Page 85 of Nailed (Dad Bod Contracting 3)
Jesse shoots to his feet and lurches over to Imogen, putting his hand on her belly. “Is it a boy or a girl? When are you due? Should you sit down?”
Imogen laughs, tears falling freely now. “Jesse, Jesse—slow down. Relax, baby.” She cups his cheek. “I won’t know if it’s a girl or boy until about eighteen or twenty weeks. I’m due in April, and no, I don’t need to sit down.”
“I think I need to sit down,” Jesse says, and slumps heavily into a chair. He looks up at Imogen. “Maybe this is a stupid question, but…how did this happen?”
Ryder claps him on the shoulder. “Well you see, Jesse, when a man loves a woman, they—”
Jesse whacks him. “Shut up, moron. I know how, I was there.” He stands up and gathers her in his arm. “I just…I didn’t think you…you know…could.”
She shrugs, sniffling. “I didn’t either. I guess I could, obviously.” She searches his face. “Jesse, are—are you…are you upset?”
Jesse shakes his head as if trying to shake away confusion. “Upset? Fuck no!” He glances at Ella apologetically. “Sorry, Ella-bear. Heck no, I mean. I’m just stunned.”
“I was so scared to tell you,” Imogen whispers. “I wanted to make it special, and I also needed moral support, so we decided on this party.”
“Scared? Why on earth would you be scared?” Jesse asks.
She shrugs. “I just…I wasn’t sure how you’d feel. I know I’m not—I mean, neither of us are exactly young, and we never really talked about kids…”
Jesse touches her lips with a finger. “I didn’t think it was possible to be even happier than being with you makes me, Jen…” He kisses her softly. “And then you tell me this, and I discover it is possible after all.”
She lifts up and kisses him, deeply and passionately. “I love you, Jesse.”
He pulls away, rubbing the back of his neck. “You kinda messed up my surprise, you know.”
Imogen gives him a puzzled frown. “Your surprise?”
Jesse shoots a look at the guys. “Should I do it anyway?”
Franco snorts. “Duh, moron.”
“Do what? Jesse, what are you talking about?”
Jesse takes a step backward, away from Imogen. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws something he keeps clutched in his closed fist. He shuffles awkwardly for a moment, and then drops to one knee—Imogen gasps, hand over her mouth, tears flowing freely now.
“I swear, I had this planned for months,” Jesse says. “I’ve been carrying this ring around in my pocket for weeks, trying to figure out the best time to do this. And I figured today would be perfect, all of us here together in a private room…” He drags his fingers through his beard. “I had a whole speech planned out, and I’m fucking it up.”
Imogen laughs through her tears. “No, you’re not. You’re doing great, baby. Keep going.”
He shoves his Oakleys higher on his head, takes a deep breath, and gazes up at her. “I love you in a way I didn’t think was even possible, for me or for anyone. I love you so much I don’t even know how to handle it most days, and…well, I’m still not quite sure how I managed to convince you to love me back, but I did. So, I want to make this permanent before you change your mind about me.”
Imogen laughs again. “I’ll never change my mind about loving you, you big idiot.”
“Well, I guess that’s lucky for both of us, because as it turns out, you’re having my baby,” Jesse says, laughing, and then opens the ring box in both hands, revealing a glittering princess cut diamond solitaire. “Imogen Catherine Irving…will you marry me?”
Imogen can only nod at first, and then dives at him, going to her knees and wrapping her arms around his neck, sobbing and talking at the same time. “Yes, yes, yes!” She pulls back. “You seriously had this planned for today?”
Jesse nods. “I was gonna stand up at the end of the meal and say this whole big thing I wrote out and memorized.”
“So I kind of stole your thunder, huh?”
Jesse laughs, moving to sit in a chair, carrying Imogen with him to cradle her on his lap. “Yeah, but it works better this way.”
“I think so too.” Imogen frowns. “I just have one question.”
Jesse arches an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“Do we get married soon so I’m not a big pregnant whale for the wedding, or do we wait till after and get married with a crying baby at the wedding?”
“If you keep it small,” Nova says, “I can have it planned in a month or two.”
Imogen looks at her. “For real?”
Nova shrugs and nods, red hair swaying. “Yeah, no problem. I mean, you won’t have a big, elaborate thing with five hundred people and swans and all that, but if you’re willing to keep it to close friends and family only, yeah, I can pull together something simple, romantic, and beautiful for you pretty quickly.” She glances around at Audra, Nova, and me. “Especially if I have help.” She laughs. “I’m a little rusty, obviously.”
