“Or I’ll have to fuck you on this table, and then we’ll have to re-sanitize the whole kitchen, which means it will take that much longer to get home where I can fuck you on our bed.”
“Hmmm.” I bite my lip and pretend to think as I strut toward him. “Could be worth it.”
He grabs my waist and pulls me against his erection.
“Definitely would be worth it,” he says before tugging me in for a deep kiss. I hope he always has the power to knock me on my ass with just a kiss. Our tongues tangle and my thighs clench. I can feel him growing harder against my hip, but when I reach down to palm him, he grabs my hand and stills it.
“Wait,” he says, his voice pained. When I whimper, he chuckles. “Wait just a second, Sundance.” I pull back just in time for him to lift me up and set me on the counter.
“I’m in love with you,” he says, eyes pinned on mine. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. Every night, I go to bed thinking there’s no way I could love you any more than I do, but every morning, I wake up and it’s like my heart has grown, because my love for you has doubled. I want to spend every single day of the rest of my life loving you, and every single morning I want to wake up to find that I love you more than I did the night before.”
He kisses me, and my lips are wet with the tears I didn’t realize I’d started crying. He places his palm on my cheek, his thumb rubbing gently over my lower lip as he pulls a velvet box from his pocket and opens it.
“You’re my Polaris, Bailey, guiding me through the darkness. My Sun, dancing on the horizon, shining light on a hope for better days. My life, my future, my heart. It’s all better with you in it. Veux-tu m'épouser? Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I say, then crush my lips to his. “Yes,” I say again between kisses. I pull back just long enough for him to slide the delicate ring onto my finger, and I gasp at how beautiful it is.
“It’s an oval moonstone on a platinum band, and the accent diamonds are lab grown because I know how you feel about the diamond industry,” he says to me as I marvel.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper as more tears fall down my cheeks, then I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him again. It’s perfect.
“Let’s do it now,” he says against my lips, and I laugh. “I’m serious, Sundance. Life’s too short. We’ve waited long enough. I want to marry you right now, tonight.”
“It’s after eight! Is there even anywhere in the city that can marry us this late?”
“Tomorrow, then?” Riggs asks, and his voice is giddy. My face hurts from smiling. “We’ll go to the Cook County Clerk’s Office tomorrow and get a license.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes,” I say on a laugh. “Let’s get married tomorrow!”
He kisses me once more, then pulls me off the counter and leads me through the kitchen and into the front of the café. The music is still playing softly, and the twinkle lights on the ceiling are casting a beautiful glow around the café.
“She said yes!” Riggs shouts, and we’re met with a chorus of cheers. Ivy, Kelley, Jesse, Jocelyn, my mom, and Riggs’s dad are all standing under the twinkle lights, smiling and clapping. I laugh again, dashing away a few happy tears just as Jesse pops open a bottle of champagne and Kelley starts handing out glasses. These tricksters. They were waiting for this.
“You know,” Jesse says as he pours me a glass of champagne, “I’m an ordained minister.”
“What,” I screech. “You are not. Since when?”
“Since we all got wasted on that guy’s weekend last month and Riggs told us he was going to propose,” Kelley chimes in with a smile. “He also drunkenly promised Jesse he could officiate your wedding.”
“If you’re okay with it,” Riggs adds. “I said he could officiate if you were okay with it.”
“Well?” Jesse raises his eyebrows at me, a small smirk on his lips.
“Fine,” I huff playfully. “But we’re getting married tomorrow, so if you’re not—”
“I am! I will! I’ll be there. I’m gonna marry you guys.” Jesse’s goofy grin is contagious, and I can’t stop the silly giggles that keep bursting out of me. I feel like I swallowed the sun, or a whole night sky of stars, for how glowy and bright I feel.
“A toast,” Riggs’s dad says, then raises his glass.
“Oh!” I blurt. Oh shit. “Wait. I have something for you,” I say to Riggs, then I look at Ivy with wide eyes. She’s biting her lip, trying not to laugh when she hands me the origami figurine and takes the champagne flute from me. She must have known this would happen. Always so prepared, that one.
“Um,” I say, the moonstone on my ring sparkling in the twinkle lights as I fiddle with the origami heart. “Here.” I thrust it at him, and he takes it with a bemused smile.
“Thanks, babe,” Riggs says as he inspects the heart, but when he moves to put it in his pocket, I stop him.
“No. Open it.”
His eyes flick back to mine and widen. I know the exact moment he realizes something is up, because his breaths quicken, and his fingers start to tremble.
“Open it, Riggs,” I whisper again with a small smile, and he slowly begins to unfold the paper. The room is absolutely silent—the only sound is the soft music coming from the speakers—as Riggs flattens out the paper and begins to read it.
“Is this...” he starts. “Is this...what is this?”
He looks at me, eyes shining and blinking rapidly.
“It’s a blood test,” I say, and he blinks a few more times.
“Does this say that you’re... that we’re...” His smile stretches over his face, and his voice drops to a low whisper. “Sundance, are you pregnant?”
“Bun in the oven,” I say on a laugh, and he just stares at me for a few more breaths as his smile grows and his eyes shine. He steps closer and puts his palms on my cheeks and kisses my lips softly.
“We’re gonna have a baby,” he says, and I nod. He pulls back and looks at our audience. “We’re gonna have a baby!” he shouts to them. “I’m gonna be a daddy!” And cheers erupt once more.
“You’re sure this is okay?” I ask. “We’ve not even been here a year yet. We just opened the café. It’s going to be really challenging.”
“People have kids in the city and work all the time. Everyday. It’s going to be challenging, yeah, but it’s going to be so worth it. And we’re lucky—we’ve got this family and a strong support system.”
He kisses me again, and I glance around the room at all the people I love. They’re smiling and laughing, and I’m filled with so much happiness. They’re here for us, and I realize that Riggs is right. We’ve got the best people in the world backing us. Even my mom, though our relationship is still rocky, she’s proven herself many times over the last two and a half years. She left my dad, she moved out of that town, and every time I’ve needed her, she’s been there for me. For us. These people lift me up when I’m low, and sometimes when it’s necessary, they lie down at the bottom with me until I’m ready to get back up.
“Don’t be scared, Sundance. We’re gonna do this together, if it’s what you want.”
“I do,” I say quickly. “I do want this. I love you so much,” and then I say to the room, “Thank you all for coming tonight. For being here. I love you all big, big.”
“We love you, too” comes from Mom and Antony, and a crooned, off-key chorus of, “love you baaaaack,” comes from Ivy, Kelley, and Jesse. Even Jocelyn blows me a kiss, and my heart could burst from all the love it’s soaking up.
It’s the perfect ending to a perfect day, and the perfect beginning to what’s sure to be a wonderful, beautiful, challenging, never boring, love-filled life.
And I can’t wait to live it, because every day will be better than the last.
Better with my found family, who came to me when I was at my darkest and filled me with light. Better with Riggs, who stole my heart in aisle six of the Quick Stop and has held it close ever since. Better with Pierre-Boo, our adopted alley tabby, who really does nothing except ruin our furniture, hiss at visitors, and knock shit over just to be a dick (but I know he loves us).
I splay my hand over my still flat tummy. And now, it will be better with you, mon étoile.
Je t’aime, mon étoile, I whisper. Je t’aime.
The End