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“You are?” I ask confused.
“I am,” he says, and I feel like the conversation is going in circles.
“Why?” I ask.
He adjusts the neck of his shirt, unbuttoning it. Then he gets down on both knees in front of me.
“You don’t need to kneel. It’s bad for your hip,” I remind him.
“My hip is fine, and I need to kneel in front of you because I’ve been an ass. I’ve been terrified because from the moment we met, I knew you were different. You came into our lives like a whirlwind. You’re caring and kind. Hell, Syd loves you like a mother.” He laughs and I’m guessing it’s because his nerves are working overtime too. I want to say she feels like my daughter, but he seems to be on a roll, and I don’t want to interrupt. “What I am trying to say is I am deeply, completely, and totally in love with you. I’ve been terrified about what that means because I can’t think straight when you’re near me. I also can’t keep my hands to myself either,” he adds dryly.
I smile. His words touching something deep inside me.
“What I am trying to say,” he continues, “is that I’ve been a scared ass. I’ve been Syd’s only parent since she was born because Sybil really was never involved. It was a huge responsibility and I’m just always scared of fucking up and in the process, I guess I created these walls around Syd and me because we needed protection from the outside world, but it was also because of my fears,” he mumbles. He really is just perfectly handsome and wonderful. “I don’t want to be scared anymore.” He takes my hands in his. “I want you. I want us.”
My lip quivers at his words.
“I don’t want to marry you here today because it’s an arrangement for your nana. I want to marry you here today because I want you to be my wife. I want to grow old with you and I’d love to have more kids with you, if you are up for it, but we can discuss that later because I want to be yours, Ellie Albizzi. I want that more than anything. So will you marry me today?” he asks.
With his last words, the tears I was holding back burst like a fire hydrant. This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever said or done for me.
“Please say something,” he begs. “Because now I’m realizing I don’t even know if your feelings match mine, and I’ve made a complete and utter idiot of myself.”
Laughter bursts from me. “You know I love you, Connor. You know because even though we’ve never shared those words, actions speak louder than words.”
“They do,” he agrees.
“Yes, I’ll marry you. I love you and Syd so damn much. From the start you felt like my family, and I’ve never had that feeling before. You may think you had a hard time expressing how you felt, but your actions spoke loud too. They told me you cared a lot.”
“I love you, Ellie.”
“I love you, Connor.”
He smashes his lips to mine.
A knock at the door breaks me out of this dream.
Nora opens the door, looking shell-shocked. If she heard any of our conversation she doesn’t say.
“The priest is here,” she announces.
“Oh,” I reply.
“You two can kiss later,” Anna interjects. “Stand up, Connor. You can’t be on your knees in that tux and, oh no, your makeup,” she cries.
The makeup artist begins to touch up my makeup.
“She’s perfect. She doesn’t need it,” Connor interjects.
“You, out of here,” Nora orders and she begins to push Connor out of the room.
He laughs as he’s escorted out.
Anna and Nora slam the door shut.
Then they watch me wide-eyed. “Is this wedding a go?” Nora asks.
Syd watches me.
