Chapter 50
I should have known something was different.
Mason had been acting normal all day.
Which, with him, usually means something is going on.
He didn't say much in the morning. Just kept checking the time more than usual, like he was waiting for something to line up perfectly. Ava had been clingy, reaching for him every time he tried to put her down, which he didn't seem to mind at all.
Callahan had dropped by earlier, too.
That should've been my first clue.
He'd brought Ava a tiny outfit I'd never seen before and then left almost immediately, grinning like he knew something I didn't.
"Have a good night," he'd said too cheerfully.
Mason had just stared at him until he left.
And now I'm standing in the living room of the house we share, watching the sun start to set through the big back windows.
It's warm outside.
Quiet.
Perfect in a way that makes my chest feel strangely tight.
Ava is asleep upstairs.
Mason told me to "get ready properly" earlier, which made me suspicious, but I did it anyway. I'm wearing something nicer than usual. My hair is down. I even put on makeup for the first time in weeks.
He noticed.
He always notices.
"Mason?" I call out softly.
No answer.
I frown slightly and walk toward the kitchen.
Empty.
"Okay... this is weird," I mutter to myself.
Then I hear it.
A soft creak behind me.
I turn.
And everything stops.
Mason is standing in the doorway between the living room and the hallway.
But he doesn't move forward.
Not yet.
He looks at me.
And suddenly I know.
My breath catches before I can even process why.
He looks... nervous.
Which almost never happens.
Not with him.
His hands are shoved lightly into his pockets, like he's trying to stop himself from overdoing anything with them. His eyes are locked on mine like I'm the only thing in the room that matters.
"Chloe," he says quietly.
My heart starts beating harder.
"What is going on?" I ask, but my voice already feels unsteady.
He takes a small step closer.
Then another.
Stops just a few feet away.
"I've been thinking about this for a while," he says.
My throat tightens.
"Mason"
"Just listen," he says gently.
So I do.
Because it's him.
Because I always do.
He exhales slowly.
"I don't want you ever wondering where you belong again," he says. "Or if this is temporary. Or if you have to earn it."
My chest aches instantly.
His eyes don't leave mine.
"You don't," he adds. "You already do."
My hands curl slightly at my sides without me meaning to.
"Mason..."
He shakes his head slightly, like he's steadying himself.
"I love you," he says. "I've loved you for a while now."
The words land like something solid and irreversible.
I can't breathe properly.
Not because I'm scared.
Because I'm overwhelmed.
He reaches into his pocket.
And my entire body goes still.
Ava's laughter echoes faintly upstairs for a second—like she's dreaming.
Mason drops to one knee.
Right there.
In our living room.
In the house he bought for us.
My hands fly to my mouth without thinking.
"No," I whisper, but it isn't a refusal.
It's disbelief.
His eyes don't leave mine.
"I don't want perfect words," he says quietly. "I just want you."
My vision blurs instantly.
He opens the small box.
Simple ring.
Not flashy.
Just right.
Like everything he's done for us.
"Chloe," he says softly. "Will you marry me?"
For a second, I can't move.
Can't speak.
Can't do anything except feel everything all at once.
Ava upstairs.
This house.
This life.
This man.
The one who stayed.
The one who never made love feel dangerous.
My voice shakes when I finally find it.
"Yes," I breathe.
A pause.
Then stronger
"Yes."
His shoulders drop like he's been holding his breath too.
Relief.
Something softer.
He stands immediately, closing the space between us in one step, pulling me into him like it's the only thing he's wanted to do since he walked in.
I cling to him instantly.
Like I've always known I would.
"I've got you," he murmurs against my hair.
I laugh shakily, crying already.
"I know," I whisper.
Upstairs, Ava makes a sleepy sound.
And Mason holds me tighter.
Like he's not just promising me a ring.
But everything after it.
A life.
A home.
A family.
And for the first time, I don't doubt any of it.