Chapter 30 Felix #2
“Any chance I’m up for that part?” My voice cracks embarrassingly.
“You’re the only one I want in it.” Her smile feels like every Christmas morning I never got as a kid, all rolled into one.
“You’re my rock, even when I thought what I wanted was to hurl one in your direction.
You’re Ellie’s person, and you’ll be that for our baby, too.
I love you, Felix.” Piper laughs, the sound bright and clear in the sterile hospital room.
“So damn much, and definitely forever. Now get up off your knees before you hurt something. You’re no spring chicken. ”
I start to stand, then feel my eyes widen as I remember the ring box I shoved into my pocket as I listened to her voicemail.
At the time, I put all plans of proposing out of my head.
The only thought in my brain was getting to Piper as fast as humanly possible.
But here, on my knees beside her hospital bed, feels like exactly where I’m supposed to ask this beautiful, strong, stubborn woman to spend the rest of her life with me.
“About that,” I say slowly.
Her eyebrows draw together. “About what?”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the velvet box, loving the way her breath catches as she notices.
“I wanted to do this right,” I tell her.
“I had a whole plan, sweetheart. Wildflowers from Molly’s farm, because they’re delicate and resilient, just like you.
Stuffed dogs from the toy store, because I want us to pick one out together.
There was talk of a giraffe. I wanted to turn the family room into something special for you. ”
“Felix—”
“I know we’re in a hospital room that smells like antiseptic, you’re hooked up to a monitor, and I’m pretty sure I smell like last week’s trash thanks to twenty terrifying minutes of anxiety sweat…
” I flip open the box, and the oval diamond catches the light from the fluorescent bulbs overhead, glimmering despite our sterile surroundings.
“But the best things in my life haven’t been planned.
You. That night in Denver. Ellie. This baby.
None of it expected, and all of it exactly what I need. ”
Piper’s free hand trembles as it covers her mouth, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. God love hormones.
“What I’m trying to say,” I continue, my own voice raw, “is that I don’t want to wait for the right moment. Every second with you is perfect enough for me. So, Piper Hart, will you marry me? Will you let me spend the rest of my life proving I’m worthy of you and Ellie and our baby?”
For a long moment, she just stares at me. Then she pulls her hand away from her mouth and says, “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, you giant oaf. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
The grin I feel splitting my face actually hurts, but I couldn’t stop it if I tried. I slide the ring onto her finger, and it fits like it was meant to be there. Then I push myself to my feet and lean down to give her a kiss filled with every promise I intend to keep.
When I pull back, Piper scoots over in the narrow hospital bed, tugging at my hand. “Climb in, Barlowe.”
“Uh, that bed was not made for two people. Especially when one of them is my size.”
“I don’t care. Get in.”
I should probably argue. There are about fifteen different reasons why it’s probably against hospital protocol. But when the woman I love gives me a command, I do it.
I toe off my shoes and carefully climb onto the bed beside her, arranging myself until I can pull her to my chest. I already know she fits perfectly, like we were designed to occupy this exact space.
“This is not comfortable,” I complain, even as I skim my lips across her forehead.
“Tough.” She nestles closer, her hand resting over my heart. “You’re stuck now.”
“Like glue.”
We lie there in comfortable silence while the beeping monitor provides a steady soundtrack.
I can feel her heartbeat against my ribs and the slight swell of her stomach where our baby is growing strong despite today’s scare.
Outside the window, the Colorado sky is just starting to turn golden, as if the lightness in my heart is painting it.
“Felix?”
“Yeah?”
“What kind of dog do you think we should get?”
I let out a laugh and kiss her again, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. “Whatever kind and as many as you want. I was serious about the giraffe, too.”
I feel her smile. “Definitely a rescue. One that needs all the love we have to give it.”
“That sounds perfect.”
Another stretch of silence.
“Hey, Hart?”
“Mmm?”
“I’m never letting you go. You know that, right?”
She tilts her head up to look at me, her eyes full of an emotion that looks a lot like forever. “Back at you, Barlowe.”
I tighten my arms around her, careful of the wire, and let myself believe it.
Neither of us is perfect. We’re going to fight and make mistakes and probably drive each other crazy on a regular basis.
But lying here in this too-small hospital bed with the woman I love, our baby’s heartbeat steady on the monitor beside us, I know one thing for certain.
I wouldn’t trade this imperfectly perfect love for anything in the world.