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“I have some stipulations.”
Luke chuckles, bowing his head. “Like what?”
“One, which you’ve already said, is to get help. Therapy, AA, whatever works, but you can’t go on like this anymore. Got it?”
My voice is stern, but I’m smiling at him.
He nods with a small grin. “Understood. Next?”
“You introduce me to your family. I want the whole thing. Someone makes dinner, we all eat, and you tell them everything you’re doing with me and for yourself. And about this.”
I press our hands closer to my stomach.
“All right.” Luke smirks. “I can do that. I shouldn’t cook, though. No one will enjoy that.”
With a laugh, I shrug. “Good thing I’m not interested in your cooking skills, then. Three.”
Luke nods, looking up into the distance for a moment before returning his hazel eyes to mine.
“I can count on your help when I need to be at the hospital, and no more driving me. I hate it.”
Scoffing in mock offense, Luke jokes, “Jeez, am I that bad a driver?”
Shaking my head, I cringe slightly. “No, but your music is terrible.”
Luke laughs, adjusting on his knee. The gravel beneath it crunches, and I know that I’m really making him earn this.
“Last—” I watch Luke roll his lips between his teeth as he tries not to smile “—no more secrets or keeping things from the other person. To protect them or for any other reason. We’re open and honest about everything.”
Licking his bottom lip before worrying it between his teeth, Luke starts a slow nod, clearly apprehensive.
“I will do my absolute best.” He squeezes my hand again while offering a tight-lipped smile. “I suppose I should start off on the right foot by saying I can be overprotective about the people I care about. That list was damn short before you, too.”
“I’m a big girl, and you need to understand that, okay?”
He nods more quickly this time. “I promise. So…”
Holding Luke’s eyes, I let myself fall into those green-brown irises, taking in every detail about this moment because I want to remember it forever.
My ass hurts from sitting on this metal ambulance floor. Luke’s hands are warm on mine.
There’s a breeze that smells fresher than the air in the abandoned warehouse. I’m vaguely nauseated again.
The headache I’ve been battling is getting stronger, and I can’t tell if I’m more hungry or tired.
And yet…
My heart has never been so full in my entire life.
“Yes.” I smile at Luke, letting every ounce of my feelings into the expression. “Yes to you, to us, to this baby. To the future.”
Luke slides the ring down my finger, his shoulders sagging.
The breath he releases is pure relief, and once the ring is on, he starts to push up off his bad leg.
“Oh, thank God. I didn’t think I was going to make it down there for much longer.”
I open my arms, pulling Luke into my embrace. “Get over here, you silly man.”
