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Finn looked up at her and smiled that goofy grin she loved so much. “I don’t think there’s been a day in the last twenty years that I haven’t loved you.”
She reached out and caressed the kitten’s head to cover the moisture that welled in her eyes. It purred against her hand. “I love you, too, Finn.”
“In the beginning, it might have been friend love, or brotherly love, but it was definitely love. All too rare in our lives back then.”
She smiled back at him. “Yeah. It’s always been special between us.”
“Lately, though, that love turned into something more, something all-consuming. I thought it was wrong. Things got…too complicated.” He reached out to touch her cheek. “But how could love ever be wrong? I can’t even imagine not loving you in all those many ways, for the rest of my life.”
Tears stung her eyes and her brain spun with so many thoughts. “Me, neither,” she whispered.
“I thought Lucky Two, here, would keep you company on the nights I’m working.”
She brought her hand to her chest. “Finn, you’ve already given me so much.”
“Veronica.” He shook his head. “It’s you who’ve given me so much.” He placed his palm on her belly. Then he shifted his position on the floor and went up onto one knee.
“You’re the only woman who has the ability to bring me to my knees—literally—with your wit, your brains, your body. I only have one question for you.”
He lifted his hand and adjusted the ribbon on the kitten’s neck. As he turned it around, something sparkled. Something much too sparkly for a name tag. Was that…? It couldn’t be. It looked like…a diamond ring.
Now she was seeing things. She had to be hallucinating. From the pregnancy hormones. Lord, this was going to be a long nine months. Or—
“Finn…?”
“I don’t give a damn about the order of things. It was never about copying the stereotype. It was about finding a family of my own. And you gave me that. A bigger, better family than I could have imagined.”
He put the cat back in the box and pulled at the ribbon. She’d been right. A diamond ring fell into his palm and he held it out to her. It was the most spectacular engagement ring she’d ever seen. A large princess-cut diamond was outlined with a row of smaller diamonds on a white gold band.
Her breath caught. And even before he asked, she knew her answer.
“Veronica Whitfield, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” She jumped up and tackled him to the floor. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his lips. She kissed everywhere there was bare skin.
But in the middle of her kisses, the front door slammed and Cal’s annoyed voice declared, “I think it’s time for me to move out. I can’t wait to leave for school. This whole walking in on you two smooching thing has gotten really old.”
They both burst out laughing and she hid her face against Finn’s chest. Cal shuffled past the kitchen and his feet stomped up the stairs.
Finn grabbed her sides and squeezed, pulling her off his body and into sitting position next to him. “So, you’ll let me slip this diamond on your finger?”
“Hell, yes.” She held out her hand, and the ring fit perfectly.
She admired the gorgeous jewel with new tears in her eyes. She had secretly envied every single bride she’d ever contracted. The way their rings sparkled in the sunlight. The way their faces had lit up whenever they looked at it. As if they were remembering the exact moment they had screamed out the word “Yes!” And now she knew exactly why. Because if she could, she’d bottle this amazing feeling to remember forever.
They sealed it with a long, lingering kiss.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “A family of our own. Together forever.” She placed one hand on her belly and her other arm around the man she loved with all her heart.
He smiled and picked up the cat, and placed it in her arms. “Everything we’ve always wanted. Right here in this house.”
And it truly was. Finn had given her everything she’d always wanted. But it had turned out to be so much more.
But most of all, love.
