by Ali Parker
I grinned. “Maybe.”
She tore off the paper, revealing the white box. When she opened the white box and pulled out the black velvet box nestled inside, it was my cue. Cadence looked from me to the girls before popping open the lid.
“Oh my god,” she breathed.
I got off the couch and got to one knee in front of her. “Cadence, will you marry me?”
She fanned her face. “Oh my gosh.”
“I want to make it official. I want us to be a whole family. We have so much fun together, and I love you, Hazel, and Autumn more than anything in the world. You too, Laura.”
Laura laughed, wiping away the tears running down her face. “Oh, Gabriel. You are a charmer.”
I looked to Cadence, waiting for her answer. “I promise I will make you happy. I will do whatever it takes to make you smile every single day.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course, I’ll marry you!”
Autumn and Hazel squealed, jumping up and down with excitement. They clapped their hands and hugged each other before they both hugged me.
“Can I put that ring on your finger?” I asked.
“Yes,” she breathed, the tears running down her face. “I’m surprised. A happy surprise, but a surprise all the same.”
I slid the ring on her finger before leaning forward and grabbing her face with my hands. I planted a kiss on her, keeping it chaste in front of the kids but promising there would be more to come later.
“I’m so excited to plan a wedding!” Laura said. “What do you think, a spring wedding? Oh, I know. We can do a winter wonderland wedding here. Wouldn’t that just be perfect?”
I looked at Cadence. “I think we have a wedding planner.”
She groaned. “I’m afraid, very afraid.”
“I want to wear a pretty dress,” Hazel said.
“Me too,” Autumn said. “I want mine to be pink with purple flowers.”
“I think we have our flower girls,” I said with a laugh.
Cadence was still smiling, her eyes focused on the ring I had picked out with the help of the girls. It had been a difficult task to buy a ring without letting Cadence know. They had been sworn to secrecy, and judging by the look on her face, they’d kept their promise not to tell her.
After finishing our cookies and cocoa, we ushered the girls off to bed. Cadence laid in my arms, the girls still giggling out in the living room. I gently stroked her arm, feeling more content than I had ever been.
“I love you,” I breathed. “You make me so happy.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “I cannot wait to make our family official. I don’t want to spend another night without you.”
“Soon,” I promised. “I’m building you a home that I hope will make you happy.”
“I could live in a shack as long as I had you and the girls. You guys are all I need. The house is the icing on the cake.”
I squeezed her close. “When are we getting married?”
“Tomorrow soon enough for you?” she asked.
I laughed. “You’ll have to take that up with your mom. She was disappointed she didn’t get to give you a big wedding the first time. I want her to be able to do that this time.”
“I’m so glad I didn’t have a big wedding with Trent. This will be my first actual wedding and my last.”
“Damn straight,” I growled, rolling over to sandwich her beneath me.
Epilogue
Cadence
Three months later
I put the basket of bread on the table and looked around to make sure there was nothing else we needed for dinner. I walked back into the kitchen, lifted the lid on the pot of steamed veggies, and transferred them to a bowl. It was our first real dinner in our new house. Gabriel had been working hard to get it finished. There were still a few things that needed to be done, but we had moved in the furniture and were preparing to officially move in, in two months.
I couldn’t wait. I was ready to make a home with him. It was spring break and we were spending a few days at the retreat. The place was booked, which kept Gabriel busy. The girls and I were helping out with little things. He wouldn’t let us do much, insisting we were on vacation. I tried to point out that we were home and therefore it couldn’t be considered a vacation, but he refused to let us do much.
Truthfully, I didn’t mind the rest. I had been especially tired as of late and appreciated being able to sleep late. With the last of dinner put out on the table, I wiped my hands and headed upstairs to get the girls.
“It’s time for dinner,” I announced, walking into Hazel’s room where they were playing.
I looked at the gauzy pink curtains Gabriel had hung. They were exactly what she wanted. They completed the room, giving it a very princess-y feel. I left them washing up and went back downstairs. I sent a quick text to my mom and Gabriel to make sure they were on their way. The dinner was very important to me.
“I’m here,” Gabriel said, coming through the front door.
I walked to him, kissing him hello. “I’m happy to see you. Are you here for the night or do you have to go back?”
