Page 56 of Say You Won't Let Go
I grin. “I sure do, and you’re stuck with me.”
“Yeah? Is that so?” Cooper’s hands grip my arms, and he lifts me so we’re nose to nose.
“Yup.”
His lips touch mine, and I melt. “For how long?”
“How long do you want me?” I ask playfully.
“Marry me.”
I gasp, looking down at him with wide eyes. “What?”
Cooper sits up, taking me with him. “Marry me. I want you to marry me.”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish. “Are you... It’s so soon... And we just went through all that. Are you sure? Do you really want this?”
He cups my face in his hands, eyes dancing back and forth between mine as I watch without blinking. “I love you. I’ll be good to you. And I’ll make you happy. There’s nothing I want more, and I’m completely sure. Will you be my wife?”
My heart races as I try to find the words that have escaped me. It’s crazy, impulsive, and I love him. I know there is no one else in the world I want to be with, and every excuse that rolls around my head seems trivial.
“Yes!” The word flies from my lips as I wrap my arms around him.
Only Cooper could take the darkest day and turn it bright. He chases away the clouds, keeps the storms at bay, and allows me to dance in his rays.
Epilogue
Cooper
~Three Years Later~
“Emily!” I call for my wife from the music studio I had installed right after the wedding.
“Coming, honey! I’m just finishing this song.”
We’re going to be late, but I know better than to push her out of there. She’ll spend an hour fretting that she’ll forget the word or note, then another hour repeating it so she doesn’t forget, and then God knows how long telling me how she isn’t sure she remembered it.
It’s a process, and I’ve learned to let her have it.
Sure enough, it takes her ten more minutes to emerge.
“Sorry!” She lifts her shoulders and gives me an impish smile.
“It’s fine.” I kiss the side of her head. “We have a half hour.”
“What?” Emily squeaks and slaps my chest. “I have more time?”
I shake my head. “No. We have to go sign the papers.”
Emily sighs and tears fill her blue eyes. “What if—”
“No.” I stop her right there. I know where she’s going with this, and I won’t let her go down this road again. The last three years have been filled with a lot of changes, most good, but this has been the scariest.
Emily and I immediately tried for a family. She wanted a child, but I couldn’t give her one. After three failed pregnancies, we decided to adopt.
I look down at our newborn baby girl in her car seat, and my heart swells. Today, Mia officially becomes our daughter.
“I need to prepare, Cooper. I can’t lose her.” Emily squats and runs gentle fingertips over our daughter’s tiny hand.
