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I gather my fear and flick it away. It’s Oakley—he won’t judge me no matter what I say.
“I want to be a mom. I just don’t know if I would be a good one. What if I turn out to be a complete failure? What if our kids grow up to hate me?” What if you don’t love me as much after there’s someone else in the picture?
He reaches toward me and gathers my hands in his. There’s so much love in his eyes it steals my breath.
“You’re going to make a phenomenal mother, Octavia. Not only are you the most outrageously kind person I’ve ever met, but you love so deeply that our kids won’t ever doubt for a second that you aren’t completely obsessed with them. They won’t spend a day wondering if they’re cared for. Your childhood doesn’t define you, baby. If anything, it showed you the kind of mother you don’t want to be. You’re Lily’s daughter, and she didn’t raise you to fear your future.”
Tears swell in my eyes by the time he’s done speaking. I suck in a shaky breath and nod once, squeezing his hands.
“I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you in my life,” I admit.
He releases my hands and cups my face before swiping away my tears with two large thumbs. “I ask myself the same question every single day.”
“I would love to have babies with you, Oakley Hutton. And whenever you decide is the right time, I want to marry you. I want you to be my husband.”
He grins. “Soon, my love. I promise.”
I’ve never been a patient person, or at least not when it comes to things that I’m desperate to have, but when it comes to this, I’ve been trying. Even if I do find myself searching through Oakley’s dresser drawers in search of a ring box once a month.
“You brought up marrying me a year ago now. I’m getting antsy.”
He leans in and kisses my nose. “I know, and I plan on making you Mrs. Octavia Hutton as soon as possible. The timing has to be perfect, and with you snooping through my drawers all the time, who knows when that might be.”
My eyes go wide. “You know?”
“Of course I know. I just love you enough not to have said anything to spoil your fun.”
I laugh loudly, my head falling back. This man . . . he’s special. I’ve known it since the first moment I laid eyes on him, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
