She said we’re going to Lise for dinner. Uncle Matty is meeting us there.”
I glance up to see my mom in tears at the end of the bridge. Thurston is by her side.
They’ve seamlessly stepped into the roles of loving grandparents.
“You two run ahead,” Roman says to our daughters. “We’ll catch up.”
Georgie and Dora run full force toward my mom and Thurston as Roman turns to me.
Bending down, he scoops the bouquet of daisies into his palm. “Should we let the flower decide?”
I shake my head. “Roman.”
He plucks one petal. “Tell them now.” He plucks another petal. “Tell them later.”
My gaze falls to the front of the black sweater I’m wearing. “One more week, and we’ll share the news with the girls.”
His hand moves to rest on the baby bump that I’ve expertly kept hidden. Even Maren hasn’t noticed, although she’s had her hands full with her newborn son.
Last week when I met Sabrina for lunch, she told me I was glowing, but I swiftly changed the subject to the new guy she’s dating. She’s not sure if it will last long-term, but for the moment, she’s having fun.
“The world is about to be a whole lot brighter,” he says. “There’s another Hawthorne on the way.”
I nod.
He glances at the ring he placed on my finger. “Ivy said we could add as many stones to the band as we want, so when the baby is born, we’ll take the ring in and have that done.”
Ivy Marlow-Walker is the jeweler behind the masterpiece on my finger. Rome and I met her two months ago when we asked her to design bracelets for the girls to commemorate their upcoming seventh birthdays. I had no idea that Roman commissioned an engagement ring too.
He pulls me closer to him. “It is just one, right?”
I trail a finger over his chin before I kiss him. “Just one baby, Roman. Our baby.”
