“Will Cash cry a lot?”
I shrugged. “He will cry when he is hungry or sleepy or uncomfortable. He might cry if he has an icky belly. That’s how babies talk.”
“It is?” he asked, wide-eyed.
“Yep. When he cries, we have to listen and try to help him feel better again.”
He was very serious. “I will.”
“Good. With you as a big brother, he is going to be very well taken care of.”
“I promise I will take care of him,” he vowed.
“Thank you. Let’s read this book and get to sleep. We’re going to be very tired while we work on getting Cash on a schedule.”
I spent the next twenty minutes with Jake before using the bathroom and going to our suite a couple of doors down. I smelled the candles before I walked into the room. There were several candles burning on the table and both nightstands. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of what had just very recently happened, but he was going to have a very rude awakening.
“Ashton?” I called out in a soft voice.
“In here,” he said.
I went through the double doors and into the retreat connected to our master suite. There were more candles and dozens of roses. “What’s this?” I asked.
He stepped toward me, his hands on my rounded waistline. “I love you.”
“This is very sweet.”
“I wanted to tell you—show you—how much I love you. You are an amazing woman. I’m in awe of your strength and I just wanted to tell you.”
I smiled, reaching up and running my hand through his hair. “Thank you.”
“I know you can’t have champagne right now, but I got us some sparkling cider to celebrate.” He grabbed my hand and led me to one of the light blue chairs in the room that faced a gas fireplace.
“This is all very sweet and romantic and very unexpected.”
“I wanted to surprise you. I have an entire speech in my head, but I don’t want it to sound like a speech. Have a seat please.”
I hoped he didn’t think we could stay up for the next couple of hours talking. I loved him more than anything, but I also knew I needed to sleep when Cash slept. The next few days and weeks were going to be exhausting. “It feels good to sit and not have a foot in my rib.”
He grinned. “I can only imagine.”
“How are you feeling?” I asked him.
His smile grew bigger. “Good. Better than good. I feel high. I’m not, but I feel high. I know I’m going to come down, and the crash is going to suck, but I don’t care. I feel too good.”
“You’re not worried about being a dad?”
He shrugged. “I’m a little worried but not against it. I’m worried now because I want him to be healthy. I don’t want to fail him. I already know I love him. I knew I loved him the moment you told me he was good and healthy.”
“You definitely sound like a father.”
“I feel good, Willow,” he said it like a man that had just won a race. “I feel cheesy. Like I am that guy. The guy that everyone hates for being so happy.”
“I’m happy to be a part of that happiness.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe I thought I didn’t want a family. I had no idea what I was missing. You have changed my life. You opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know existed. I feel like I just woke up. I just stepped into a world that is brighter and happier.”
“You make my head swim,” I told him with a laugh. “I’m so happy you are happy. When I first realized I was pregnant, I was terrified of your reaction. I didn’t want you to think I wanted something from you.”
“You have all of me. Every piece of me is yours.”
A tear slid down my cheek. I blamed the hormones again. I was so happy. Having Jake made me happy, and those moments were beautiful, but sharing the moment with someone I loved just made everything so much bigger and better. “And I am yours,” I whispered.
“Good. Because I need this to be official.”
“Official?” I breathed the word.
He slid out of his chair and onto one knee, pulling a black velvet box from somewhere under the chair. “Willow, I love you. I need you. I can’t be in this world without you. I need you to be my wife. Please, please say you will marry me.”
I could barely see him through the tears in my eyes. “Yes. I absolutely will. I want to be your wife. I want us to be a whole family.”
He opened the box and slid the ring on my finger. I looked down at the rock, not really seeing it. I wasn’t sure if it was possible, but I felt like my heart grew. It felt huge. I had so much love for him and my boys.
He reached for my face, holding it in his hands and dropping a kiss on my lips. “You are the most stubborn woman and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my days seeing you raise our boys, having you tell me what’s what. I know it’s cheesy, but I truly feel like you are my other half.”
“It isn’t cheesy. I’ve waited my whole life for you. And here you are. I wonder if Kyle had any idea what he was doing when he hired me that day.”
He chuckled. “I think he hoped it would happen, but I’m not going to give him that much credit.”
“We should go to bed,” I told him, anxious to cuddle with my future husband.
He helped me to my feet and led me by the hand back to the bedroom. We both went to the little bed where our son was sound asleep. We both stared down at our son, neither of us talking. We didn’t need words.
We both changed for bed, blew out the candles, and crawled in. “It’s strange to hold you in my arms without the belly in between.”
I softly laughed, resting my head on his chest. “Does that mean you don’t want that belly coming back?”
His hand stroked up and down my arm. “I’m thinking we need a little girl to add to the mix.”
“Boy, you better take that somewhere else. This body needs to recover.”
“I’m happy to wait, but now that you got me onto this dad thing, I’m kind of hooked. We can buy a new house. A bigger house with a bigger yard.”
I loved hearing him dream. I didn’t think it was something he had allowed himself to do before. I loved that I was a part of the change. I loved that I could take a man that had been in a dark, lonely place for most of his life and bring him into the light.
“I would love to try for a little girl in a year. If we don’t get a girl, I’m good with a boy. We made a beautiful boy.”
“Jake will be over the moon,” I said.
“Yes, he will be. I’ll take him to school in the morning.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, sleep pulling me under.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Can we get married very, very soon?”
I laughed. “The sooner the better.”
“I’m going to be the best damn husband there ever was. I know I can count on you to keep me in line when I screw up. Together, we are going to be the best team ever.”
“Definitely.”
I closed my eyes and let myself dream of our future together. Things had been so dark for me at many times in my life. Having a man like Ashton by my side made me feel like I could handle even the darkest hours.
The End.
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About the Author
Hey there. I'm Weston.
I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States for the next two years.
You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.
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The Parker’s Wicked Playground
Spring It On Me
Copyright © 2020 by Weston 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
Spring It On Me Page 25