65. Chapter 64
Chapter 64
AJ
B eth, Doug, Blake and I cleaned up after cake and ice cream, while the Sheppards video-chatted with Madi, Jamie’s twin. Madi was the only Sheppard Blake hadn’t met, because she couldn’t get leave from the Navy.
After the call ended, the guys retired to the back porch with beers, giving the girls time to gush and squeal with Meg.
Doug made sure the patio door was closed before pulling a small red velvet box out of his pocket.
“I’m asking Beth to marry me.”
“Will you be doing it in an ice cream shop again?” I asked. Giving him shit about accidentally proposing to Beth, by blurting it out in an ice cream shop, was one of my favorite things to do.
Doug laughed along with the rest of us. “Your time’s coming.” He clapped my shoulder. “We’re already placing bets.”
“What the fuck?” I looked around. Every one of them avoided making eye contact, except John. He just grinned and lifted his beer in salute.
“Seriously, though, do you have a plan?” Jamie asked Doug.
“Yeah, I’m taking her out to dinner for her birthday. Chase and I have it all planned out.”
“What’s his silence costing you?” John asked with a laugh. As Chase’s godfather, he knew how hard it was for Chase to keep a secret.
“You don’t want to know.” Doug laughed as he shook his head.
“Oh, but I do,” John said, his voice thick with amusement.
“A new big boy bike,” Doug admitted.
“Beth’s going to kill you,” Jack teased as we all laughed. Doug couldn’t have kids of his own, so he was fully embracing his new role as Chase’s soon-to-be stepdad, and spoiling the fuck out of him.
“As long as she says yes first, I’m okay with it.”
I looked through the patio door and watched Blake laughing, wondering if I could afford a diamond big enough to make her happy. She's not like that. Blake would be happy with any ring I chose for my proposal.
Sounds faded as I envisioned getting down on one knee and proposing. Images of my future flashed through my mind. Her walking down the aisle in a clingy white dress, her belly growing round with my first son, our kids playing with their Sheppard cousins.
“Who had Janerek proposing in April?” Jamie’s voice disrupted the highlight reel of my future with Blake.
I turned and flipped him off with a huff. “Fuck you, Sheppard.”
There was a round of, “what’d I do?” from his brothers while everyone else laughed. John's was the loudest.
Jack clapped my shoulder. “Not me, I took May. You willing to wait to help your best-friend, a father-to-be, win a bet?”
“Hey, that’s cheating.” Jay punched his brother’s arm.
“Maybe,” was all I said as I turned back to look at Blake. Because I didn’t want to live another day without announcing to the world— She’s mine .