Until Cece (Happily Ever Alpha World)

“Right,” he replies.

I look away, my brows furrowed, then meet his gaze once again. “So what’s the last bedroom for?”

“Not what. Who.” At my still confused look, he tells me, “Have you already forgotten, naekkeo? I wasn’t joking when I told you I want more kids. We have yours, we have mine, and soon, I want ours. I want that more than anything with you. And I’m not getting any younger.”

My heart is racing a mile a minute. What do I even say to that?

Nervous as hell, I do what I always do and say the first thing that pops into my head like an idiot.

“Geez, Win. I’m getting a proposal of making a baby with you before I even get a proposal of marriage. What the fuck?” I laugh nervously, swatting at his chest.

And before I even realize what’s happening, he pulls his hand out of his pocket and drops to one knee, my eyes going wide.

“Yeah, about that…” He lifts his hand and opens his fingers, and in the center of his huge, calloused palm is a sparkling silver ring. “Cece, you are the reason for all that’s good in my life. I thought I had everything I could possibly need in this world—my restaurant, my boy, my dream house—but it wasn’t until I met you that I realized I was missing the one thing I needed most. The love of my life. Our fates might’ve taken a really broken path, might’ve gotten lost and turned around a few times along the way, but then they finally crossed each other, and now all I want in this entire world is for the rest of my journey to stay on course with yours.”

My eyes fill with tears, and my chin begins to wobble as he takes my left hand and slides the ring onto my finger. I glance down, seeing the five diamonds, and I gasp at how beautiful it is.

“One stone for me—the big one in the center, and four for the babies we’ve already been blessed with—two smaller ones on each side,” he explains, and that’s when I lose it.

“It’s perfect, Win,” I sob, and I see him smile through my blurry eyes.

“Cece, will you marry me?” he finally asks, and I nod vigorously.

“Yes!” I cry, and he surges to his feet, picking me up on his way to his full height. He spins me around and around, and suddenly we’re falling. I squeal midair until we land on the bare mattress with a bounce, laughing loudly.

An hour later, we’re eating dinner Winston made us at his—well, I guess “our” now—huge dining table. I give him a nod at his silent question, and he grins.

“Kids, we have some news,” he announces, and all their eyes turn to him, forks hovering above their plates where they’d been shoveling in the best mac and cheese ever created. “I asked naekkeo to marry me… and she said yes.”

Lola and Kate gasp and then smile broadly, putting down their forks and clapping wildly. Nick turns his beautiful eyes that match his father’s toward me, the dark orbs going wide as his mouth drops. He’s the first to speak.

“Does… does that mean I get to call you Mom?” he asks shyly, and my heart clenches at this monumental moment. He and I had grown ridiculously close over the past couple of months. I never knew how different having a boy would be from my three girls, but there’s definitely a special bond there between us. He looks at me with stars in his eyes, especially when I show him all the physical affection I give the girls, hugs, kisses, and snuggles on the couch when we’re watching movies. Stroking my fingers through his hair while I’m reading him a bedtime story. It makes me sad to think his mother didn’t give him this love he obviously craved, but then I console myself by thinking maybe he at least got it from his grandparents all this time.

I look at Winston for confirmation, and at his wide smile and subtle nod, I tell Nick, “You absolutely can, my sweet boy.”

He chooses not to make a big deal about it, giving me a happy nod and then digging back into his mac and cheese.

“I have a question,” Ruby speaks up then, and my hand tightens on my fork, bracing for what could possibly come out of my wild child’s mouth.

“What is it, baby?” I ask her.

She turns to look at Winston. “Why do you always call Mommy that?”

“What? Naekkeo?” he clarifies, and she nods.

I answer her before he can, “It’s Korean for sweetheart. He’s called me that since the day he met me.” I beam over at him. But my face falls when Lola interrupts.

“That’s not why, Mommy.”

My head whips around to look at her, my brows furrowed. “That’s what it means, baby. I googled it a long time ago. It means sweetheart.”