Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
I woke up fifteen minutes ago when Sophia started to cry, but Harrison just kissed me on the forehead and told me he had her. The clock reads just after two, a common wake-up time for our daughter, but even though I’m seriously lacking sleep, I’ve been unable to drift back off.
Instead, I lie here and listen to the sound of a doting father caring for his daughter. At only ten days old, she already adores him. Her eyes light up when she hears his voice and often search for him. When she’s tucked safely in his arms, she sleeps soundly and peacefully. It always makes me smile because, well, I know that feeling.
Sliding out of bed, I tiptoe across the hall and stand silently in the doorway. Harrison has her swaddled in a pink blanket and is giving her a bottle of breastmilk. The breastfeeding thing just didn’t work out for me, even though I tried, but she just wouldn’t latch on. I decided to pump for now, which is nice too for Harrison. He gets to help feed her, something he couldn’t do those first few days when I was attempting to get her to latch on.
He gently rocks in the chair and keeps his eyes focused on her as he tells her a story. “King Harrison was determined, though. He knew in his heart his queen was the only woman for him, and it became more clear when he found out about Princess Sophia.”
He smiles down at the baby in his arms. “The king was an idiot, you see, like most men. Of course, Princess Sophia isn’t going to date until she’s thirty, so that’s nothing we need to worry about right now. This story is about the stupid king who let his queen get away. He was a total jackass, my little love,” he tells her.
A giggle slips from my mouth.
“Ahhh, Princess Sophia, I believe we’re not alone. No worries, though. It’s only the beautiful queen, and she could definitely vouch for how senseless the king was,” he says, his eyes dancing with laughter as I enter the room.
“I think the queen and the king were both a little dense,” I reply, stepping up beside the rocking chair. I reach down and run my index finger over her soft cheek, mesmerized by her tiny little features. Her mouth suckles hard on the bottle and her gray eyes watch every move her dad makes.
“Well, this is my bedtime story, and I say the king was the dumbass. Oh, shit. I probably shouldn’t say dumbass,” he stops, turning wide eyes at me. “Fuck, I said shit.”
I can’t help but laugh. With my arm around his shoulder, I snuggle against his head and watch our daughter eat. Her eyes start to droop and her sucking begins to slow. Her little belly is finally full, and she’s ready for a few more hours of sleep.
“Anyway, the day the princess was born was one of the happiest days of the king’s life. He couldn’t imagine his life any better than it was right then, in that moment. Except, maybe, if the queen officially wore a ring on her finger so that everything in the kingdom was complete,” he says. His words barely register. It isn’t until he opens our daughter’s tiny little hand that I see the diamond nestled inside.
A gasp spills from my lips as my eyes dart from his to the ring. He’s moving, gingerly getting up and pulling the bottle from our now-sleeping daughter’s lips. Harrison positions her on his shoulder as he drops to one knee. “Winnie, you are the love of my life. For a while, I was lost. Without you, I was nothing, just an empty shell. But now, with you and our daughter, I’m complete. Everything has fallen into place, and even though you’ve already agreed, I wanted to make it official. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I was worth the risk. Will you marry me?”
Through tear-filled eyes, I gaze down at the only man I’ve loved. It’s not the first time we’ve been in this exact position, though there wasn’t a baby in the picture the first time. But as I recall his first proposal, when we were so young and naïve about the world, I know that this proposal is the one I’ll forever remember. He’s holding our tiny daughter against his bare shoulder, gazing up at me with so much hope and love that it steals the very air I breathe. I know that our story isn’t your typical fairy tale. It wasn’t easy, and, at times, it wasn’t pretty. But it was ours.
Our story.
Our love.
So there’s only one answer I can give him. One answer that speaks from the depths of my soul. “Yes.”
The smile that spreads across his handsome face is my favorite. It radiates happiness and love, and as he slips the ring onto my finger, I can’t help but pray my smile is the exact same.