Page 99 of Burden to Bear

Because they knew he was missing out. Milo was getting bigger every day, growing so fast, and time seemed to be flying.

That was precisely the reason why I had decided tonight was the night I needed everything to change.

I’d worried it might have been too soon, but it wasn’t enough to make me not follow through. I couldn’t wait any longer, and I hoped Mia felt the same.

“So, what do you want to watch tonight?” she asked.

“Do you know what today is?” I blurted my question.

Mia sat up a bit and twisted her body to look back at me with furrowed brows. “What’s today?”

“Today’s the day I met you. It’s been a year since you moved in next door to me.”

Surprise dawned on her features. “Oh my gosh, you’re right. How could I have forgotten?”

I laughed. “You’ve had a few things on your mind lately.”

She let out a sigh, sat back, and rested her torso against mine. “I can’t believe it’s been a year.”

“Best of my life,” I shared.

“Yeah. Yeah, it started off a bit rocky for me, but it really has been the best year of my life, too.”

“I want this next year to be even better.”

Mia angled her head, tipping her chin up, so she could look up at me with a bright smile. “I can’t imagine it could possibly get any better.”

Without taking my eyes off hers, I pulled the box out from behind my body and held it up between us. “I think it can.”

Shock and surprise washed over Mia, her body tensing as she sat up and turned fully to face me. “What?”

I couldn’t get a read on her. Was it possible this was too much too soon?

There was no turning back at this point, so I decided to lay it all on the line. “One year ago, you knocked on my door and introduced yourself to me. I don’t know how it was possible I knew it then, but I did. You were the woman of my dreams. There were a few obstacles along the way, and I know we’ve only officially been together for five months, but I love you, Mia. I didn’t think it was possible to love you more than I already did, but something changed for me over these last three months. Watching you become a mom, seeing the way you’ve stepped into this role, I’ve fallen deeper in love with you. And I never want to lose you. In fact, I want to make babies with you. But first, I want you to be my wife, Mia. Will you marry me?”

Her eyes were frantic, roaming all over my face, and her lips were slightly parted. I waited, holding my breath, believing I might not survive it if she turned me down. “You… you want to marry me?”

“More than anything else,” I assured her.

She pressed her lips together, tears filling her eyes as she nodded. “Yes.”

That single word came out just barely a touch over a whisper, but it was the best thing I’d ever heard. I smiled at her, threaded my fingers through her hair, and urged her toward me, so I could kiss her.

No matter how many times I’d kissed her over the last five months, it always got better. I was just as excited to kiss her now as I had been the first time that I done it.

When I tugged back gently on her hair, I said, “Let’s put this ring on your finger.”

She held her hand up between us as I pulled the ring from the box, and once it was settled at the base of her finger, something warm hit the center of my chest.

“You’re mine forever, Mia.”

“I love you so much, Brock.”

“This next year of your life is going to be the best one yet,” I promised her. “And every year after that, it’ll just get better and better.”

Mia smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. She swiped at it and said, “You’ve never failed to amaze me, to always follow through, so I don’t doubt you for one second.”

I pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

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