Chapter twenty-six
Aubrey
Pancakes and… oranges.
I cry into my hands as Shane walks away, feeling like I’ve just ruined everything between us.
What if he can’t forgive me for saying no?
What if he doesn’t think that my excuse is valid?
What will happen to us? I cry harder, crouching down to the floor until my stomach begins to hurt from the position, and I know I need to get up.
I can’t stay here all day, crying for something I caused.
I need to think. I need advice. Yes, that should help calm me down and think clearly.
I reach for my phone in my pocket, ready to dial my mom’s number, knowing she’ll know exactly what to say to me.
But then I remember that I don’t need to call her, I can just go to her.
Standing from the floor, I wipe my tears that keep falling and head to our room to collect my purse. But as I walk in, I find Shane emerging from his closet in shorts and a shirt. We both stop and stare at each other for a moment before I resume my path to my purse.
“I’m going to go to my parents’…” I tell him as I turn to face him once more, noticing he still hasn’t moved.
He nods slowly. “Will you be back?” My heart breaks at the pain in his voice.
“Of course, I will. Do you… do you not want me to come back?” Please don’t say that’s what you want… I don’t think my heart could take it.
“This is your home, Aubrey. What happened back there doesn’t change that,” he says, looking away like it pains him to mention it.
“Okay… Then I’ll… I’ll see you later…” I wipe my face as another drop slips from the corner of my eye.
He nods and leaves the room.
Waiting a few minutes before leaving the room myself, I quickly make my way to the garage and into my car.
I don’t waste any time pulling out of the garage and leaving the property, but my heart hurts more with every new mile created between us.
And by the time I pull up to my parents’ new home, I’m a sobbing mess.
They moved in three weeks ago, and this is only the second time I’ve been here. It’s a cute little four-bedroom home, situated only ten minutes away from my brother’s place. I’m just glad to have them closer to us, even if it’s still over half an hour drive from me.
I quickly park my car and run up the front steps in tears. They must have seen me park because the moment I reach the landing, the door is pulled open, and my mom holds her arms wide open for me. “Oh, my baby.”
“He proposed and I said no,” I cry out as I throw myself into her arms.
“Umm… Yeah, this one’s on you because I don’t understand this,” my dad says from behind my mother as he pets my hair.
My mother sighs at him then walks us farther into the house. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s sit down and talk.” I simply nod as she directs us into the living room and sits us down on the couch. “Tell me what happened.”
I go over every detail of what happened, from him showing me all the renovations that we’d be doing, to him proposing, then to the disaster of me saying no and why.
“I just feel like everything is going so fast between us. I’m scared that if we keep going at this pace, it will all blow up in our faces,” I tell my mother as I wipe my tears with a tissue.
“It’s completely normal to have doubts, sweetheart.
You two barely had time to actually date before jumping into a serious relationship, which is completely understandable given your situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the real deal.
” She places her hand above mine. “Tell me, honey. What will have changed in a few months when he asks you again? Aside from your daughter being born.”
“I… I don’t know. Nothing I guess.”
“Okay and answer this honestly. Is there any chance, even if it’s only one percent, that you might doubt how you feel about Shane? That maybe there is someone else out there for you?”
I’m already shaking my head before she finishes her question.
“Absolutely not. I love Shane, there’s no one else for me.
There will never be. I don’t want a life with anyone else but him.
Even if we end up fighting all the time like Em and Grey, I don’t care.
I want to fight and argue with him, I want to cry with him.
I want to do it all with him. Just him.”
I gasp when my own words sink in. “Oh my God, I’m an idiot!”
“No, baby. You’re not an idiot; you just needed a bit of help seeing what was right in front of you. You and Shane are soulmates, anyone can see that. So why wait when you could start spending the rest of your life together now?” My mother smiles as she pushes my hair behind my ears.
I nod and stand abruptly. “I… I need to go home.”
“Go, sweetie. And send me a picture of that ring on your finger.” She stands as well.
I move to leave but turn back around and hug my mother. “Thank you, Mom.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Aubrey. That’s what moms are for, you’ll learn that soon with your own daughter.” She kisses my cheek. “Now go, because if I had to guess, Shane is probably losing his mind right about now.”
