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“I have another surprise for you…” She whispered.
“Give it to me,” I demanded.
“I’m all in if you want to partner with Spuds.” Her eyes held a hint of fear mixed in with her elation at that declaration.
“I am in awe of all you give me,” I whispered. “I won’t let you down.”
The fear left her eyes and she smiled at me softly.
“Momma? Dad? Come on!” Jace yelled.
Gus took us through the four bedrooms, ran down the list of completed renovations as well as those still needed, detailed the findings on the inspection, took us through the kitchen, family room, living room, and dining room. Pointed out what needed doing in the bathrooms and finished up by taking a quick peek at the unfinished basement and the backyard.
“It’s a big yard,” Gus commented. “You’ll be able to build a kickass deck back here, and with all these trees, you’ll have lots of privacy.”
I could hear the boys discussing which bedrooms they wanted and how they planned to set up the extra bedroom as a games room. I’d have to nip that in the bud. That room sat next to the master, and nobody would be in there.
“The room next to the master is going to be our office. We’re going to be expanding Spuds together and we’ll need office space.” Both boys’ faces dropped. “However, you two can design the basement however you’d like to be your games’ room. We’ll put a big tv down there, bean bag chairs, a couple of couches, maybe a foosball table, an air hockey table, even a pool table if you prefer. That’ll be your space.”
Whoops of excitement floated back to us as they made their way downstairs and quickly checked out the basement.
Gus, Ruby, and I caught up with the boys at the front door.
“Well, Ruby-mine? Should we put in an offer?”
She turned to the boys. “Do you guys like it?”
She got two enthusiastic thumbs up. She then turned to me.
“You like it?” She searched my eyes for my answer.
“I do. There’s just one thing that has to happen first.”
Her eyebrows knit together, and she drew back, confused. I didn’t blame her. She’d given so much already.
“What’s that?”
I lifted her left hand and slipped Yiayia’s ring onto her finger. She gasped in surprise and looked at me in question.
“I asked Yiayia for her blessing, and she gave me this to give to you.”
Tears sprung to her eyes as she ran the pad of her thumb over the smooth stones.
I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the back, then turned her hand in mine and pressed a kiss into her palm before closing her fingers around it. I gently pulled her into my arms and kissed her lightly, then crushed her to my chest. I couldn’t get close enough to her, but I’d have to wait until later to fulfil that craving. I tilted her chin up to look at me and gave her my promise.
“I love you, Ruby-mine.”
She sniffed and nodded, swallowing hard, and I chuckled.
Turning, I lifted her hand and showed the boys. “We’re officially engaged, agoria mou.”
Ruby snapped out of her daze. “What?” She snapped, snatching her hand back. “You haven’t proposed!”
I shoved my hands deep into my pockets.
“What are you talking about? I just did!” I exclaimed, laughing.
“No,” she argued. “You steamrolled!”
I looked to the boys who were both grinning at me. “Did I propose?”
George shrugged. “You gave her a ring, she accepted,” George replied with a sly grin. “Looked like a proposal to me.”
“Jace?”
“I agree!” He chortled like his mom.
Ruby’s mouth fell open and she threw up her hands. “Lavender! Lavender tuxedos for all of you!”
