There was so much love, promise, and sadness in that picture. It is us. It is our past and our future and it is absolutely perfect.
With tears rolling down my face, I carefully lean it against the wall before throwing my arms around his neck and peppering his face with kisses. “I love it, Axel. It is the best gift I have ever received. I love you so, so much.”
“I love you too, Princess.” He kisses me softly and wraps his arms around my back, holding me tight to his body.
We stay like that for just a second, soaking in the peaceful contentment that swirls in the air.
“My turn?” I ask into his neck.
“Not yet, Princess. One more.” He loosens his hold on me, placing my feet back onto the floor, and takes a step back. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a small blue box before dropping to one knee in front of me. The tears that stopped from before are back with a rush.
Oh. My. God.
“Izzy, from the first moment our eyes met, I knew you would be mine forever. There wasn’t a day that passed that you didn’t hold my heart. Everything I have ever done in my life was with you in mind, even when I didn’t think this moment would ever come. It was all I prayed for. We might not have had the easiest road to get here, but know, from this day forward, I will do everything within my power to ensure that there is nothing but perfection. The happiness and love we deserve, baby. Will you do me the greatest honor and become my wife?” When he finishes, I can hardly see him through the tears gathering around my eyes, blurring my vision before falling down my face.
“Yes. Yes, a million times over!” I yell and drop to the ground in front of him, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him with so much love and exuberance. “Yes!” I scream, throwing my head back and smiling wide.
He laughs and opens the box. Inside is a stunning ring. A large round center diamond is set high on the thick platinum band. On each side of the center stone are three rows of more diamonds, the center row being slightly larger than the two on the outside.
It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen in my life.
He slips it on my finger and brings the hand up to his lips for a soft kiss.
“You’re finally going to be my wife,” he says against my hand, his warm breath tickling the skin.
“You’re finally going to be my husband.” I smile back.
I give him another kiss before pulling away and looking down at my hand.
I can’t help but just think finally, finally, FINALLY.
“Okay, this will be hard to top.”
He offers an arrogant smile before walking over to plop down on the recliner I just left. “Oh yeah, Princess. There is no way you are topping that,” he replies pointing down at my hand.
I smile to myself and start handing him the boxes. He laughs when he gets to the Victoria’s Secret lingerie. “Great minds think alike.” We laugh together and he places the box off to the side.
I hand him the box with the dog tag and watch his face when he opens it. He sits there for the longest time just looking into the box.
His face is void of emotions.
“Jesus,” he chokes out. “Izzy, Princess, this is fucking amazing.” He looks at it for a few more minutes and asks me what the line at the end means.
“Love conquers all,” I reply with a smile.
He fingers the necklace lightly and notices the diamond for the first time. “Is that . . .” He trails off.
“Yeah. I kept it. Locked away but I never let that ring go. I thought it was perfect.”
“It is . . . It is perfect,” he whispers.
He looks up, and the emotion in his depths causes me to stagger a bit. “Wear it always . . . Never coming off,” he says, pulling it from the box and pulling the chain over his head, dropping it to setting against his chest.
“One more,” I say, the butterflies picking up speed in my stomach. “You kind of helped me pick this one out actually,” I add, walking over to the tree and pulling out a small box.
The smile on his face is one of pure bliss. This day has been perfect, and I pray this will be the icing on the cake.
He starts tearing off the paper and opens the lid on the box before pulling out the mug. He has it backwards at first and looks at me with a perplexed expression that turns to a questioning one when he notices my nerves. “Spin it,” I say, twirling my finger in a circle.
He takes the coffee mug and spins it around. I watch when the clouds clear and his jaw drops in shock. He looks up at me, down at the coffee mug, to my belly, then back to my face before returning his eyes to the mug he is holding reverently in his hands. He sits there, his head bowed, and just looks at the mug. I picture it in my mind, knowing what he is seeing, and a small smile tugs at my lips.
The gray mug has a copy of the first ultrasound picture on it, and underneath the picture, it says, ‘#1 Dad—Coming This Summer.’
He is silent for so long that I start to worry. Oh God, I didn’t think what I would do if he isn’t happy about it. I can’t stand the thought of being without him, but if he doesn’t want our baby, I would have to learn.