Gabe shakes his head, I shrug. I heard him on the phone earlier and I know he has something planned but I have no idea what. Chady or Chadstone is the biggest shopping mall near us but I don’t think that’s where we are headed.
“What sort of ring do you want Lauren, a massive diamond like Jackie’s?”
I see Gabe look across at me, I feel so awkward, we haven’t discussed any of this, not even a budget, Jason just went out and bought my first engagement ring, I had no say in it, but I was three months pregnant and about to get married.
“I don’t actually know Ava, I’m sure I will know it when I see it and I would prefer if your Dad loved it too.”
I look back across at him and smile and he reaches for my hand as he drives.
“Where are we going?”
“The city.”
“Anywhere in particular?”
“A shop, where hopefully we can find something that will show you how much I love you and that we will both love.”
He kisses my fingers and knuckles and the back of my hand and I squirm and squeeze it my seat.
“You didn’t buy my Mum an engagement ring did you Dad? That was just a marriage of convenience so that she wouldn’t run off and take me away from you, so you didn’t bother with all that did ya?”
I nearly die. This child seriously has no filter; I look across at Gabe and he is laughing to himself.
“No bub, I didn’t buy your Mum an engagement ring, does that bother you?”
“Well, yeah it does a bit.”
My stomach flips over; perhaps bringing her with us wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“I mean, when she dies, I’m not going to have a big fat diamond to inherit am I?”
“Well, you know what Ava? I don’t have any little girls, so how about I leave you my engagement ring? I can’t promise it will be a big fat diamond, I have no idea what type of ring I am after but I promise, when I die, it’s all yours.”
There’s total silence in the car as I look across to Gabe for reassurance that I haven’t said anything wrong, he has one hand on the wheel, the other is rubbing the stubble on his jaw and I instantly cross my legs, imagining my hand, my tongue, running over that stubble from nowhere Ava’s arms are around my neck and she kisses my cheek.
“Sit down Ava, get your seatbelt done back up, Jesus, if anything else happens to you while you’re with me, your mother will have my balls.”
“Dad, just shush for a minute would ya, Lauren, are you serious? You don’t have to do that; I know you don’t have girls but what about…”
“Ava, if I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have said it, I am more than happy to leave my engagement ring to you.”
“Thank you Lauren, I love you and I’m so glad my Dad chose you to be the person he could finally love.”
Now it’s my turn to get all choked up but as I look across at Gabe, he’s wiping tears from his eyes as well; he shakes his head at me and laughs through his tears.
“Women, please will you stop with all this mushy shit? I will crash the car if you keep making me cry and then no one will be getting an engagement ring.”
We head the rest of the way into the city in virtual silence; Gabe finds us a park on Collins Street and puts some money in the meter.
Then he turns to me and leans into my ear, I instantly have goose bumps from head to toe and can’t help but shudder when I feel his breath on me as he speaks. “Every day, every day Lauren, you do or say something that blows me away, you make my heart feel like it’s gonna burst out of my chest, every time I think I love you more than it’s possible to love someone, something happens to make me love you even more.”
He runs his fingertips down the side of my face and over my lips; once again, I shudder.
“I love you Lauren Day and I can’t wait for the day you become Mrs Wilde, now let’s go and find you the ring of yours and my daughters’ dreams.”
I smile up at him and I’m sure that I see not only that hot as holy hell smile on his lips, but just the hint of a smile finally back in his eyes too.
“Please you two, can you stop eye sexing each other in a public place, can we just go and buy my inheritance?”