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And right now, I just wanted to cuddle alone with my baby and catch my breath.
“You needed a break, too, didn’t you? Poor, worn-out little girl.” I lightly traced a fingertip across her cute, button nose. “Don’t worry; I’m just as drained as you are.”
As she sighed contentedly in her sleep, I smiled and idly wished someone would hold me in their arms right about now and rock me to sleep, too, just like this.
Just one person. Not the whole horde that made up my entire family but maybe a single special someone, made solely for me.
Yeah, that would be nice.
“At least I got you, though,” I told my unconscious daughter.
Except she looked so innocent and trusting that a wave of fear and uncertainty gripped me. How was I going to keep her safe and healthy all by myself?
As much as my family exhausted me, I needed the whole mess now, more than ever. And I was glad I had them, as overwhelming as they were and everything.
I fell asleep with a smile on my face, grateful for their all-encompassing, high-handed love. But I was even more thankful that the next day was Monday, which meant almost every one of them would be at work, and I’d have a full day free of guests.
I took advantage of it, being utterly lazy, sleeping whenever Ava Grace slept, and watching reruns of my favorite show while she fed. I had briefly considered washing dishes, but when I shuffled into the kitchen, I realized someone had already done them for me. Or most of them, anyway. There were only a few pots and pans left, soaking in the sink, which led me to believe that whoever had started them had left unexpectedly. And the only person who hadn’t lingered to ask me twenty times if I needed anything had been Vaughn.
Geez. I shook my head, wondering what I was going to do about that man.
Hopefully, though, I had a few days to think about it before he came calling again.
It was early evening before I received my first Monday visitor.
I almost expected it to be Vaughn, after he’d stopped by two days in a row, but I was even more shocked to see Luke of all people on my doorstep.
“Oh my God,” I murmured in shock, shuffling aside to let him in. “Are you actually here to see my kid or do you need, like, money or something?”
He had to be about the last person I thought would come here by himself to meet Ava.
“Brat,” he murmured affectionately, ruffling my hair as he stepped inside. “Where is the little mini-you, anyway? I see a bunch of baby shit, but no baby.”
As he stopped in the middle of the living room and turned in a slow circle, I snapped my fingers and winced. “Damn, I knew I was supposed to bring something home from the hospital with me.”
“Haha,” he dryly intoned, sending me a short frown for my joke. “Always gotta be a smart-ass, don’t you?”
“Only for you,” I told him sweetly. Then hitched my head toward the hallway. “She’s taking a nap. If you promise to be quiet, I’ll walk you back to see her.”
“Nah.” He shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing toward the ground, a nervous gesture I’d never seen him display before. Then he shuffled his feet and kicked the back of one shoe against the toe of the other before he looked up again. “I think I’ll just get straight to the reason I came here in the first place.”
My brows furrowed. Then my expression fell. “Oh hell,” I whispered, clutching my stomach when I felt dread pooling. “Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you? Is it terminal?”
The air got caught in my lungs, and I immediately thought of how Vaughn had lost Duke. I wasn’t as close to Luke as Vaughn had been to his brother, but I didn’t even want to go through a fraction of what he’d suffered. Luke was part of the family unit. We couldn’t lose him.
“What?” He blinked once and immediately shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong at all.”
Relief and irritation flooded my veins in tandem. “Then why do you look like you’re going to pass out on my living room carpet at any moment?” I demanded.
It was just like Luke to give me a scare. Asshole. If I did
n’t love the idiot so much, I’d strangle him right now.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and sighing dramatically as if I was being the unreasonable one. “I’m not sick. I just…” He huffed out another frustrated breath, sent me a short glower, and then yanked a box from his pocket. “You’re such a pain in the ass. I’m trying to propose here, not announce that I’m dying.”
I blinked and widened my eyes at the small velvet box as he cracked it open and then twisted it around to show me the immaculate diamond inside, nestled in a white gold band.
Before I could fully process the shock racing through my veins, he knelt on one knee before me and more calmly said, “Lucy Olivia Gamble, will you marry me?”