Nodding, I run out of the house, jump into my car, and speed off toward our home. I know I shouldn’t be driving like a madwoman while pregnant, but this is important. I need to fix this between us.
I make it home in record time, not bothering to park in the garage. Instead, I kill the engine in the driveway right by the front door and quickly make my way up the steps, whipping the door open. “Shane!?”
I rush through the house, looking into every room as I continue to call his name. “Shane!?” I start to fear he may have left when everywhere I look comes up empty. It isn’t until I reach the patio doors that lead out to the backyard, on my way to the living room, that I see him.
He’s sitting on a chair by the pool, his elbows resting on his spread knees, hands hanging between them with his head bowed down. I’ve never seen Shane so down, and it’s all because of me. Because I couldn’t see past my fears, because I couldn’t see that time means nothing when it comes to us.
I slide the door open, not bothering to close it behind me as I walk down to the pool. “Shane?” I call his name again, but he doesn’t look up. I stand in front of him, expecting a reaction, but still, he doesn’t move.
“Ask me again,” I tell him, waiting a few seconds before repeating myself. “Please, Shane, ask me again.”
“It’s fine, Aubrey. If you’re not ready or have doubts, I understand. I can wait,” he finally says in a broken voice, but still won’t look at me.
I hate that he’s been calling me by my name when normally he would use Angel or sweetheart. I’ll even take baby over Aubrey when it comes from him.
This won’t do.
“Fine, then. If you won’t do it, I will.” I get down to one knee in front of him and take his hand in mine. I never thought I’d be doing this, but oh, well. If it’s what I have to do to prove to him that I want this, then I’ll do it.
His head snaps up to me when he registers my position. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to marry me.” I smile warmly.
“No,” he simply says, then grabs me by the waist and hauls me onto his lap. “I won’t let you do that, Angel. There’s no way you’ll be the one asking.”
“Then ask me again, I’m begging you,” I plead with him.
He searches my eyes for any sign of uncertainty, but he won’t find any. All I do is smile at him as my heart races in my chest, waiting for the words to fall from his lips.
“Marry me,” he breathes out after what feels like an eternity.
I take his face between my hands and fuse my lips to his. “Yes,” I say between kisses as our tongues get tangled together. “Yes today, yes tomorrow, yes forever.”
His hand comes into my hair as he angles my head like he wants it and deepens the kiss until we’re panting and gasping for air. “God, Angel. I thought I was losing you,” he whispers as his head falls to my shoulder.
Repositioning myself, I straddle his thighs and wrap my arms around his neck, holding him tight to me. “Never. I’m so sorry, Shane. I’m sorry that I doubted, even for a second, that things could change between us. I don’t know why I feared taking this next step with you.”
I pull back slightly, wanting him to see just how much I mean every word coming from my mouth.
“But I want you to know that I’m not anymore.
I don’t doubt anything between us. I don’t care if we end up fighting one day, I don’t care if we get mad at each other, I don’t care if in ten years we end up needing couple’s therapy.
All I care about is that I do all those things with you.
” I lean in and press my lips to his softly.
“Because I don’t want this life if it’s not with you, Shane. ”
He smiles against my lips, seconds before he picks us up and twirls us around. “God! I love you so much.”
I laugh as he finally stops spinning us. “I love you too, more than you could ever know.”
He holds me up with one hand while his other comes up to cup my cheek. “I know, Angel. Trust me, I know.” He kisses me again then sets me down. “How about we finally put that ring on your finger?”
I grin. “Please, my mom is probably walking around with her phone in her hands waiting for a picture.” I giggle.
He takes my hand in his and walks us toward the back of the house, shaking out his injured shoulder. A blush forms on my cheekbones as I realize that’s the arm he was using to hold me up. “Sorry, I’m not as light anymore.” I bite my lip.
“All the pain in the world is worth it if it’s for you.” He lifts our joint hands and kisses the back of my palm.
My blush deepens as we make our way inside and to our room.
He goes to the nightstand and opens the first drawer, plucking out the small navy-blue box and opens it to retrieve the ring.
It’s beautiful and big with so many little details and a bright round diamond right in the center. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s beautiful, Shane,” I whisper as he slips it on my finger. A perfect fit.
“It’s a family heirloom. The first Andromeda jewelry ever made.”