Page 44 of Claiming What Is Mine

Confusion bubbles into irritation as Gabe opens my door and offers his hand to help me down. “Mer—seriously, would you trust me already?”

For the life of me, I can’t understand how we went from perfect evening to you're home, now get out. Had I said or done something to upset him? Attempting to show my displeasure, I skip his hand and hop down on my own. In retrospect, it’s maybe the dumbest way ever to make my point, considering I’m questionably five-foot-tall and his heavy-duty pickup seems about half a mile off the ground by the time I land.

Alright girl, not the most graceful maneuver, just walk it off. Don’t show him it hurt.

I walk towards the door as fast as I can without limping.

Gabe rushes to catch up. “Hold on a sec. What’s the matter?”

I stop at the steps. “I was having a wonderful time. It was a perfect evening. Why did you bring me home? ” Tears stream down my face. “We could have spent the night at your place. I don’t know, I'm not ready for this to end. Anything would be better than saying goodbye.”

“Mer. Hey. Don’t cry. ” Gabe catches a tear with his thumb and rubs it into my cheek as he brings his hand to the base of my neck. “Doll. I’m not dropping you off. Dry your eyes. This is the plan. You’ll see.”

We stand outside for a few minutes while I compose myself. When I’m ready, Gabe wraps my hand through the crook of his arm and walks me to the door. “Ready or not, here we go.”

“Ready for what?” I look him in the eyes while I open the door to the dark house.

“Surprise!” voices yell from inside, scaring the living shit out of me. I turn on the light and wonder if I might still be in the truck, dreaming. My parents, my brother James, my brother Mark and his wife Jenn all stand together in the living room. The fact no one is yelling, or clambering to get their hands around Gabe’s throat is odd. Can they not see the man? But what really throws me for a loop are the Wildes. Yep, Chet, Christy, Marie, and Hank are all standing around, in my parents’ house, with my parents, smiling.

I squeeze Gabe’s hand and ask, “What is happening?” through the best fake smile I can muster.

“Are you surprised?” Gabe asks, excitedly. “We had it all planned out. Everybody knew tonight was the night, so once you said yes I just had to sneak a couple texts, informing everyone to get over here and…voila.” Gabe lifts my chin. “So, Mer-bear? Are you surprised?”

Am I surprised? I wouldn’t be more surprised if Santa Claus himself popped out of the fireplace in a pair of Speedos and kissed me on the lips right now.

“Uh, yeah. I am definitely surprised.” I look at the two families occupying the space. “How did you know my parents would go along with this?”

“Because…” Gabe pauses and sighs. “I came over while you were out and had a talk with your dad. But before you get mad, hang on a sec, okay? I told him how much you mean to me, and how I’ll spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to make you happy. And then I asked him for his blessing.”

“You did? Really?” I lightly pat Gabe’s chest, while my heart fills with joy. Jeff thought that was an outdated tradition and never bothered to ask my folks for their blessing. I know that had to mean a lot to my dad.

“Alright you two. Enough standing over there mumbling to yourselves. Come and show us your ring, already,” Mom says. “So we can cut into this fine cake Marie made. Let’s get to celebrating.”

Marie beams with pride as she watches the two of us. I elbow Gabe in his rib. “Regretting the pie instead of a real meal, now?”

“Not even a little.” Gabe rubs his hands together. “Let’s do this.”

Everyone mingles, talking and laughing as they share stories about Gabe and me from childhood and high school. Christy abruptly excuses herself to the bathroom. When she returns, her obvious distress causes the room to fall still.

Chet’s upbeat mood vanishes. “What’s wrong?”

“My water just broke,” Christy replies, holding her belly. “We should probably get to the hospital.”

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Chet look anything less than confident, until now. He trips over himself as he rushes about to help Christy gather her things and get out the door.

I look to Gabe. “You probably want to go too.”

“Nah. I doubt they need my help for this.” He smiles.

Marie comes to his side. “Ahem. I’m sorry to break up the celebration, but they brought me tonight,” she points out the window at the taillights racing toward the road.

The happiness on Gabe’s face fades. “I guess that’s my cue after all, Doll. Sorry. You stay and celebrate with your family.”

“Don’t be sorry. I understand, this is exciting stuff. Go. Maybe take notes while you’re there. You’re going to need to be ready for this yourself, sooner than you think.” I stretch up on my tiptoes and throw my arms around his neck. “Go be with your family. I’m not going anywhere.”

Gabe hugs me and looks to Marie. “Home or hospital, ma’am?”

She smacks his arm, lightly. “Hospital, duh. You think I’d miss the opportunity to welcome my first grandchild into the world?”

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