Bonus Epilogue #3
“I’m…Sorry,” she gets out between sobs.
“What are you sorry about, Willow?”
I try to keep my voice calm, but I’m not going to lie, I’m panicking. How long has she been holding in whatever this is that she needs to tell me?
“You just took over the firm,” she cries then hiccups.
“Yeah. And? Things are fine. Willow, tell me what’s wrong.”
She looks up at me with tear-filled eyes.
Her lips open as if she wants to tell me, but then her eyes go wide as she flings herself from my lap and rushes to the toilet.
I quickly stand up to help her, but she waves me away as she dry heaves into the toilet, not a single thing remaining in her stomach to come up.
“Willow, what…”
My voice stops as I stare at the pink stick sitting on the counter. It’s flipped face down, but I know what it is. I stare at the plastic stick for longer than it feels like until Willow flushes the toilet and stands next to me.
“I haven’t looked at it,” she says softly.
“You haven’t?”
“No…I ordered it this morning for rushed delivery.”
She grabs some toilet paper and blows her nose before walking around me to brush her teeth. I don’t know what to do. Do I turn it over? Does she? Do we do it together? Is she dreading that she might be pregnant…Is that why she’s crying so much?
“Noah…Can you look at it?” she finally asks, breaking the silence stretching between us.
I hesitantly reach toward the test then freeze.
“What do you want it to be?” I nervously ask.
“What?”
“What do you want it to say?”
“Noah…You just took over the firm. Right now isn’t a good time for you to have to worry…”
“Fuck what I should or shouldn’t worry about. What do you want it to say?” I ask her firmly.
She takes a deep breath, glances at the test, then back to me.
“I want it…to be positive,” she says quietly. So quietly I almost don’t hear her.
Or maybe it’s the fact that my brain is trying to keep me calm because she just fucking said she hopes she’s pregnant. I swallow deeply and try to calm my shaking hand as I reach for the test.
She places her hands over her eyes, shielding herself from seeing my reaction, but it doesn’t matter. When I flip over that test and see those two little pink lines, I drop to my knees and pull her against me. I press my face against her lower stomach and can’t stop the tears from falling.
“Noah…It’s…”
“It’s positive, Little Rabbit. You’re pregnant. We’re going to have a mini you or me running around here. Oh my God, Willow. You don’t know how happy you just made me!” I say as I lift her shirt and kiss her bare stomach.
“Really?” her voice cracks.
“Yes, Willow. There’s nothing in this world that could make me happier right now.”
She drops to her knees, wrapping her arms around my neck and letting me hold her against me. Everything has made sense over the past month. Her mood changes. The food avoidance. Even the smell of coffee was making her sick yesterday.
“Oh, my God. We’re going to be parents…” she laughs.
“I guess you know what that means, right?”
“What?” she asks, confused.
I pick her up and carry her into the bedroom and set her on the bed.
Without a word, I walk over to my dresser and dig to the back corner of the top drawer.
I pull out the small velvet box. The one holding the ring I picked out when I turned eighteen.
The princess-cut diamond circled by blue topaz gemstones is set in a white gold band.
It’ll probably have to be resized, but it was the one I fell in love with that reminded me of her the most.
“Noah?” she says my name cautiously as I turn around and kneel in front of her.
“I’ve been wanting to do this since the day you came back into my life.
It may have only been a few months ago, but I’ve loved you for our entire lives.
I’ve had this ring since I turned eighteen.
I picked it out after I saved up enough, and I’ve kept it waiting for you ever since.
I was going to propose sooner because I’ve always known you were the only one for me, but no time ever felt perfect enough.
Because that’s what you deserve, Willow.
Perfection. You are my reason to live, the reason I get up every morning.
I love you so fucking much, and I will spend every second of our lives making sure you know just how loved you are…
And how loved our kids are. So…Willow Bennett, will you marry me? ”
She stares at the ring with tear-filled eyes. She doesn’t speak for a long time, just studying each stone on the ring before finally looking up at me.
“Of course I’ll marry you. I’m honestly surprised you didn’t ask sooner.”
“I’m sorry, Little Rabbit. I just wanted everything to be perfect. I planned on doing it when we went on vacation next month, but nothing sounds more perfect than hearing you say yes to being my wife on the day I find out you’re going to be the mother of our child.”
“I love you, Noah,” she says as she slides the ring onto her finger and wraps her arms around my neck.
“I love you too, Little Rabbit.”