Emily burrowed beneath the thin blanket on the love-seat outside their house. A fire roared in the brazier and she poked a marshmallow into the flames, watching as it browned, then pulled it out and waited until it was cool enough to eat. The delicious sugary insides melted in her mouth.
“Yum.”
“You gonna share with me?” Justin asked, unable to toast one for himself since he’d been trapped by Dan and Ritchie, who were curled together on his lap like a yin-yang symbol.
“Of course.”
Emily grabbed another marshmallow from the packet and jabbed the skewer through it, holding it over the heat. Justin liked his marshmallows blacker than she did, so she waited for it to catch fire then blew it out. Taking the sticky blob between her fingers, she fed it to him. His mouth closed over her fingers, licking the sugar from her skin. She hummed contentedly.
“Can you do me another favor?” he asked.
He looked so adorable, not wanting to disturb his two fluffy emotional terrorists, that she’d agree to almost anything. “Sure thing.”
“Reach into the pocket of my jeans.”
She raised an eyebrow. “If this is some weird sexual game—”
“It’s not,” he said. “Please.”
“Okay.” She reached into the pocket, her touch landing on a smooth box. A box exactly the right size to hold a ring. Surely not. She gaped, her brain short-circuiting. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Why don’t you pull it out and see?”
With clumsy fingers, she extracted the box and flipped the lid to reveal a gold ring with three identical diamonds set into the center of the band. “Wow,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
“The diamonds represent our past, present, and future,” he explained, as she lifted it carefully from the box and slid it onto her finger. “A year ago today, I first kissed you. I thought it was fitting that we start next year with my ring on your finger. I love you Emily, and I want to be your future.”
“Yes,” she squeaked, ogling the ring and the way it glimmered in the light.
But the glimmer of the ring was nothing compared to the way Justin’s eyes sparkled when he smiled at her. “I haven’t even asked the question yet.”
“Sorry,” she said, meeting his eyes and waiting patiently. “Was there something you wanted to ask me, darling?”
His lips twitched. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she repeated, lifting the blanket and dumping the cats unceremoniously on the ground. For once, she wasn’t going to share her man with them. “I love you,” she told him. “I want to be your future, too, bringing brightness into your life forever.”
Then she kissed her future husband, the love of her life, the gruff man with a heart of gold.
And she knew she’d never stop loving him.
“I have news for you, too,” she said, ready to drop a bombshell of her own. “How do you feel about being a dad?”
“Are you kidding?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Serious as can be.”
His hand went automatically to her stomach. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I took three tests earlier today, just to be certain. We’re going to have a baby.”
Justin leapt to his feet, took her hands, and pulled her into his arms. He dropped kisses on her face and neck, then knelt to kiss her belly. “I’m going to be a father,” he said joyously.
“You’re happy?”
“Sweetheart, you’ve just made me the happiest man alive.”
She hadn’t thought he could be any more perfect, but then he went and proved her wrong.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” she whispered.
“Congratulations, future Mrs. Simons.”
In the dim light cast by the crackling fire, Emily and Justin started the new year the same way they’d started the previous one. Nothing had changed, and yet everything had changed. Because they had an eternity together, and two precocious cats and an unborn baby to share it with.
Nothing could beat that.
THE END