“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Dirk said, his eyes still focused solely on me. I could practically feel the love ebbing off of him.
After the nurse left, Dirk motioned for me to move over some, and he lay down in the bed next to me.
“You’re going to get us in trouble,” I said in a hushed voice.
“Only if I do naughty things to you. For now, all I want to do is hold you.”
I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, or possibly the pain meds kicking in, but my headache felt like it was fading some.
“That sounds amazing,” I said on a long sigh.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt his warm breath against my ear as he asked, “Will you marry me, Merit?”
A smile formed across my face as I replied, “Yes.”
Timberlynn and Lincoln stared at me with disbelieving expressions, while Kaylee sat there with a wide, knowing smile.
“I knew that man was in love with you the moment Stella mentioned your name in the kitchen before New Year’s Eve,” Kaylee stated as she patted Rose softly on the back.
“Did you?” I asked, a hint of surprise in my voice.
“Hell yeah, I did. And I’ll be honest, I thought I would have to work harder at getting him to realize it, but I underestimated the power of fate and the love you two share.”
For a moment, I felt so guilty for ever being jealous of Kaylee. I, of course, had already confessed to her about it, and she laughed her ass off. I really did adore her, as well as Timberlynn and Lincoln.
“Dirk asked you to marry him?” Timberlynn asked for the third time.
I laughed. “Yes. Twice now. Once in the hospital, and then again this morning. I think he was worried I answered him in a daze of pain meds.”
Lincoln smiled. “I cannot believe it. I mean, I can. I’ve always thought he declared himself too much of a bachelor to truly desire to be one. And the way he is with all the kids…he was meant to be a father, anyone with eyes can see that.”
Goodness, the image of Dirk holding our baby made my tummy flip. I settled my hand over it.
“He will make a wonderful father,” Kaylee agreed as Timberlynn nodded.
“So, have you talked about dates?” Lincoln asked.
I sighed. “Well, considering our mothers don’t even know I’m pregnant, we haven’t gotten that far. Do you think we’re moving too soon? I feel like we might be.”
“No!” the three of them all said at once, causing me to laugh as I held up my hands in mock defense.
“Well, okay. Don’t all voice your thoughts at once!”
Timberlynn took my hand and squeezed it. “You love him, right?”
I felt my cheeks burn as I grinned like a mad woman. “More than anything.”
She smiled. “And he loves you, and you’re having a baby. It makes sense.”
“You don’t have to be married to have a baby, though,” Lincoln interjected. “You could simply be in the moment with one another. Don’t put any more pressure on things if you don’t have to. You’ll know when the time is right to marry.”
“Shut up, Lincoln,” Kaylee stated. “I want to plan this wedding.”
I chewed on my lip as I met Lincoln’s gaze. She was right. Just because Dirk asked me to marry him, it didn’t mean we had to run off and get married right away.
“Lincoln’s right. We have so much to talk about. Like, will Dirk move in with me? How will it be when he goes back out on tour? I am not carting a baby around from city to city, no way. But I still want to support him in every way possible. How much of the baby growing up will he miss, and will he be okay with that?”
I frowned, not really wanting to think about any of that. At least Dirk would be there through the pregnancy and when the baby was born.
With a sigh, I said, “We could plan on getting married after I have the baby. Maybe during one of his breaks.”
Timberlynn pouted as Kaylee sighed.
“Do you think he’ll change his mind about wanting to marry?” I asked Kaylee. If anyone knew Dirk the best, it was Kaylee and Brock. Even as close as we used to be, I hadn’t really known this adult Dirk for very long.
“What? No. God, no,” Kaylee said. “Anyone can see that boy has done a complete turnaround. He’s not going to change his mind.”
I felt my mouth twitch with a smile. “Well, like I said, we still have things to talk about, especially what life will be like when he goes back to bull riding.”
Lincoln looked away for a moment. Almost as if she didn’t want me to see her expression, but I caught something.
“Lincoln?” I asked. “Do you know something I don’t?”