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We burst into the stairwell, and at the top Gabriel was waiting for us in a suit. Dots I had already begun to form connected.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Hey, Mama,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “You’re so pretty.”
“Thank you, baby. You look handsome too.” I straightened his bow tie.
He took my hand in his small one. I swallowed hard, and butterflies took flight in my stomach.
“Ready?” Muriella asked as Vivian pushed open the door to the rooftop deck.
It had been transformed into a winter fairy garden. There were lights and flowers strung everywhere. It was perfect.
My feet wouldn’t move when I caught sight of Carlos. He stood at the end of the aisle his dark eyes locked on me. In a suit, he was devastating, but it was the unbridled love radiating from him and directed at me that had my knees going weak.
Carlos’s chest stopped moving as Gabriel and I neared him. Once I was at the altar in front of him, he caressed my cheek.
“You’re perfect,” he said with a reverence I’d never heard before.
I blinked rapidly, trying not to cry. “You did this?” He nodded. “I thought . . . I thought you’d—”
“Do you like it?”
“It’s more beautiful than my wildest dreams,” I said honestly.
A satisfied smile shaped his lips. “I asked Gabriel for your hand.”
I couldn’t stop the tear that escaped. He swiped it away with his thumb. This was the most thoughtful man who ever lived. He showed me day after day just how much he loved me and my son. I didn’t care about the things he’d done or the things he would do. He was more than I’d ever wanted or ever thought I’d have.
“I said he can marry you, Mama.”
Everyone chuckled, including me.
“Are y’all going to get married or stand up there and talk all day?” Stone asked.
I beamed at Carlos. “We’re definitely getting married.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Carlos
“Are you happy?”
“Crazy happy,” she said. “I still can’t believe we got married.”
I played with the ends of her soft hair, and she stroked my stomach.
“I didn’t want you to ever doubt my commitment to you.”
“I keep thinking it’s not real,” she said in disbelief. “It’s insane. But I know it was the right thing to do.”
“Heart and head are on the same page?”
“Getting there.”
I appreciated her honesty. It would take time for us to build trust, but we would.
“Donato and Daniel referred me to someone who can help us start the adoption process.” She sat up straight, her palm hot against my chest. “Did you think I wasn’t serious?”
