Page 26 of Worth the Wait

“Hey,” Matthew interjected.

“We all know if anyone would forget the ring on the day they’re proposing, it would be you,” Thomas said matter-of-factly.

“But you’d still manage to pull it off without it,” I added because it was true.

If anyone could swing a marriage proposal without a ring, it would be our little brother. He oozed charm from every damn pore on his body. The ladies loved him. All he’d have to do was smile at some girl, and she’d be screaming yes.

“It’s cold as fuck out here. Can we please go back inside?” Matthew whined before he started walking away.

“Let’s go get you a wife.” I grinned at Thomas, and I watched as his face took on an expression I’d rarely seen before.

He was truly happy, and he deserved every second of it.

It was tradition in the O’Grady house to torture the children. Okay, maybetorturewas the wrong word, but who else made you eat first before you opened any presents? My dad—that was who.

Clara spent half the meal staring at the Christmas tree and asking, “Are those really all for me?”

“Not all, but most,” Thomas answered with a soft smile before leveling each one of us men with a disapproving glare.

We’d gone overboard. Every year, we said we wouldn’t do it again, but every year, we failed. Clara didn’t need half of this stuff, but none of us seemed to be able to stop ourselves when it came to her.

“I think it’s sweet,” Brooklyn said with a smile that was the complete opposite of Thomas’s expression. “Do you know how lucky you are?” she asked Clara.

Clara nodded her head as she spooned the last of her mashed potatoes into her mouth. “Mmhmm.” We all watched as she finished chewing and took a long drink of milk. “I know how lucky I am, Mama. And not ’cause of the presents,” she said.

I swore we all started tearing up. Or at least, I did.

“You’re right, sweet girl,” my dad said as he pushed his plate away. “We’re all lucky to have each other. You almost ready to start opening your gifts?” he asked, and Clara shook her head. “No? You’re not?”

“I mean, I am, Papa, but…”

She whipped her head to look at her dad. He put his finger to his lips to remind her that the proposal was a secret, and she stopped talking.

“What’s going on?” my dad asked, and I realized that Thomas hadn’t clued him in on what he was about to do.

I assumed in all the excitement and nervousness, he’d forgotten. Our dad hated being left out, but he’d get over it. He’d be happy more than anything else.

“I just, um,” Clara babbled, “want to give Mama Waffles a present first.”

Brooklyn looked confused. Not at the nickname Clara had called her, but at her statement. “But we already had Christmas at our house this morning,” she said, clearly not even remotely aware of what was about to come.

“Let’s go to the tree,” my dad commanded, and we all pushed out of our chairs, leaving our dirty dishes on the table and taking our places in the living room.

Brooklyn still looked confused as she made her way onto the couch, but Matthew and I knew what was coming. I stood next to my old man and nudged his shoulder with mine before tapping my ring finger. His blue eyes lit up, and a grin took over his whole face as he whipped out his cell phone and opened the Camera app. I glanced over at Matthew and noticed he was doing the same, even though he was pretending to type.

Thomas searched in the sea of presents for a box that was way too big to hold the ring he’d bought. He handed it to Clara, who ran over to Brooklyn and practically shoved it into her hands.

“Open it, Mama Waffles! Open it!” Clara danced and spun around, her little hands clapping like crazy.

Brooklyn tore open the paper to reveal another box inside. Wrapped again. This continued for a ridiculous amount of time until she reached the final box. The one with the ring inside. When she opened the velvet case, my brother dropped to one knee as Clara squealed and dropped to her knees as well. It was fucking adorable.

“Little Runner, I can’t imagine life without you. I never thought I’d meet someone I’d trust and love enough to raise Clarabel with. But then you stepped into our life and completely changed it. I don’t want to spend another day without you as my wife. Without you as Clarabel’s mama. Tell me you’ll marry us. Make us the happiest damn family in all of Sugar Mountain,” Thomas said as he wiped at his eyes, and I had to check my own to make sure they weren’t leaking.

“Will you marry us, Mama? Marry us! Marry me!” Clara said before my brother could even say another thing, and we all started laughing around our emotions.

I reached my arms out toward my niece to give Thomas and Brooklyn a moment to themselves. “Come here, monkey.”

“I’m not a monkey,” she whined as she pushed up and ran toward me anyway, hopping into my arms.

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