Page 184 of Unravel Me

“The luckiest.”

He smiles then, devilish and so sure of himself. “I’m gonna marry you someday, you know.”

I grin, that same giddy feeling in my stomach every time we have this conversation. “What if I say no?”

He pulls his mask down, fixing it over his face. As he backs away, he winks at me. “You won’t.”

And at the end of the game, when they win in overtime, Adam looks at us, and he taps his heart three times.

* * *

We’re up at the crack of dawn the next morning, the kids and all the animals packed up in the truck for our hike. Yes, even Dinosaur.

The sun had only just broken through the horizon when Adam dropped the kids on me in bed, hand-drawn cards and a bright bouquet of pink peonies for me on Mother’s Day, requesting a sunrise hike. The Starbucks warm in my hands helps chase away the sleepies from a night spent celebrating with our family and friends, but I’d get up early every day for the rest of my life, so long as it’s this family I’m getting up early with.

Fractured rays of amber filter through the branches as we walk, the slowly rising sun warming this wooded trail. Connor and Lily dance ahead of us hand in hand, the dogs close behind, the cat trying to claw his way to the front of the pack.

“What are you thinking about?” Adam’s deep timbre crackles in the quiet forest as birds wake one by one, their morning songs becoming louder as we walk deeper.

“How I never imagined myself walking a cat on a leash.”

He barks a laugh, his hand squeezing mine. “Dinosaur doesn’t like when we all go out without him.”

Uh, yeah.The cat has the biggest case of fear of missing out I’ve ever encountered. All eight pounds of him also thinks he’s as big and ferocious as his canine siblings—who are, by the way,terrifiedof him—so he pretty much runs our household now.

Lily and Connor stop to inspect a bug crawling up the trunk of a tree, and the animals dash over, the five of them huddling together as the fuzzy orange and black caterpillar slowly ascends.

“I can’t believe how my world has changed in the last year. I have everything I always wanted but never dared dream I’d actually have. Everything I’d grown to believe I wasn’t deserving of. I thought I needed to be better. Do something to stand out. Dye my hair to get people to notice me. So badly, I just wanted to be chosen. I wanted someone to look at me and say, ‘That’s her.’ I just wanted someone to love me for who I was without having to change a single thing about myself, Adam, and then I found you. And not only did I get your love, but I learned how to love myself better because of the way you loved me, so wholly.”

Adam’s fingers tighten around mine, pulling me to a stop. The emotion shining in his eyes reflects exactly what I feel in my heart—so damn much gratitude for the love of a lifetime. I take his face in my hands, guiding his mouth down to mine.

“The only choice I ever had was choosing to step foot on this very trail that morning. Fate took care of the rest. That’s what I’m thinking about.”

“Marry me,” he blurts, then blinks rapidly, like he can’t believe those words just left his mouth. “Ah shit. That wasn’t how that was supposed to happen.”

“I thought you was gonna do it at the tree,” Lily scolds, hands on her hips. “Where her parents are.” She taps her foot. “And you have to give her the ring, Daddy. That’s what’s gonna make her say yes.”

“I’m so sorry,” he rushes out, and I’m not sure if he’s apologizing to me or Lily. He grabs my hand, dragging me along as he dashes up ahead to that old tree, the one with my initials and my parents’, surrounded by a rainbow of peonies that have just begun to bloom. My heart tries to crawl its way up my throat as he turns back to me, pulling a small velvet box from his bag with trembling hands. “Hey, uh, forget what I said back there a minute ago, ’kay?”

“Forgotten,” I whisper as he drops to one knee.

The dogs sit at his sides, and Dinosaur drops to his back, rolling around in the dirt as he meows. Connor tugs the box from Adam’s hands, opening it, and the rising sun catches on the most gorgeous diamond.

“Oooh,” he coos, shoving it in my face. “Pwetty, Mama.”

“I thought you was gonna wait for the sun to come all the way up,” Lily reminds Adam. “’Cause you said she’s like a sunrise.”

Adam drops his head, a tired laugh shaking his chest. When he looks back at me, it’s with the softest smile, so inherently Adam, tender and calm, so patient. “I should’ve expected this to go exactly opposite of how I planned it, huh?”

I nod, tears already gathering in my eyes. “That’s parenthood for you.”

“But maybe it’s exactly how I planned it, because all I need is you right here, surrounded by all the love that makes this family exactly as perfect as it is. That’s the only thing I’ve ever dreamed of.” He turns to Connor, taking his tiny hands in his. “Connor, buddy, I fell in love with you the moment I met you, when you threw your shoes at my chest and demanded I put them on your feet. You are so clever and curious, and you love with your whole heart, just like your mama.” He pulls Lily in to join them. “Lily, you are everything kind and patient in this world, and the day you asked me to read with you, I knew I loved you.” He squeezes their hands. “I love you both, and I’m so proud and grateful to be your dad. Now what do you say I make Mama my wife?”

“Yeah!” they scream, and Connor trips over his feet, face-planting against Adam’s chest as he grabs hold of his neck.

“I lub you, Dada.” He points at me, holding the ring out. “Gib Mama wing?”

Adam takes the ring from the box with shaky hands. His gaze touches the heart carved into the tree, and when he closes his eyes, presses his hand against the very spot my parents once touched, my tears spring free.

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