“Why did you do that?”
Laughing, he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my shoulder. I turned us around so I could still see into the kitchen and hugged him back.
“You’re a bad sister,” he whispered in my ear.
“Shh,” I replied, making him laugh.
“What do you mean you were going to propose tomorrow?” Holly asked.
Jasper cleared his throat. “Tomorrow I planned to propose we move house.”
I closed my eyes. Why does he even bother opening his mouth at all?
“Oh, Jesus,” Cole whispered in my ear.
“Jasper,” Holly said.
“Propose we have another child.”
“Jasper.”
“Propose we do that thing?” His voice got a little too high at the end of his sentence. I turned my nose up and hoped I would never find out what ‘that thing’ was.
“Jasper!” She sounded like she’d lost all patience with him, and I couldn’t blame her.
“Fine. Damn it, I’m so stupid,” he muttered.
That he was.
“The ring is at home, so this isn’t going to be at all romantic.” He shook his head. “Screw it! Holly, will you marry me?”
My smile was as big as hers. I squeezed Cole’s arms around mine. They’d better hurry up and set a date soon. I loved wedding preparations. Mum would, too. And Everleigh.
“I don’t care about big, romantic gestures, and of course I’ll marry you.”
Cole chuckled and kissed my shoulder. “Good luck, Holly.”
“She’s good for him. Helps that she has the patience of a Saint.”
“Mum!” Jasper shouted. “Me and Holly just got engaged!”
Cole just managed to pull us both to the side before everyone came rushing through to congratulate them.
“Where’s the ring?” I heard Mum ask. She’d given Bentley over to Miles, who had him sleeping in one arm and Sophia sitting in the other. Miles may not be related to them by blood, but he was the best grandad I could have hoped for, along with David.
“I haven’t got it. This wasn’t supposed to happen until tomorrow but apparently I can’t keep my big mouth shut,” Jasper explained. He then had to explain exactly what that meant.
“This is the best Christmas yet,” Jenna said, giving them both a hug.
That reminded me. “Hey, in a little while we need to go and see Everleigh’s snowman family.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Shall we go see the happy couple first?”
“Definitely.”
The second I stepped into the kitchen Jasper pried Mum’s hands off him and made his way over. Though he drove me crazy, we were incredibly close. When we left for Australia, he’d been my rock and helped me to heal.
“Congratulations, you utter moron,” I said, giving him a hug.
He squeezed. “At least I don’t have to spend tomorrow night freezing my balls off in a park.”
I rolled my eyes. “You better still do that for her.”
Pulling back, he frowned. “She said yes.”
“I know that, but you haven’t given her the ring…”
He groaned. “I should do it again tomorrow.”
“Uh huh! She’s an incredible woman, and she’s taken you on, she deserves a medal and a romantic proposal.”
“You always make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside,” he said sarcastically.
“I’m so happy for you both.”
“Me, too. Now we can get on with making more babies, she wanted to wait until we were married before more. Cole is always on about how much more of a man he is.”
“Jasper…” My mouth fell open. I knew they joked about it, but I bloody hoped it was just a joke.
Laughing, he replied, “As ever, you’re fun to tease.” He slapped me on the back and went back to his fiancée, grabbing Sophia as she put her arms out for him on the way.
Everleigh climbed on Jasper’s lap, sitting beside Sophia on his knee. “Uncle Jasper, can I be a bridesmaid?”
He looked to Holly, and she tilted her head. “Do you need to ask, really?” she said to him.
Shrugging, he looked back into Everleigh’s hopeful eyes. “Of course you’re going to be a bridesmaid!”
We managed to get the kids to settle down after the wedding excitement. Holly and Jasper stayed in the dining room, and I hung back while Cole and Miles went in the living room with Bentley.
Part of me wanted to wait to surprise Cole now that Holly and Jasper had got engaged tonight, but I knew they wouldn’t want that. In fact, Jasper would be pissed off with me if he thought I’d waited because of him.
I poured myself another glass of alcohol-free wine and made myself drink it before I took him outside.
Cole
I was stuffed. Sarah had cooked for about thirty people rather than twelve. On reflection, having a who’s-got-the-bigger-balls eating contest with Jasper was a bad idea. But he did look as uncomfortable as I felt.