Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I bit my lip and nodded silently, suddenly feeling stupid and realizing that I should have known better. It would take a lot more than one night of normalcy to get him to trust me enough to propose again. Or maybe, he would stick to his word and never ask me for as long as he lived.
Either way, this wasn’t going to change the surprise I had in store for him tonight.
***
We had about an hour before we had to check out of the hotel, and that would give me just enough time to feed the baby and pack up our stuff before we left to go home.
Jake still had A.J. strapped to his chest as he held the hotel elevator open for me.
I closed my eyes and yawned as the elevator began rising, and then it came.
A jolt.
I grabbed onto his shirt. “Jake…what just happened?”
A wide smile spread across his face, and I soon realized his finger was on the stop button. This was an apparent reenactment of our “first time.”
“Where’s the champagne?” I joked.
“No champagne today, baby.”
“What are you doing, Jake?”
“Remember that day? You know, I was starting to fall in love with you, even then. That mellow song I played…I was trying to tell you my feelings, even though I thought I could never have you.”
“I loved that song,” I whispered, tears starting to form in my eyes.
“You and A.J. are my entire world. The past year and a half with you has given me back every last piece of innocence I lost in the years before and then some. At this point in my life, I would do anything for you. If you told me today, that you couldn’t accept my continuing to be there for Ivy, then I would have no choice but to let that part of my life go, no matter how guilty I felt. You love me enough to make sure that I don’t ever have to choose, that I don’t ever have live with guilt or regret. I know it’s not easy for you when I leave you sitting on the couch breastfeeding him to go see my ex-wife. I’ve always seen the sadness in your eyes. You’ve dealt with it…for me. There is not one time I walk out the door on those days where my heart doesn’t ache with love for you. You are strong enough to know deep down that my looking out for her doesn’t change how much I love you. You have given me a life that I could have never imagined…a dream I gave up on years ago, because I never thought it would ever be possible to meet someone who loved me enough to accept everything that came along with me. I wouldn’t change one painful thing about my life, if it meant not ending up right here in this stuck elevator with my family.”
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, overcome with emotion. When I opened them, I noticed that Jake had slipped something into our son’s hand. It was a paper bird. He hadn’t made one of those for me since before A.J. was born. This one wasn’t black…it was white: a dove.
“I told you I wasn’t going to propose to you again. I meant it,” he said.
He must have sensed the disappointed look on my face, because he rubbed my cheek and smiled.
“But I didn’t say he wouldn’t do it.”
My eyes were welling up.
Oh my God.
“You have something for me, little man?” My heart was pounding as I took the dove that was now crinkled, from A.J.’s tiny fingers and opened it.
See this guy…Jake?
I want you to cut him a break.
Not just cuz he’s my dad…
But because he loves you like mad.
He said he was done asking you to be his bride.
Well, Mommy…he lied.
After everything we’ve been through…
He still really wants to marry you.
Look at him…he’s a mess.
Please tell him you’ll say yes.
He was a mess, a beautiful one, with tears in his eyes, as I pulled him into me, careful not to crush A.J.
“Yes…yes…a million times…yes,” I said through my own tears.
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I know you said we should wait. Seeing Skylar and Mitch yesterday reminded me that life is short, and I don’t want to wait one second longer to marry the love of my life.”
I wiped his eyes. “I wouldn’t change anything either, Jake…the good or the bad. What would moments as perfect as this mean with nothing to compare them to? Every bit of pain it took to get here was worth it.”
“I didn’t have time to get a ring. I actually went looking while you were out with your friends but couldn’t find the right one in time. I’ll take you shopping in Boston.”
Perfect timing.
“No need,” I said unable to contain my joy.