Chapter 11 All Dressed in White Cara #2
The rest? You can put it on after this. It’s all you’ll be wearing for my birthday.
You’re the only star in my sky, but I plan on filling your sky with stars today.
P.S. Sit your ass down and eat some breakfast.
Grumbling, I step into the panties before stomping over to the table, extra dramatic so he can hear me wherever he’s hiding.
“I’m not even hungry!” I whine, but smile when I see the plate: two strawberry heart eyes, a pancake nose, two pieces of bacon for the smile, extra crispy, just the way I like it.
A speech bubble is drawn with chocolate sauce, the words eat me coming from the bacon mouth.
“Fine,” I mumble, swiping my charred bacon through the chocolate sauce. “But only ’cause you’re cute.”
I scarf down half my breakfast before hiking it back upstairs, expecting to find Emmett in the front bedroom, the one we plan to use as a nursery one day.
He’s not there, though. It’s as empty as it’s always been, except right there on the bookshelf, beside the window where we’ll look up at the stars with our kids, is a book I’ve never seen before.
Something inside me changes, slowing. The butterflies are still there. But there’s a certain quiet in my head now, a calm that lets me hear my heart, the way it beats for Emmett, for this life we’re building together, for a future we’re turning into a reality.
Taking a seat in the window, I pull the book into my lap.
My lower lip wobbles as I read through Look Up at the Stars, a story about a baby bear and his mother who go on an impossible journey up a mountain to catch a star, only to realize at the top that, even without the star, they already have everything they need at home.
But it’s Emmett’s handwriting on the inside of the front cover, the note he’s written to a little soul we don’t know yet—that’s what does me in.
One day, you’ll be snuggled up in this window, staring up at the stars above.
Mama will hold you, singing to you about the way they shine like diamonds in the sky.
And I’ll stand back and watch you together, knowing with absolute certainty…
If you and your mama were the only stars in my sky,
That would be all I needed.
Love, Dada
As I’m swiping at the tears cascading down my cheeks, a note falls from the back of the book.
I knew this house was ours the first time I saw you standing at this window.
You looked out the window like you were looking at your future.
Like you were meant to be here, in this exact spot.
It was the same way I looked at you the first time I saw you.
The same way I always look at you.
Their journey started at the bottom of a mountain.
Ours started a year ago, but… humor me?
I tuck the note into my pocket and clutch the book to my chest, unwilling to put it down as I race down the stairs once again, through the hall and past the kitchen and living room, skidding to a stop at the door to our back patio.
The base of Mount Fromme starts just beyond our backyard, a sea of lush green pines dusted in snow, a sight that’s never failed to leave me anything but breathless.
But when I step into the cozy slippers waiting for me and slip out the door, it’s not the mountain in our backyard that stops me in my tracks.
It’s the mason jars that mark a path beneath the covered patio, each one filled with white roses and forget-me-nots in shades of sky blue and periwinkle.
It’s the glowing candles set between each bouquet, warming me in the middle of winter.
It’s the stone fireplace they lead to, the mantel covered in more of my favorite flowers, more candles.
The cushions and blankets laid out in front of the roaring fire, inviting me to curl up there.
I’m suddenly aware that I’ve spent this entire time racing from one location to the next.
That I haven’t slowed down, taken a moment to just…
look around. Appreciate where I am right now, where life has taken me, who I’m spending it with.
All the ways this man shows his love, bathes me in it day in and day out.
I breathe in the crisp air, damp with snow falling just ten feet away. I’ve always felt like I could breathe better here. Deeper. Felt like this place cleared my head in ways I didn’t realize I needed.
But maybe it was Emmett.
A deep breath. A clear head. A calm heart. A steady hand.
That’s always been him, hasn’t it?
I inch along the path of flowers and candles, stepping out of my slippers when I reach the end, feeling the warmth of the blankets below my feet as I stop in front of the fireplace, a final note resting on the mantel.
My hands shake as I unfold it, and I laugh despite myself as tears run down my cheeks.
Cara,
I have so much to say. Endless thoughts I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to put into words.
I’ve thought about this moment for an entire year, and at the end of the day, what I really want to say is… thank you.
Thank you for taking a chance on me.
For opening your heart and letting me see it, learn it, and hold it. Taking care of it has been my greatest blessing.
Thank you for being willing to go to war for me.
For supporting me, seeing me, laughing with me, and crying with me. Because of you, I know what it feels like to be certain someone is always in your corner.
Thank you for taking my heart, for holding it gently, and keeping it safe. It’s felt at home every step of the way since I found you.
Thank you for showing me what it means to be brave. To be bold. To fight for what you want. I thought I was strong before you, but I know now: I’m strong because of you.
I am who I am because of you, Cara.
Because you love me in ways I didn’t know existed.
Because everything made sense the first time we kissed.
Because I found a home in your eyes, your arms, and your heart.
Because with your hand in mine, I can breathe.
How fucking lucky am I?
“Don’t cry, firefly.”
The note crumples in my hands as I gasp, spinning around to find Emmett on one knee, a champagne velvet ring box in his hands, a smile as soft as ever on his face.
“N-no!” I shout, swiping at the tears free-falling down my cheeks, soaking my new pajamas. “Don’t tell me what to do!”
“No? What about shaking? You’re doing a lot of that. Wanna stop that?”
I look down at my hands, my knees, the way everything trembles and wobbles like I’m my own earthquake. “I—I—I…” I shake my head and cry harder. “I don’t know how!”
Emmett chuckles, a beautiful sound as gentle as the snow falling around us. “Okay, baby,” he murmurs, taking my left hand in his right, bringing it to his lips, sweeping a kiss across my knuckles. When his blue eyes rise to mine, they’re red-rimmed and glossy.
“Oh nooo,” I wail, throwing my head back, stomping my feet. “I’m never gonna be able to stop if you start too!”
“That’s okay. I’ll yell this out if I need to.”
I make a sound, one part laugh, two parts snort-choke, then take a deep breath. “Go on.”
“I’m twenty-eight years old today, Cara, and I swear to God, my life didn’t begin until a year ago, when I met you.
All I want to do is keep living it with you.
Wake up slow, bask in how lucky, how grateful I am, that yours is the first face I get to see.
Make eyes at each other in the bathroom mirror while we brush our teeth.
Have coffee side by side at the kitchen counter, our elbows brushing.
Laugh with you. Learn with you. Grow with you.
Walk out into this world with your hand in mine so I can love you out loud.
Crawl into bed with you each night so I can love you quiet. ”
I slap at the tsunami of tears rushing down my face. Emmett doesn’t bother with his.
Instead, he sniffles, opening that velvet ring box, showing me the ring I asked for the day after we met.
Three-carat emerald-cut diamond with a hidden halo and pear-shaped accent stones set on white gold.
“I went four carats,” he murmurs through his tears. “You’re a four-carat kind of woman.”
I bark out a laugh, followed by more tears. “So true.”
Emmett pulls the ring from the box with a trembling hand. His eyes come to mine, bright and clear, an unwavering stare that quiets the thundering of my heart, and when he brings the ring to the tip of my finger, his hand is still.
“All I want to do is spend this life loving you. Marry me, Cara. Please.”