“I need to do a final check after dinner, but then I’m all yours.”
“Good, because I have something very special in mind,” I whispered.
He groaned. “I like the sound of that.”
“Knock, knock,” my mother called out, pushing the door open.
She came in carrying a reusable grocery bag that looked like it weighed a hundred pounds.
“What did you bring?” I asked. “I’ve got dinner covered.”
She grinned. “This isn’t dinner. This is magazines, brochures, and some color samples.”
“After dinner, Mom, after dinner,” I told her.
I had known she would take the wedding planning thing to the next level. When she got a project in her hands, she went all in. She was not going to plan a small wedding. It would be small in the number of guests, but it would be over the top in every other way.
I hoped my announcement didn’t ruin her plans.
“Everyone take their seats,” I ordered.
I loved our new dining table. It was big enough to seat six, but with the leaf I insisted we needed, it would seat ten comfortably. I was already envisioning big holiday celebrations with friends and family. We sat down and enjoyed the meal I had made from scratch. I loved the kitchen and couldn’t wait to use it regularly.
“Thank you,” Gabriel said, wiping his mouth. “This was amazing.”
“You’re very welcome. Everyone stay seated. I have a little surprise for you all.”
I got up and went into the kitchen, grabbing the pie box from the counter. I put it in the center of the table and smiled.
“Pie!” Autumn exclaimed. “What kind is it?”
I smiled. “Gabriel, would you open the box and tell everyone what’s inside?”
He shrugged. “I vote cheesecake.”
“Apple!” Autumn said.
“I want cherry!” Hazel put in her request.
I couldn’t stop smiling. I watched as Gabriel pulled the lid off. He looked at me with a confused expression. He pulled out the pie pan, staring into the center of it. I saw the moment he realized what he was looking at.
“No,” he breathed. “Really?”
“What kind is it?” Autumn asked.
I looked at my mom, who’d clamped her hand over her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes.
“What kind?” Hazel asked impatiently.
Gabriel pulled the picture from the empty pie pan and held it up. “It’s the boy kind.”
For the first time since we’d been together, I saw tears in his eyes. His smile warmed my heart. “Surprise,” I whispered.
“What is that?” Autumn asked. “I thought we were having pie?”
I laughed. “I do have a cheesecake, but that is a picture of your little brother,” I explained.
Hazel and Autumn both looked very confused. “We don’t have a brother.”
“You will in about six months,” I told them. “I’m pregnant. There’s a baby growing in my belly.”
“We’re going to have a baby!” Hazel screamed.
“I get to be a big sister!” Autumn chimed in.
I looked to my mother who was openly crying. She used a napkin to wipe away the tears. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you. Both of you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Gabriel got up from his seat and walked around the table. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. “I’m overjoyed.”
“You’re okay with this?” I asked him. “I know it wasn’t exactly planned. I didn’t think it would happen so early.”
“I’m very okay with this. You know I wanted this.” He gave me a quick kiss and whispered in my ear. “I would have been just as happy if it was a girl.”
“I know,” I answered.
“I’ll get the cheesecake,” my mom said, getting up from the table. “You sit. Put your feet up.”
“Thank you,” I answered, taking my seat at the table.
“What’s his name going to be?” Hazel asked.
I looked to Gabriel, shrugging a shoulder.
“How about Daniel, Danny for short?” he said.
I heard my mother’s gasp. My heart lurched in my chest. “What?” I breathed.
Gabriel nodded, taking my hand in his. “Daniel Michael Cole.”
My mom put the pie on the table and handed out slices. “You sure know how to make a lady cry.”
“Sorry,” Gabriel said. “It isn’t to make you cry. It’s to keep their memory alive. My dad and Cadence’s dad.”
“It’s beautiful,” I told him. “I love it. I cannot wait to meet him.”
“I guess I better add on to the house,” Gabriel said.
“The girls can share a room,” I assured him.
He shook his head. “Nah, they already have their own rooms. I don’t mind building a big house for our big family.”
I laughed, holding up my fork. “Let’s get through this one first before you start planning your baseball team.”
“We need to talk about this wedding,” my mom said after clearing her throat. “How pregnant do you want to be when you walk down the aisle?”
I looked at Gabriel. “I don’t know.”
