Her eyes widen. “For good?”
“For good.” I nod and smile, enormous butterflies suddenly trying to beat their way out of my gut. “I don’t want to sleep away from you. I want you to help me renovate this house. It’s your house, Callie. I didn’t know it when I bought it, but it is.”
“I love this house,” she whispers.
“I don’t want to ever be without you again,” I whisper. “I need you. Be with me.” I kiss her forehead. “Marry me.”
“Marry you?” She’s completely shocked.
“Marry me. You are it for me, Callie. You are everything I’ve ever wanted, and I’ll be yours until I take my last breath.”
She’s watching me with those wide eyes, and finally, she blinks and says, “I’ll marry you under two conditions.”
I narrow my eyes. “Name them.”
“One, I want a bench in our shower. It’ll make things very interesting in there.”
I pretend like I’m thinking it over, weighing my options. “I think I can do that. What’s the next condition?”
She swallows hard, but squares her shoulders, never afraid to ask for what she wants. God, I love that about her. “I want to make one of the bedrooms a nursery.”
“Are you—?”
“No.” She shakes her head and smiles. “But I want babies with you, Declan.”
I pull her to me and kiss her softly but thoroughly. “I can definitely live with that.”
***
“’Bout time you got here,” Charly says as Callie and I walk into Mama’s house. Everyone is here for dinner, just the way Mama likes it.
Speaking of Mama, I need to find her. “I’ll be back.” I kiss Callie’s hand as she nods and sits with Charly and Kate to discuss shoes.
I love that she loves my family and they love her too. Family is important to all of us.
“Hello, sweet boy,” Mama says and tips her cheek up for me to kiss it.
“Hi, Mama. I need to talk to you.”
She looks up into my eyes, then hands the spoon she’s stirring something with to Beau. “Mind this for me, Beau.”
“Sure thing,” he replies and smiles at me.
Mama leads me out the back door to the back yard. “What’s up?”
“Remember when you told me, long ago, that I could have Nannan’s ring when it was time for me to propose?”
Her eyes immediately fill. “Oh, baby. I love her for you.”
“I love her for me too,” I reply and nod. “And I’m keeping her.”
“I hope you word it differently than that when you ask her,” she says with a laugh, reminding me how I asked Callie out in the first place.
“I’ve already asked, and she said yes.”
“I’m so happy for you, son.” She pats my cheek, the way she did when I was small. “She fits you.”
“She does.”
“I’ll fetch the ring from the safe,” she says as we walk back inside.
***
Dinner is loud and chaotic, which is pretty usual for our clan. There’s always lots to say, and it seems we all want to say it at once.
“I’m telling you,” Savannah says to Charly. “You should go.”
“Go where?” I ask.
“So there’s this guy, Simon Danbury.”
“Sounds British,” Beau says, interrupting her.
“He is,” she replies and wiggles her eyebrows. It’s fun to see Van’s sense of humor returning. She’s healing, and that makes my heart happy. “He has the sexy accent to match. Anyway, he’s a motivational speaker, and I think that Charly should go to one of his workshops.”
“Why me?” Charly asks with a frown.
“Because I can’t go, and I want to know what it’s all about,” Van replies, as if it’s the most reasonable request in the world. “It’ll be fun. You might learn something.”
“I don’t think so,” Charly replies. “I have a business to run.”
“You’re no fun,” Van grumbles.
“I’m learning stuff in school,” Sam says.
“What kind of stuff?” Eli asks him.