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Will she take my name when we’re married?
Who am I kidding, though? It hardly even matters. I’d takeGreeneif she wanted me to.
There are so many other things to talk about before that, but I can’t help but picture our future together.
One day, really soon, I’ll have the honor of making her my wife.
The opening challenge in the Hudson Olympics was a somewhat tame version of Monopoly. We placed second, coming behind my mom and dad. Frankly, no qualified mathematical genius like my mother should be allowed to play a game developed on economic theories.
“Hey, wait up,” Maya calls after me on the snowy hill.
“I’m going to go scope out the challenge,” Molly says. She looks back, checking if that’s alright. I nod for her to go ahead. I’ve barely had a chance to talk to my sister.
“Hey, sis. You ready to get your ass handed to you today?”
“Don’t get cocky, okay? I still can’t believe you broughttheMolly to Christmas.”
“TheMolly?” I hike up my brow at her.
“Yes,theMollyyou said you had a crush on three years ago. That would have been very useful information to mention when you told me you were bringing home a mystery girl.” Maya raises her voice, and I glance around. Thankfully, everyone’s already at the base of the hill.
Curse her good memory.
“I didn’t even think about telling you,” I joke, knowing my sister would have definitely made this into a big deal.
“Oh, please. You’ve been ever so casually mentioning Molly since you started at ORO.”Maybe this whole being-close-with-your-siblings thing is one big scam. “Alright, I’ll lay off. I’m just elated. This is the first woman since Lau—” She catches the name in her mouth, her eyes springing wide.
Maya’s always been protective. The fact that she’smybaby sister hasn’t seemed to matter to her. After what happened with Laura, she’s been skeptical of the rare occasions I’ve mentioned a fleeting interest in someone.
I don’t blame her. Maya has a grudge she hasn’t quite been able to shake.My sister was the one who had to deliver the news to me when I participated in a one-off oncology study for her research thesis at the time.
I was only twenty-eight, but I’m sure she feels like she ended my life then and there.
“You can say her name,” I sigh and stop in the snow. “Laura’s not Beetlejuice.”
Maya gasps. “Do not say that name! What if Aaron heard you? I’m just looking out for you, big bro. After what happened with the—” She pauses and shakes her head, likely choosing not to dive into my sperm’s lack of existence in the middle of the Hudson Family Olympics. “Look, never mind that. I’m only talking about it because I may have heard something through the grapevine…”
My mother was never good at keeping secrets from us. “Well, you heard right.”
“You’re gonna do it?”
I nod. “I got the ring.”
Last night, when Molly was showering, I had a talk with my parents. Our family ring was always meant to go to me. With Laura, it never felt right to pass on a family heirloom—which should’ve been my warning sign.
With Molly, there’s no hesitation.
I want to ask her to marry me. I don’t just want to date her andsee what happens. Calling her my girlfriend barely sums up the array of feelings I have for her. I’m thirty-six, and I’m ready to start living my life with the woman I love.
“Can I just ask, have you told her about—”
“Not yet.” I cut Maya off. “But I will.Today. Right after whatever they have planned for us.”
Since the Winter Ball three weeks ago, it was easy to convince myself not to tell her about my infertility.
Molly was already under enough stress from separating from her parents, having to move out of her home, and give up a large part of her life. Her world was falling apart, and there was never an appropriate time to add more things for her already overwhelmed mind to process.
Even when we confessed that we loved each other and she promised that the split from her family wasn’t affecting her, I still let myself believe that it was.
