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9
LAKE
* * *
“Did you get everything ready?” Nolan whispers as he sneaks into my room Christmas morning and closes the door behind him gently.
“Yeah.” I toss him the dog collar with a little pouch attached with the hand that’s not holding the wiggly rottweiler puppy currently dripping puddles of drool.
“Livvy’s going to fucking die when she sees her.” Nolan takes the puppy from me and holds her up to his face, letting it lick his face.
“Gross, dude, don’t let the dog lick your face like that. It fosters bad habits.”
“I don’t care. This little fur ball is cute as fuck.”
She is cute. We haven’t named her because we want Liv to do the honors. We’re also using the dog to give her what amounts to an engagement ring.
Nolan sets the puppy down and pulls the ring out. It took us a while to figure out what we wanted for her. Liv’s not showy, and being out of the country working with children in a rural village most of the time doesn’t lend itself to having a big rock on your finger. We ended up getting her an infinity band with two rows of diamonds weaved back and forth together set in platinum.
Marriage isn’t something that can happen for us, but we wanted her to have concrete proof of our devotion to her. Hopefully she says yes when we ask her to join us in a formal commitment ceremony. Grant has already closed three of his restaurants on New Year’s Day so she can pick a location.
“Should I go wake her up?” Nolan asks me.
“Is everyone else awake?”
“Yeah, everyone but Liv.”
“Sure, I’ll get the pup ready.”
Nolan practically vibrates with excitement as he leaves and jogs up the stairs to Liv’s room. I wait until I hear them pass my room and go downstairs. I open the box Sawyer wrapped and set the puppy inside, scratching her ears for a second and apologizing for putting a lid over her.
Everyone is sitting on the couch in the matching pajamas she bought for us. Grant has his arm slung over the back of the couch behind Liv, where they talk quietly over cups of coffee. Sawyer and Nolan are snuggled on the other end, watching me approach with looks of excitement and apprehension.
The smile Liv gives me as she sees me approach fills me from head to toe with burning love and affection. I don’t know how we got so lucky to have her as ours, but I would literally lay my life down to keep her safe and happy. This life isn’t conventional, but I would choose this family every single time.
“What’s this?” She looks up at me with curiosity when she notices the box move.
“Open it and find out.” I sit on the edge of the coffee table and keep hold of the box as she pulls the top off.
“Oh my God! A puppy!” she exclaims as she pulls the puppy out. “What’s her name?” She pulls the puppy to her chest and starts murmuring to her.
“We didn’t name her,” Nolan says.
“She’s yours, so we wanted to leave naming her to you,” Grant adds.
“She’s absolutely perfect, guys. Thank you so much. I love her already.” She runs her hand over the puppy’s side and feels the jewelry pouch. “Wait, what’s on her collar?”
We each kneel on the floor as she focuses intently on unfastening the pouch. She doesn’t even notice that we’ve moved, which is perfect. She opens the pouch and gasps as the ring lands in her palm.
Her eyes widen further when she sees us all on bended knee. Tears immediately fill her eyes, spilling over her cheeks as she clutches the dog. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out as she looks at each of us.
“Liv,” I start, “we love you so much. Having you back in our lives has fulfilled us in the most incredible way.”
“We have always loved you,” Nolan says.
“We never stopped,” Sawyer adds.
“We never will. Will you be ours forever as we are forever devoted to you?” Grant asks.
