Autumn lifted the cupcake delicately to her mouth, which he knew she would and bit into it. Her face quickly shriveled up in confusion as she held it out and looked at it.
“There’s something wrong with it. Did they give you a fake one or something? Like one of those they just ice and put out as a display?”
“Why? What’s wrong with it?” he asked, watching as she wiped away the icing and looked at what was underneath. She pulled it apart in the center and looked inside, her face suddenly lighting up as she realized what was happening.
Malcolm was already off the sofa and down on one knee, plucking the diamond solitaire from its resting place in the center of the cupcake and reaching for her hand.
“Autumn, finding you was the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You’ve taught me so much about what is important and given me more children than any man deserves to have. I love you and them so much. Will you marry me?”
You could hear a pin drop as Clara and Rowanne held their breath, waiting for her answer. Instead, he heard the sounds of the babies crying across her monitor.
“I think they said yes,” she told him.”
“I really hope you agree with them,” he said.
“Yes. Of course, it is a yes! I love you!”
Clara and Rowanne cheered even as they leaped up and headed off to the nursery to take care of the babies. Autumn lingered back for a moment and kissed him as if to seal the deal before leaving.
“Come on. We’ll do it together. Nothing says we just got engaged like changing shitty diapers together,” he laughed.CHAPTER THIRTY-NINEAutumn
Autumn had refrained from making calls to her mother so that it didn’t show up on phone bills that Autumn’s father might see. From her end, Autumn always blocked the caller ID so it came across as an unknown number that her mother could say was just a spam call if he was there when it rang and asked.
So, she was surprised when the phone rang and displayed her mother’s number on her phone. She answered it with only a brief greeting in case it might not be her mother, but someone who had caught on to them.
“Hmm,” was all she said when she picked up.
“Autumn? Is that you? It’s Mom.”
“Yes, Mom. I was just surprised that you called me. What if Dad sees it?”
“That’s what I’m calling you about, honey. I didn’t know if you ever get news from back here, if you’re able to keep in touch beyond just me,” her mother said, her voice already cracking as she spoke. Then, she was sobbing into the phone. “I wanted to tell you myself. Your father is dead.”
“What?” Autumn said, her blood running cold as she collapsed into a nearby chair.
“He had a heart attack last night. We rushed him to the ER, but he was too far gone. Rain and I are just devastated.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I wish I could be there.”
“I know you do, honey. I know that you and your Dad had problems, that he was hard on you, but he did love you in his way.”
“Yeah,” Autumn said.
She had no delusions that her father loved her. Perhaps she had believed it when she was younger, but not after she had gotten older and realized she was nothing more than a bargaining chip for him to get in good with the Alpha, and here they were, less than a year away from when she would have married Trevor and her father was dead, having traded her for only a few last months of his life.
Still, she had loved him when she was a girl and for a long time even after she had begun to realize who he really was. Now, she mostly just felt sorry for her mother.
“Are you okay, honey?” her mother asked.
“Yes, Mom. I’m fine. In fact, I’m great.”
“I have to go now, honey. Rain and I are going to make arrangements for his internment with the Alpha.”
“Okay. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, honey.”
Autumn hung up the phone and stared into space, feeling somewhat numb. Malcolm came into the room and made a beeline for her, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him.
“Are you okay, Autumn?”
“That was Mom.”
“She called you?” he asked.
“Yes. My father died.”
“Oh, Autumn. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t know if I am or not,” she told him, leaning against him and just letting him hold her.
“I don’t think you are limited to having just one feeling about such a complicated relationship,” he said softly.
She let her tears fall against his shoulder, not entirely understanding them, but content to let them happen. After a while, they pulled away and he kissed her. It had a calming effect on her. He always had, she realized.