Nate coughs so loud that I can hear him across the room and over the music. I shake my head at his obvious move to clue the rest of our friends in that I’ve arrived. Lyn and Lila make a slow circle, looking around the room until they see me. I get a wink from both of them, which always freaks me out when they do twin things. Stella stands and stretches, looking behind her and I get a smile before she turns back toward the group and drops back down on the couch next to the twins.
Maddi and her sister, Ember, are less obvious. They’re facing me on the other couch and they don’t react, just give me their eyes as both of them tip their lips up slightly.
The only one that doesn’t move or react is Zac, but with him sitting next to Megan, there isn’t a way he could do that without her catching on. But I see his hand come out and rest on the back of Megan’s chair. She laughs as he continues whatever they’ve been talking about and without missing a beat, his thumb comes up on the hand resting behind her.
With a light step, I make my way over to the side of the stage and wait for my turn. I called ahead, so they know what’s going on, but because I got held up at work I wasn’t there right on time.
I nod at Bennett, the guy in charge of handling the karaoke end of Mike’s, and let him know I’m ready when he is. I wait as two drunken idiots butcher Friends in Low Places and then it’s my turn. Bennett doesn’t announce me, or the song, he just hands the mic over and starts up the only song I requested.
The first cords of Train’s Marry Me fill the room and I walk to the center of the stage, not feeling a lick of my stage fright as I clear my throat and open my mouth.
My eyes don’t leave Megan’s back, so I don’t miss her jolting when I sing the first line. She doesn’t turn until I start the chorus. The second those two words are out of my mouth, I watch Zac snag her glass right before it goes crashing to the ground.
Then I move.
I jump off the stage and ignore the crowded bar full of people screaming and cheering. I only have eyes for the beautiful blonde staring at me with huge tears rolling down her face. I take the long path, going around all the tables before I even get close to her. I give everything I have while singing that song to her. Smile on my face and a love so strong for this woman that I feel the emotion of this moment filling my body.
My feet take me to her and I reach out to grab her hand before I drop to my knee. Singing the last word out clearly until the last note in the song plays.
“Well, darlin’? Make me the happiest man in the whole world. Marry me and give me everything this time?”
She nods, her head bobbing swiftly and her tears picking up speed.
“God, yes!” she screams.
I reach my hand out, not caring who takes it, passing off the mic. Before I move from the floor, I grab the ring that had been burning a hole in my pocket, and slip it onto her waiting hand.
Then I grab my woman, ignoring the catcalls that follow as I place an arm under her knees and another around her waist until I have her in my arms. She throws her head back, laughing through her tears and I carry her out the door.
To our future.
“HEY,” I WHISPER INTO THE wind. “It’s a beautiful day. You would hate it though. We had a cold front come in last week and it’s been so amazingly cold.”
Silence greets me. It always does, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.
“I miss you,” I sigh, leaning forward and dusting some of the dead leaves off the headstone. “Molly has her first boyfriend. Well, she says boyfriend, but they’re eight. Lee’s having a hard time with that, but you would love how protective he is of her. He actually asked me if he could lock her up.” I laugh, thinking about how adamant he had been about his grand plan of keeping his girl from any boys. “Anyway, she talked him down from that. I swear that girl could talk him into anything.”
The wind picks up and I pull my coat a little tighter against my body before adjusting my scarf.
“She’s growing so fast, Jack. I look at her and I see so much of myself. You used to always say that. Even when she was a tiny baby you would pick out parts of her that were all me. But she acts like you. Sees beauty in everything. So full of happiness, that girl. I’m glad. I know that in my heart, regardless of the truth, that she got that from her father—you.”
I watch some leaves fall from the huge trees that surround the area around me. Each one twirling and swirling on the way to the ground before settling.
“Jack will be six months this weekend. He’s such a good baby. And Molly is loving that her baby brother is finally big enough, mobile enough, that she can play with him more.”
Looking back at the headstone, I smile, and start to climb from my kneeling position, careful of my slightly rounded stomach.
“Of course, it’s harder for me now with another one on the way. We haven’t found out the sex yet, but something tells me I’ve got another boy coming. Lee thinks you’ve played a part in making sure I have a little army surrounding me. I’ve got to say, he’s probably not wrong.”