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Before I can respond, Drew gets out of his seat. I’m about to ask him where he’s going, but then he lowers to the floor. On one knee.
“Oh, my god,” I say. I grip the table, heart heaving itself into my mouth.
If there was any sliver of doubt about this being a proposal, it’s quickly dashed away when he pulls a ring box out of his pocket. “Dana, as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been a light in my life.” He clears his throat a bit, trying to hold back an onslaught of emotion. “I was alone in the world. Until you took me into your heart. Invited me into your family.”
Out of the corner of my eye, there is movement. My dad enters followed by my sisters, followed by the men they love, and all three of my nieces.
I gape at them. “You’re here…”
Dad blows me a kiss.
“I might not be a Solace, but you damn sure made me feel like one,” Drew says. “And to me that means walking through life with hope, knowing there will be people there to catch you when you fall, no matter what happens. People to clean your wounds. People who know you’re human. And love you for it.”
Now I’m the one crying.
“I only ever felt that with my mom. So, when I felt that with you, I knew I would love you forever. No matter if I could have you. Dana Solace would always live in my heart.”
I touch my chest. I’ve never felt so surrounded by love in my life. All eyes on me. Ready and eager for my happiness.
“I considered myself the luckiest man in the world to have you as my friend. And I now consider myself even luckier because now you’re my girlfriend.”
“Engaged to be engaged,” I tease through tears.
“You caught that, huh?” He grins. “Nothing gets past you.”
We stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment.
“Dana Solace is having my baby,” he says, voice so fraught with ardor it’s only a murmur. “And the only thing that could make me even luckier is if she’s my wife. So…”
He opens the box. It’s empty.
“I need that, actually,” he says with a cheeky smile.
I laugh, let him take the ring off my finger and put it in the box. I had told him it would be foolish to get me a ring when his mother’s is so beautiful. It would honor me to wear a piece of her the rest of my life in just this way. I’d rather him save that money for something else. Our future home or maybe a new car for once the baby arrives.
I have all the jewelry I need.
“I promise, Kent, I’m not a cheapskate,” Drew says.
My dad laughs.
“D, will you marry me?”
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you,” I say, bursting at the seams. As soon as the ring is back on my finger and my family is celebrating, I throw myself into Drew’s arms, kissing him on every square inch of his face. “I knew something was going on!”
“I’ll never be able to surprise you, will I?”
On the contrary, Drew Young has surprised me over and over again. His willingness to fight for me. His commitment to being a father. The way he loves my family as if they’re his own.
Because they are. My sisters are his. My father is his.
Drew fits right into a space that was always made for him.
I make the rounds to each of my family members, allowing them to fawn over me with kisses, hugs, and congratulations. Amy is already chiming in my ear about a double wedding which sounds like a nightmare.
I show them all the ultrasound pictures. The waterworks follow suit. I give Dad a copy I had printed especially for him and he puts it right into the breast pocket of his coat. “My first baby is having her first baby,” he mutters with a gleam in his eye. “Nothing better than that.”
The empty tables are for all of them. We all enjoy a lush, rich meal, beaming from ear to ear. While my family drinks champagne, the only thing Drew and I are drunk on is our happiness.
And I swear, toward the end of dinner, I feel the faintest fluttering in my belly. Not butterflies. A real one.
Life is just getting started.
