Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
God, I love these guys.
“Okay, enough, children.” Zeus takes Gigi from Ares and sets her up on his shoulders. “Can we stop talking about Lo’s dating life in front of my impressionable daughter? And get these lanterns lit before dusk is gone.”
There’s this weird hush between them, and then they all jump to attention with a chorus of…
“Yeah, of course!”
“Okay, let’s get moving!”
“Everyone, move to the pier!”
As I hold Zeus’s hand, we walk down the pier, Gigi still up on his shoulders. With everyone following behind us, we stop at the head of the pier.
Zeus lights a lantern with his lighter and hands it to me. Then, he lights his own.
“Is everyone ready?” Zeus asks.
And we hear a chorus of, “Yes.”
“Let me hold, Daddy,” Gigi says, making grabby hands.
“Be careful, Gigi girl. They can burn you.”
“I’ve got her,” Zeus reassures me.
“Don’t forget to make your wish when you let it go,” I tell her.
She grins this gorgeous cheeky smile, like she already knows what to wish for.
“Okay, so count of three,” Zeus says loudly. “Then, let your lanterns go. Three,” Zeus begins. “Two…one.”
I release my lantern and watch as it starts to make its flight over the water, rising higher, along with everyone else’s lanterns.
Then, I briefly close my eyes, just relishing in the happiness I feel right now. I can’t believe I’m here with Zeus, and I’m pregnant with our second baby.
If you’d said to me a year ago that I’d be here with him, I’d have told you that an asteroid hitting Earth would be more likely.
I hear the gentle sound of Rihanna singing “Umbrella” coming from somewhere behind me, and then the noise of hushed gasps all around has my eyes opening and my head turning.
Zeus is down on his knees beside me.
No. Not knees.
Knee.
Holy crap.
My body slowly turns to him, my eyes not moving from his.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Proposing,” he says simply.
“I gots the wing, Mommy!” Gigi giggles from beside him, holding out a ring box.
“Zeus…” Tears fill my eyes.
“You’re the love of my life, Dove. It’s always been you. From the first moment I saw you at the fair, I was a goner. I fell in love with you then. I love you now. I will go to my grave, loving you. I want you to marry me.”
“The wing is weally pwetty, Mommy!” Gigi thrusts the box at me, and I take it from her.
Fingers trembling, I open the box to see the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It’s rose gold, diamond-encrusted band, with a large round diamond encircled by smaller diamonds.
My eyes flick to Zeus, a gasp escaping me.
“It was my mother’s,” he tells me. “It might not fit, but we can have it resized.”
Okay, well, now, I’m crying.
I wipe the tears from my face with my hand.
“So, what do you say, Dove? Will you marry me?”
“Says yes, Mommy, ’cause I weally, weally wanna be a bridesmaid!” Gigi comes to me, wrapping her arms around my leg, hugging me.
My hand goes to her head, holding her close, as tears clog my throat.
I stare down at Zeus, the ring in my hand.
This man…he ruins me. Every word. Every look. Every touch.
But there’s no one I’d rather be ruined by than him.
Standing here, surrounded by everyone who matters, on my daughter’s birthday with our song playing and pretty lanterns lighting up the sky, I give Zeus and Gigi the answer they have been waiting for.
“I say…that Gigi is going to make one heck of a beautiful bridesmaid.”
Zeus’s face cracks into that stunning smile of his.
“Yay!” Gigi squeals.
“Was that a yes?” Lo asks, sounding confused.
“It was a yes,” I tell him, my eyes still fixed on Zeus as he rises to his feet. Taking the ring from me, he slips it onto my finger. “A definite, one hundred percent yes.”