I extend a hand, palm up, and slowly, shaking, she lifts hers for me to take.
“Raelynn Birdie…I love you,” I say, voice quiet and earnest.
“I love you too,” she says quickly, freely, as if she can’t contain the words a moment longer. “I love you,” she repeats, and even as she tries to stifle it, a quiet sob slips out.
I rub my thumb across her knuckles, trying in vain to still my wild racing heart.
“Will you marry me?”
Without hesitation, she flings herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face against my chest. Sobs rack through her as I stand and lift us and squeeze her close, holding her against me as our hearts threaten to burst. She shakes in my arms, crying, nodding, and repeating “Yes” into my shirt.
“I promise to always love you,” I whisper as tears burn down my cheeks. “We’ll be a family. You and me and Caleb and our children.”
I hold her like that for a good long while, until her crying softens and a light laugh escapes her. I set her down and she steps back so I can slide the ring onto her finger. It’s a perfect fit thanks to Kayla’s help.
She looks down and studies it, twisting it beneath the twinkle lights so it glistens and glows. She tells me it’s beautiful before arching up to plant a kiss on my lips.
It’s then that a chorus of shouts ring out, and we break apart and turn to see our friends gathered back toward the house, whooping and hollering, just as planned. They were all in on my proposal plans, even Caleb.
They hold up glasses of champagne in celebration, and Caleb comes running for us. He’s too young to fully understand what’s happening, but I know how much he’s come to love Raelynn and how much she loves him in return. Over breakfast the other morning, she told me she’d learned the French word for stepson is beau-fils, which translates to beautiful son. She smiled at that, thinking it was a much sweeter way of describing her feelings for Caleb.
“Ray-yin!” he shouts, running toward her. “Mar-ry Dad-dy,” he singsongs in his toddler voice.
He thinks this is all some fantastic game and starts to point up to all the hanging votives.
“Lights!” he shouts.
“Yes, lights. Daddy hung those for me,” Raelynn says, reaching down to ruffle his curls.
Caleb jumps around underneath them, clapping his hands as if trying to catch the lights.
“C’mon you two!” Kayla calls. “We have celebrating to do!”
“I already poured shots!” Anthony adds.
We walk over to join the group with Caleb between us, and everyone rushes in to congratulate us. Raelynn’s friends all pull her into tight hugs. Leanna, Kayla, Julia, and Eva take turns oohing and aahing over her ring.
“He did good, right?” Kayla proclaims proudly. “I convinced him to go bigger. Why half-ass it, you know? Give the girl a diamond with a capital D.”
The guys congratulate me too. Well…Trey and Ryan do. Anthony, on the other hand, starts offering me his deepest condolences as if he isn’t about to follow right in my footsteps. I’m calling it now—this time next year, he’ll be walking down the aisle to Kayla. No doubt about it.
“I call dibs on maid of honor!” Kayla shouts to the group.
“That’s not how it works!” Julia protests.
“Exactly,” Leanna adds calmly, as if the whole argument is beneath her. Then she unfurls a devious smile. “Besides, everyone knows it’ll be me.”
Through the laughter and chaos, Raelynn looks over to me and smiles. She thinks the surprises are over, but in an hour, after we tuck Caleb into bed and leave him in the care of Nina and Donna, I’ll roll out the two suitcases Nina helped me pack in secret yesterday afternoon. Hermann will be waiting out front to drive us to the airport. We have first-class seats on an overnight flight to Tromsø, Norway. I’m taking Raelynn to see the Northern Lights as an engagement present, and I can’t wait to see her reaction when she finds out.
“I love you,” she mouths.
“I love you too.”
Caleb—who’s been eating up all the attention from everyone—fights through the crowd to get to Raelynn and tugs on her leg so she’ll pick him up. He drops his head to her shoulder, sucking his thumb into his mouth, a little intimidated by the crowd of people. My chest tightens as I watch them together. It’s hard to believe how lucky I am.
“Okay, now that we’ve all seen the huge ring and congratulated the lovebirds, who’s ready for a shot?! Leanna?” Kayla asks, nudging her with her elbow.
Leanna snorts. “No way! I have to go put Amara down in a second.”
Kayla groans. “Ryan?”
“No way.”
“Okay fine—Caleb?”
“No!” we all shout.
She throws her hands in the air. “Guys, I was kidding!”
Epilogue
Raelynn
Early on a Saturday morning, while the rest of the neighborhood sleeps, our family of six heads to the park. Ben and I stroll slowly, sipping our now-lukewarm coffee while our four kids scoot, bike, and toddle along on the sidewalk in front of us. Caleb, who’s nearly seven, leads the pack, pedaling his bike to and fro, doing circles around us and teasing about what “slowpokes” we are. Levi and Hayden, who are five and three, try their hardest to keep up with Caleb on their scooters, wanting to be as fast and cool and awesome as their older brother. Our youngest, a little girl with blonde ringlet curls, is barely a year old and holds Ben’s hand as she walks, still trying to get the hang of it. We named her Millie, after Nan.