Page 128 of Craving Paradise

“Oh fuck.” He looks pale.

“You’re going to be the best dad in the world.”

“You think?” I can see the insecurities of his own childhood creeping through.

“Yeah, the best.” I wrap my arms around his neck.

“I love you, Lauren.” Jasper buries his head into my neck.

“I love you too, babe. The two of us do.”

He looks up at me before grabbing my face and kissing me ever so slowly.

“Hold that thought.” Before I know it, he’s running upstairs.

Is he freaking out? What’s going on? Then a couple of moments later he is rushing back down the stairs and is standing in front of me. He places another kiss on my lips as a smile crosses his face.

“I don’t think I should be the only one in shock tonight,” he states before dropping down to one knee.

“Oh my god, Jasper.” I gasp as I realize what’s happening right before me.

“This wasn’t what I had planned, but I think now is the best time for me to ask you to be my wife. So, Lauren Mattison, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and the Lady of the manor?”

Tears begin to well in my eyes. “Yes, of course. Yes, I’ll marry you,” I say jumping up and down. Jasper opens the ring box, and I gasp at the ring sitting in it. “It’s huge.”

“That’s what she said,” Jasper jokes, winking at me before slipping it on my finger.

“I’ll love you and baby forever.”

* * *

We surprised everyone at our engagement party down at our country estate. All our friends and family thought we were down there celebrating our engagement, but little did they know that it was also a wedding and a pregnancy announcement. To say everyone was shocked was an understatement. No one, not even Eloise or Ines knew about our plans. It was strictly between Jasper and me. We couldn’t believe we pulled it off.

* * *

And the funny thing is Eloise and I had our babies one day apart.

They had a gorgeous little girl named Harriet, and we had a little boy named Rafferty. We are already fixing these two up so that they can get married to each other. The boys think we’re mad.

Nate and Camryn had their baby just before ours—another little boy named Knox Lewis. Theirs was a honeymoon baby for sure. They got married in a gorgeous estate in The Hamptons, and thanks to her connections, it was insane. You wouldn’t expect anything less from a celebrity event coordinator.

Ivy and Alex got married not long after their engagement, and they were married in a gorgeous villa in Tuscany that her ex-stepfather owned. It was gorgeous and, of course, with her sister being the planner, it was nothing short of spectacular, but also being an interior designer, Ivy had an eye for design, and it was gorgeous. They had their first baby a year after us—a little boy named Phineas Lewis. She accidentally got pregnant again, and fourteen months later, little Maeve popped out.

And that’s the reason why Jasper had to wear condoms if he wanted to get back in me. There was no way in this world that I wanted to have another so soon after the first.

Funny enough, Eloise and I got pregnant again around the same time a couple of years later, none of this planned. This time there was a month between the two kids. Eloise had a boy named Cassius, and we had a little girl named Margot. We joked again that we would be setting our kids up, and the boys think we’ve been planning our pregnancy because of this.

Camryn and Nate surprised us all and ended up with twins. Luckily, they waited a couple of years before that surprise and ended up with twin boys, Maverick and Jett. I feel for Camryn being surrounded by all that testosterone.

Thankfully, for us, our little family was complete, or so I thought, because five years after our last birth, both Eloise and I got pregnant again. You guessed it, a month apart again, and we both had little girls. We had our gorgeous little Pearl because she was so precious. Eloise and Alistair’s little girl is Paige.

And now we all celebrate a different kind of paradise.

THE END

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