Page 44 of When I Found You

“Sounds like a plan, let me just refill my water first.”

I wait while she tops off her glass.

“I can’t even express to you how glad I am to be home and done working such crazy hours for a while.”

“You’re a badass, you know that?” I ask her.

“Only because you like to tell me that often.” She laughs, then gasps. “Peyton! It looks amazing out here!” she says, takingin the décor I worked on all week. We’d been talking about sprucing up the patio and to surprise her, I did most of it while she was gone.

“I’m glad you like it.” My nerves are starting to get the best of me. My palms feel clammy. I don’t know how she hasn’t figured out what’s up tonight, but thankfully, it doesn’t appear she’s on to me yet.

“How did you do all of this?”

“It wasn’t all that bad, actually. I set up the furniture, strung the lights, and called it good. “

“Well, I love it,” she says, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

She drops onto the loveseat and looks around our patio and yard. This little house has been perfect for the two of us. We’ve been talking about getting a puppy, we just haven’t found the right one for us yet.

I take a swig of my beer, then set it down on the coffee table that’s in front of us.

“Come here, I want to show you something,” I tell her, holding my hand out for her to take. I pull her up to standing and then walk her over next to the stairs that open up down into the yard.

I position us so we’re facing each other, then suck in a calming breath before I launch into my rehearsed speech.

“Stacey, one year ago, you waltzed into my life and flipped it upside down. These past months have been the best of my life and I can’t thank you enough for that. It took just one chance meeting, one kiss, one flash of your smile to have me weak in the knees for you.” I drop to one knee as I pull the ring box from my pocket. “Stacey Evans, will you do me the honor and marry me?”

“Yes!” Her tear-filled reply fills my ears as she pulls me up, and I slam our lips together.

I break our kiss and slide the ring onto her finger. She takes a few moments to take a look at it. “Oh my god, it’s beautiful, Peyton.”

“I’m glad you love it. Does it fit okay? The jeweler said they have free sizing, if needed.”

She moves it around her finger some. “I think it’s perfect. Not too tight, not too loose. Thank you! Eek, I can’t believe we’re engaged!” She grows quiet then, looking up at me shyly through her lashes. “I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I’m pregnant.”

“What! We’re pregnant?” I ask, a little shocked.

“Yep, I finally took a test this morning. After waking up each morning this past week feeling nauseous, on top of my period being a week late, I decided to take a test and lo and behold, it was positive.”

I pick her up off her feet and spin us around in a circle. “I love you so fucking much. I can’t believe I get to marry youandbecome a dad.”

My heart just about beats out of my chest at all the love I have for this woman. She’s given me everything, and continues to do that. She’s my boom, my forever.

“I’m glad you’re excited. I was a little nervous you wouldn’t be okay with it since it isn’t really something we’d planned. Just kinda happened on accident.”

“I’d never be mad at you about giving me a child. How far along do you think you are?”

“Not sure yet, the online calculator I found says around five weeks. I called my doctor this morning while I was at the airport and they got me in for an appointment in a couple of weeks. They said they usually see women around the ten-week mark for the first appointment, unless I start to have complications before then.”

“Can I come with you to that appointment?”

“Sure. When we go back inside, I can look up the appointment date and time. I don’t remember the details off the top of my head.”

“You should FaceTime with your parents, they’re waiting for you to call them tonight,” I remember to tell her.

“They know about this?” she asks, motioning to where I just popped the question a few minutes ago.

“Absolutely. I asked your dad for permission when they were out here last month, but I called the both of them earlier to talk details.”

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