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Hearing the sound of music start up, I clear my head and smile as I head for the door. Tonight we’re closing the shop early to celebrate the New Year. Unfortunately, Antonio has to work, so I won’t get to ring it in with him, but my friends are here—along with my parents, my sisters, their husbands, and my nephew. It will still be a night to remember.
When I make it to the front of the shop and see everyone standing around wearing funny hats and silly glasses, I smile.
“You need a hat, too,” Fawn says, coming up to me and handing me a top hat with the words NEW YEAR’S written all over it in gold writing.
I take it from her, then reach out to rub my hand against her round stomach. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yep.” She pulls in a deep breath. “I can’t wait until she gets here.”
“I can’t wait, either,” I agree, and she rolls her eyes.
“You just want to be able to shop for her.”
“True.” I don’t deny it. I have loved shopping for my nephew, but girls’ clothes are so much cuter than boys’.
“When are you and Antonio going to start?” she asks, studying me.
I shift on my heels. “I don’t know.” Antonio and I have talked about kids. We know we want them and know that we want at least two, but right now we are just enjoying our time together. And I don’t want to have any babies until I have a ring on my finger. Call me old-fashioned.
“You guys will make beautiful babies,” she says after a moment, when I don’t say more.
“You sound like Mom.”
“Oh god.” Her nose scrunches up in horror. “I do sound like Mom.”
Laughing, I shake my head at her, then feel my lips soften into a smile when Mac comes over with my adorable nephew, Dustin. Taking him from her, I cuddle him to my chest and kiss the top of his tiny head, which is covered in a thin cap.
“Baby looks good on you.” Mac grins.
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes, then kiss the top of Dustin’s head again. I can’t stop myself. “I should probably give him back to you before Mom or Martina sees me,” I say. Both Fawn and Mac laugh. “It would be funny, but I’m not joking.”
Both Martina and my mother have gone from gently questioning Antonio and me about our plans to straight-up harassing us about getting married and starting a family of our own.
“Two minutes until midnight!” I hear Hector shout.
I look over to see Peggy start to fill glasses with champagne.
“Here. I’m going to get a drink.” I hand Dustin back to Mac after kissing his head once more, then I hug both of my sisters. “I love you guys.”
“Love you, too,” they say in unison.
I smile as I let them go. I watch Fawn go to Levi, who tucks her under his arm as soon as she’s close. Then I watch Mac curl herself against Wesley, who says something to make her smile before kissing the top of her head. Seeing both my sisters with their guys, my heart fills with happiness for them. Still, I wish Antonio were here.
“One minute!” Hector yells as I grab a glass of champagne and take a sip.
A cool breeze fills the room, meaning someone opened the front door. I turn to see who’s coming in. My body freezes when I see Antonio walk in and start toward me, his uniform on and his radio on his collar. I look past him and see that his whole squad is with him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He smiles, wrapping one hand around my back while the other cups the back of my head.
“I couldn’t let you ring in the New Year without me. So I traded favors with the guys, and we all came.”
He drops his mouth to mine and kisses me deep and wet. People start to count down from ten around us. When he pulls his mouth away and everyone yells, “Happy New Year,” my eyes flutter open to meet his. I look around to see everyone hugging and kissing. I take in the moment for just a second.
I did this.
I look back at Antonio, and whether he wants to admit it or not, he helped me more than he knows.
“Happy New Year.” I lean up on the tips of my toes and try to kiss him again, but he pulls back before I can, making me frown.
“Princess . . .” He lifts my left hand in his and slowly slides a beautiful solitaire diamond ring onto my finger. “Will you spend this year—and the rest of your life—with me?”
“What?” I breathe, not believing that I heard him correctly even though I know I did. Even though I can feel the weight of the ring he just slid onto my finger. Moving my eyes from his to the ring, I blink in shock. “What?”
