Page 32 of The One You Chose
I opened one eye. “Fitz—”
“Do it, Lina.”
I complied, holding my arms out in front of me. There was an odd snuffling sound and then I felt something warm, soft and heavy on my skin. I opened my eyes to find Fitz supporting a wiggling caramel colored puppy in my hands.
“Fitz.” I breathed out. Scooping the puppy against my chest, the dog wriggled around. “He’s beautiful. She? He?”
“She’s a girl. We have a whole litter that was surrendered a few days ago, but when I saw this beautiful girl, I knew she was ours. Dr. Crosby cleared her a few days ago.”
I nuzzled my face into the soft cream fur. “She’s beautiful.”
He reached over, scratching her behind a floppy ear. “What should we name her?” Fitz asked.
“We have to name her Sriracha.” I said, my face still buried in her fur to give her kisses.
“No, definitely not. She’s going by Valentina.” Fitz said.
“How about Pepper?”
“Pepper, I like that.” Fitz rubbed behind the puppy’s ear. “What do you think about her collar? Should we get her a new one?”
“Her collar? It looks--” I trailed off as Fitz rotated the collar until I could see the diamond solitaire attached with a blue ribbon.
“Fitz.” My words soft. “Oh...”
He was down on one knee, his brown eyes so earnest as he looked up at me. “Lina. I never believed in fate before you, but I know that you and I are meant to be together. I know I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how lucky a man I am that I met you that night. Say yes.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.” Smiling through my tears. With our new puppy between us, Fitz leaned in to kiss me. His touch as strong as he was.
When we finally made it out to the bar that night, I had forgotten my second earring, but no one noticed because of my new piece of jewelry. There at the bar, surrounded by those who loved us, we toasted to our new beginnings as the clock struck twelve.
