Page 117 of Pieces of Us

She definitely knows what’s coming now. I stare up at this magnificent creature, marvelling at how in love I am with her. I wait patiently for her to collect herself before reaching up for her left hand. Even though she’s crying, heck even though we’re both shedding tears, our smiles say it all.

‘Amity Hartford. My baby. My heart. I didn’t know it until I was four, but I’d be born without a part of my heart. When you entered my life, the other half of my soul was found in you. You lit my life up to heights I couldn’t even imagine, and when we lost each other, I was in perpetual darkness. I am so in love with you that I know that in every lifetime, I will always find you. You always say that I’m your missing link. Well, baby, if that’s true, you’re my whole heart. You keep me alive. You keep me breathing. There is no me without you. I’ve loved you as my friend, as my best friend, as my girlfriend. It’s not enough anymore, I need you to be my wife, the mother of our children, my forever. Amity Hartford, will you marry me?’ I don’t know how I didn’t butcher what I said, or how she isn’t revolted that I’m so overcome with emotion that water is leaking from my eyes and nostrils, but I’m fucking grateful.

She nods vigorously. ‘Yes. Yes. Yes. I’ll marry you,’ she whimpers. I slide the ring permanently on her ring finger and pull her down for a kiss.

My knee starts to hurt, so I push up and gather her in my arms, swinging her around as our tongues duel together. Once both of us are out of oxygen, she grabs my face and starts kissing it all over. Planting her back on the ground, I tip her chin up to give her one last kiss.

‘Ahh! I can’t believe it,’ she squeals, jumping up and down as she stares at her extended hand. ‘It’s gorgeous. How did you know?’ I rub my chest at the excited slap she just gave me.

I laugh at her giddy expression. ‘You told me when we were, like, fourteen. Some celebrity got engaged, and you said that was the one you wanted.’

‘I can’t believe you remembered.’

‘There’s nothing about you that I’d ever forget.’ I hug her tightly, squeezing a little too hard, just so I can remember this moment is real. My eyes are blurry from more tears that want to escape. I’ve waited and wanted this moment forever.

As we both stare off into the distance, letting the last few minutes sink in, I memorise this moment forever.

‘Linc?’

‘Hmm? I say over the top of her head.

‘Where the fuck are we?’ Bursting out laughing, I give her another kiss on her hair before pulling away. I start spinning with my arms open wide, confusing the fuck out of her. ‘We’re home, baby. This is where our future home will be built.’

‘Shut up! No fucking way!’ She animatedly propels herself at me, lunging in my arms. I nearly have a heart attack, unsure if we’re near the edge of the cliff. Thankfully we’re not but we are near a fuck tonne of candles that could burn my ass and cock off. Real romantic ending to a proposal, that would be. I can see the headlines now, ‘Newly Engaged Couple Burn to Death’.

‘Believe it, Hart.’ We’ve had the worst luck when it comes to finding the perfect piece of land. First, the sellers pulled out last minute and took a location we wanted off the market. The next plot we went for wasn’t foundationally stable. The one after that was next to a breeding lab for rats, which when we found out, sent Amity running for the hills. The one after that had about a million dollars worth of excavation to do, and then the last one we got pipped at the post by a wealthy developer. It had taken me a full ten months to find this piece, which ticked every one of our boxes: space, overlooking the ocean, near our parents.

It only dawns on her then exactly what I’ve set up here.

‘Oh my god. Oh my God. Oh my God,’ she yells, losing her mind.

‘What?’ I say, bemused.

‘You set up a Derek freaking Shepherd proposal! You. You. Oh my God, you were paying attention and watching all those episodes! I can’t believe this. I’m like Meredith! This is the best proposal ever in the history of proposals. Ever.’ I fucking love that I did this for her.

‘Anything for you, Hart.’ I pepper her ring finger with kisses as a sign of my love and promise to her.

‘This is beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you.’ She is so sincere as she looks around at the effort I put into the proposal.

We decide to ring her dad, who I know is with my dad to break the news. As we make it through the list of phone calls we need to, we sit down and eat the prepared catered picnic I had organised. I tell her about the photographer catching it all on camera, and our dads reaction when I asked for her hand. We are there long enough to catch the nine P.M. fireworks that are down on the beach, but definitely not the midnight ones.

As the clock strikes twelve, Amity is riding my cock.

I laugh, hearing the neighbours count down from ten to one.

‘Happy New Year, fiancé.’

Extended Epilogue

Forever

Lincoln, 10 years later

‘That’s my Mum!’

I grin as my proud-as-punch eight-year-old points to the television screens in JB HI-FI. Shoppers around us roll their eyes, probably thinking I’m a huge sleaze for telling my son that the half-dressed glamour on the screen is his mum. It’s as if the idea is preposterous, and I have to agree. Except, this was my life, and she is my wife.

It never ceases to amaze me that my gorgeous wife is one of the most talented and sought-after celebrity journalists and talk-show hosts. Not long after we married, she secured a coveted spot on The View, then her own talk show, which is Emmy-award-winning.

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