“You already bought the dress,” my mom reminded me.
“We could postpone the wedding,” I suggested.
My mom’s eyes lit up. “That was my thoughts exactly. I propose that winter wedding I mentioned earlier. It would be perfect.”
Gabriel shrugged a shoulder. “I’m good with whatever makes you ladies happy.”
“Good answer,” my mother said with a laugh.
After dinner was cleaned up, the girls went back upstairs and Gabriel went back to take care of some things, leaving me and mom alone. We sat down on the couch, a fire blazing in the stone fireplace Gabriel had built by hand. She had her magazines spread out and was handing me various color swatches.
“I guess you were right,” I told her.
“You’ll have to be more specific. I tend to be right a lot.”
I rolled my eyes. “I walked right into that one.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I meant to say you were right to tell me to give Gabriel the chance he deserved. I can’t believe I almost gave all this up. I don’t think I ever would have found a man as perfect as he is.”
“I know you wouldn’t have. Gabriel came into your life at exactly the right time. He showed you how to love and what it is like to be loved in return.”
I smiled. “Yes, he did. I can’t believe we’re going to have a little boy. I can’t wait.”
“Are you going to keep working?” she asked gently. “You always hated going to work when the girls were young.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ve thought about it a lot. I still need to talk with Gabriel, but I’m thinking I can do a couple of days at the office and the rest of the time I will work from home. Gabriel can be with the baby on the days I go to the office.”
“Do you think he’ll go for that? Taking care of a baby is tough, even for an experienced mother.”
I grinned. “Gabriel will have no trouble at all. He is a natural. I don’t think he’s faced a problem he couldn’t handle.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said with a laugh. “It’ll be good bonding time for them all.”
“I agree. I can’t wait to see him with a baby. I’m going to have to leave him locked up here. Any woman that sees my man with my baby is going to want to sink her claws into him.”
She cackled with laughter. “Pregnancy makes you vicious.”
“I guess I’m feeling a little protective.”
“All right, let’s talk colors,” she said, shifting the conversation back to the wedding.
I smiled, picking up the swatches and giving in to her need to plan the perfect wedding. “I guess we have our ring bearer now,” I commented.
“Cadence, he’ll be an infant,” she lectured.
“Maybe, but I’ve seen weddings with the baby pulled in a wagon.”
She gasped. “Oh my gosh! That’s perfect. We’ll put him in a little baby tux.”
I was suddenly very excited to plan the wedding. We delved into the planning. The woman was intense. She didn’t miss a single detail. I was grateful to have her in my life. She was my best friend. Without her, I knew I wouldn’t be where I was in my life. She’d been my rock after Trent left me, even in the midst of her grief. She was strong when I couldn’t be.
As I laid in bed that night with Gabriel’s hand protectively resting on my slight bump, I thought about my future. I supposed I should thank Joe for dragging us to the retreat in the first place. I wondered where my life would have been without that work event. Would fate have intervened and found another way to bring us together?
“I love you,” he whispered into the darkness. “I love you and our children—all of them.”
“I love you.”
“I want to adopt them,” he blurted out.
I turned my face to his. “What?”
“I see them as mine. I want to adopt them, if that’s okay with you and them.”
I couldn’t stop the tears. I couldn’t blame the hormones. “They already think of you as their father. They will be thrilled to have your last name.”
“Good. I’ll talk with an attorney and get the paperwork started. I will never leave any of you. I’m in this forever. I love those girls with all my heart. You can trust that.”
I nodded. “I do. I do trust you. I can’t wait to tell them.”
“Thank you for letting me be a part of your family. I never, ever thought I would be the man with a family. A wife, kids, and a mother-in-law. I went from being a lonely guy to being the guy who has it all.”
I kissed his chin. “Thank you for letting us be your family.”
The End
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About the Author
Ali Parker is a full-time contemporary and new adult romance writer with more than a hundred and twenty books behind her. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.
She’s an entrepreneur at heart and loves coming up with more ideas than any one person should be allowed to access. She lives in Texas with her hubs and three kiddos and looks forward to traveling the world in a few years. Writing under eleven pen names keeps her busy and allows her to explore all genres and types of writing.
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Copyright © 2019 by Ali Parker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
First Edition.
Editor: Eric Martinez
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art