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“I do love you,” she says, tears running down her face. “I didn’t mean to, but I do, I can’t help it.”
I lift the velvet box, take out the ring, and open my other hand to her. She places her left hand in it, and I slide the ring onto her finger.
Then I wrap her in my arms and give her a long, passionate kiss.
I only stop because she’s crying so much. “Hey, come on,” I murmur, wiping her cheeks with my thumbs. “This should be a happy moment.”
“I am happy. Incredibly happy.”
I kiss her again, and then kiss her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, and back to her mouth. “Are we really having a baby?” I whisper, dropping a hand to her tummy.
“I know, I can’t believe it either.” She puts her hand over mine.
“It was that night,” I say. “In the viewing room. I knew it. I felt it happen.”
“You can’t have,” she scoffs, but her fingers curl around mine, and she presses our hands against her belly. “We can’t tell anyone. Not for a few months. Miscarriages are very common in the early days.”
“Yeah. It’ll have to be our little secret.” I kiss her again. “But you will marry me, won’t you?”
“Yes, Marc. I’ll marry you. But I’d like a quiet wedding. I don’t want lots of pomp and fuss. Not like Izzy and Hal.”
“Whatever you want. We can go away, just the two of us—all right, three of us,” I add as Jack gives a short bark. “Or we could say our vows in a registry office and go for a meal afterward with your family.”
“I’d like that. They’ll be your family, too, you realize.”
“Noah will be happy,” I say, and she smiles.
She examines her ring for a moment. “It’s so beautiful, Marc, thank you.”
“I thought it was pretty,” I tell her. The diamond isn’t ginormous—I got one as big as I could afford, but it’s set in an Art Deco Floral Halo, which I thought was suitable after our time in Napier.
“It’s absolutely beautiful. Very me.” She smiles, slides her arms around me, and looks into my eyes. “I had such a wonderful time at Hawke’s Bay. Do you think it was because it was all so new?”
“No,” I say, meaning it. “I think it was because we’re so right for each other.”
“I’m so sorry about your mom.” She rests her cheek on my chest. “I wish she could be here to see you get married and to hold your baby.”
Emotion washes over me, and for a moment I can’t speak. I hold her tightly, looking out across the garden. I wish Mom could be here, too, and it makes me immensely sad to think neither she nor my father are around. But at least she’s at peace now.
A piwakawaka, more commonly known as a fantail bird, swoops down onto the lemon tree nearest us. It jumps around from branch to branch almost as if it’s dancing for us, displaying its beautiful tail. Mom liked fantails; in fact, I brought back a piece of artwork she had in her garden, made from a steel stencil design. I get the strange feeling she’s trying to tell me she’s still with me. I suppose she always will be, in my memories.
Jack runs down the steps to chase it, and it sits in the tree, as if it’s laughing at his short legs.
We stand there like that for a long time, Poppy in my arms, warmed by the spring sunshine.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Poppy
Two weeks later, Marc and I get married.
There are only twenty-five of us present, including me and Marc. The Three Wise Men are there, with their wives. And all their children, natural or not, and their partners if they have them. And, of course, little baby Ethan, dressed in the cutest outfit of a onesie designed like a suit with a black bow tie printed at the top.
We say our vows at the local registry office, and I wear a simple cream dress and carry a bouquet of white roses, succulents, rosemary and sage, and paua shell, which is just beautiful. Marc wears a smart navy suit, and he has his hair trimmed, although not too much, because I like it long. He asks me to wear my hair up, because he wants to be the one to take it down when we go to bed that night, so my hairdresser braids it and pins it up with more fresh flowers.
