Page 60 of We're One

“You asked her to marry you, right?” Blaze asks.

“Of course I did, but she said she won’t marry me for a baby,” I say with a sigh. “Then we had a fight about it. I don’t know how that happened. I was in shock, then I blurted that we’ll get married right away, and then we were fighting. I want to raise our child together. I don’t see why that upsets her.”

Blaze moves over to the liquor cabinet and pulls out a bottle of champagne. “All of that will work out, bro. You’re going to be a father and that news is worth celebrating.” He pops the top and fills three glasses, bringing them over to Callan and me. He holds up his glass. “To fatherhood.”

“Fatherhood,” I say with pride. We clink glasses and I take a long swallow. I need it.

“I won’t feel like celebrating, though, until Sia agrees to be my wife.”

Blaze waves his free hand in the air. “I’m not at all worried. She loves you, it’s clear.”

“Yeah, once the worry fades, she’ll be fine. Time really does heal all wounds,” Callan says.

“I’m glad you guys are here. I feel better already. I want Sia here, but it will happen,” I say more to bolster myself than believing the words.

“What’s your plan of attack?” Callan asks.

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”

“You have to have a plan though,” Blaze says.

“My head’s still spinning, so I haven’t figured anything out yet. I know I won’t give up. I love her. I haven’t said it yet, but I do love her. Before I found out about the baby I was in a store, and I bought a ring.” I’m still in shock over that.

“Damn, I like it,” Blaze says. I pull the ring from my pocket and open the box. It’s truly a stunning ring. Beautiful and delicate, just like Sia.

Blaze whistles. “That’s a beauty. There’s no way she’ll say no to that. Did you show her when you asked for her hand?”

I squirm a bit. “I didn’t exactly ask. I sort of told her we’re getting married,” I admit.

Callan chuckles. “I’m sure that went over really well.”

“Yeah, obviously I’m here with you two and not her. That’s how well it went.”

Blaze and Callan both laugh. “Been there,” Blaze says.

“I wasn’t sure why I was buying the ring. I couldn’t walk away from it. Joseph pulled out his special black box of rings and I couldn’t look away from them.”

Callan and Blaze laugh at this. “They say Joseph’s the magic matchmaker,” Callan says.

“Yeah, any man who wants to stay single needs to stay far away from Joseph Anderson,” Blaze says.

“You’ll get the woman,” Callan says. “But you might want to figure out a way to ask her instead of telling her she’s going to marry you.”

“That’s what I have you two here for,” I say.

“We’ll support you no matter what. Sasha and Sia are already friends, which is great, and I know Courtney will love her. We’re going to continue to grow our family. I think our parents and Gramps and Grams are looking down with big smiles right now,” Blaze says.

“I think so too. We might take a while to get to where we’re heading, but in the end, we’re doing what they’d approve of,” I say.

“If the three of us put our heads together, we can have a perfect plan,” Callan says.

“Let’s figure this out and bring Sia home where she belongs,” Blaze says. He thinks for a moment. “Maybe you could recreate one of her favorite dates.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I tell them. “It isn’t like I’ve planned big dates though. We sort of fell into a routine. We’ve always had fun together though, and the nights are unbelievable.”

“We so don’t want to hear about your sex life,” Blaze says with a shudder. “But sometimes, it doesn’t need to be a big gesture, it only needs to be one filled with love.”

“I asked Sasha at the beach with just her and me and it was beautiful,” Callan says.

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