Page 142 of Crazy Imperfect Hearts

Lucas squeezes my shoulder and winks. “Regan might have some old sperm bank brochures.”

Ava snorts incredulously, but Trevor doesn’t even flinch.

“Wait, really?” Ava asks, turning wide-eyed toward her husband. “But I know how set you are on having a child of your own.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.” He nods to Amber and Quinn. “They have two kids who aren’t biologically theirs. You think that makes one bit of difference?”

She shakes her head, not believing what he’s saying. “No, it doesn’t. So we can think about it?”

“Sure. Why not? But under one condition.” He waves a hand around. “I don’t want to miss any of this. Not one minute. I don’t want to be seven thousand miles away hearing about the first time you feel the baby kick. I don’t want to have to watch my kid being born via FaceTime. I don’t want to miss the first smile or laugh. I want to be here for all of it. So, yes, get those brochures from Regan. Pick a donor. Find a doctor. But Ava, I want to be a part of it. All of it.”

She hands Mitchell to me, tears rolling down her cheeks, and flings herself into his arms. “Now that’s a deal.”

Lucas chuckles behind them and clasps Trevor’s shoulder. “Lucky bastard.”

“How do you mean?” Trev asks.

“Unlike me, you won’t have to watch the woman you’re secretly in love with have your baby.”

We all share a laugh.

“Speaking of that.” Lucas suddenly looks all nervous as he takes the baby from me and hands him off to his mother.

He pulls something from his pocket and my heart stands still. It’s a…ring.

He gets down on a knee and I try to urge him up. “Lucas, no. You promised.”

He bats my hand away. “It’s not what you think.”

“You have an engagement ring and you’re down on a knee,” I whisper-shout through gritted teeth.

He holds up the ring. “It’s not a diamond. It’s an amethyst.” He nods to Mitchell. “His birthstone. Clearly it’s not an engagement ring.”

“But—”

“Ray, will you shut up and listen for a second? Please?”

His eyes plead with me, so I do what he asks, despite the fact that he’s about to ruin a perfectly good party, and perhaps a perfectly good relationship.

Why here? In front of all our family and friends? And why is he breaking his promise?

“Regan Lucas,” he says, his voice cracking—though I’m not sure why. He has, after all, done this four times before. “These past few weeks have been the best of my life. I’ve had some harebrained ideas in my life, but none of them has ever been as brilliant as the one I had nine months ago. I had no idea at the time that it would end up like this. But then again, I know deep down I wanted it to. Because this, right here, is everything I’ve ever wanted since I was twelve years old watching you play volleyball in the sandpit at the county fair.”

Even as sighs are heard throughout the eerily silent room, my heart sinks. Because he’s making a monumental mistake. And the thought of hurting him here in front of everyone is turning my stomach. “Lucas—”

“I’m not quite done,” he insists. “Your turn comes in a second.”

“Regan Tallulah Lucas,”—he holds up the ring—“will you make me that happiest guy in the world andnotmarry me?”

“Wait… what?”

Laughter echoes behind me, confirming that I did in fact hear him correctly.

He takes my left hand. “You heard me. Will you do me the honor ofnotmarrying me? Even though it sentences us to a lifetime of being teased about our names. And in spite of the fact that we’ll have to explain ourselves to everyone who sees this happy couple, this amazing family, these two parents who love their kid and each other so much it confuses the hell out of everyone as to why we don’t make it official. But, Ray, I don’t need a piece of paper to prove how much I love you. I don’t need an official document to make us family. We’re already a family.” He nods to the ring. “But I sure as hell need this ring on your finger so that every red-blooded man in the universe knows you’re mine.”

I fall to my knees, sniffling and crying and laughing all at the same time. I cup his head in my hands. “Yes, Lucas Christopher Montana, I would be honored to not marry you.”

Applause roars around us as he slips the beautiful purple stone onto my finger.

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