That damn test has been on my mind all day. I looked at each of the girls as they walked down the aisle for the ceremony and didn’t see any signs of pregnancy. Then, I was caught up in the celebration and happiness of Ben and Piper that I forgot for a minute. While Ashton was giving her speech, the pieces started falling into place but I thought for sure she would have told me if the test was hers.
When she stood and walked toward the DJ to begin her song, each moment of the last few weeks flashed before me like a silent movie—all the crying, her moodiness, and her exhaustion. We’d chalked it all up to the stress of the wedding but it isn’t. It’s a baby.
Our baby.
As she began singing, she twisted toward the DJ to motion something and I saw it. A slight pooch—I’ll never ever admit that to her. The lyrics of the song, the emotion in her voice, and the way she subconsciously moved her free hand to her stomach, it all felt like it was her telling me about the baby. Suddenly, not taking the shots of whiskey or drinking her champagne made sense. The exhaustion, her bigger than normal breasts. All of it. As soon as she caught my gaze resting on her stomach, her eyes grew in shock.
The funny thing is, I wasn’t freaked out. Sure, when Landon found the test this morning my instinct was to be negative about it. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. Well, traditionally anyway. But, Ash and I aren’t traditional. We’ve been in love with each other for years and ignored it. We spent more time trying to hate each other than accepting the truth and being together. That’s why when it all sunk in the thought of her pregnant with our child, I instantly felt relaxed and at peace. Seeing her stand before me, doing what she loves and was born to do while protectively holding her hand where our baby is nestled, overwhelmed me. The feelings were more than I could have ever imagined.
“Are you angry?” she asks. Angry? How could she think that? Oh, because I haven’t said a word. Dickhead move.
“Angry?” I ask, kneeling before her, taking her hands in my own. “Baby, I’m not angry. I’m ecstatic. Over the moon. Fucking stoked!” I say, causing her to smile.
“Are you sure? I mean, I didn’t plan this, but it’s our baby, J.” Tears start flowing like a faucet from her eyes, and I place a hand on either side of her face, forcing her to look at me.
“I have never been surer of something in my life. That’s not true. There’s something else, but that’ll have to wait until next week. One big thing at a time. We don’t want to overshadow Ben and Piper.”
“I don’t know what that means. Oh, my goodness, are you embarrassed to have a baby momma?”
“What?” What the hell is she talking about? “No. Never. I’m so fucking happy to have a baby momma, but it’s just this is all so unexpected,” I say, pulling my hands from her head and standing. Taking a step back, I look up toward the tent. I see our friends standing just outside, waiting. They know what happened. Of course, they do. Ben, Landon, and Owen know about the test. By the way I reacted they had to have figured out it’s Ashton’s test.
“Do it, J!” Ben shouts from where he’s standing, and I watch as my sister, his parents, and my folks step outside. Shit, do I? I look down to where Ashton was sitting, and she’s gone. I look up to see her walking away from me, her shoulders shaking because she’s crying. Everyone important to us are here, it seems dumb to miss this opportunity.
“Babe,” I say, reaching for her hand and stopping her. She doesn’t turn around to face me but stops walking. I put my hand to my right pocket. The box is there. I don’t know why I grabbed it earlier and put it in my pocket, but I did. Maybe I knew earlier this would happen. I really didn’t plan it. I don’t want to take away from Ben and Piper, but he did just give me permission, right?
Throwing caution to the wind, I drop to one knee and tug Ashton to look at me. “Baby, please turn around.” When she does, she gasps, her free hand going to her mouth and her head turning toward the group gathered near the tent, Ben and Piper in the forefront. Piper is standing in front of Ben with her hands over her mouth. She and Ashton are so similar in their reactions, it’d be amusing if I wasn’t freaking the fuck out right now.
“Ashton, I am far from embarrassed by anything about you. This just caught me off guard, I had this grand plan for next week. I told your dad . . .” She cuts me off before I can continue.
“You talked to my dad?”
“Of course, I did. I asked the most important man in your life for permission to marry you.”
“You didn’t. Oh my God. You don’t need my dad’s permission, you dope. You need mine.” I laugh; that’s my girl.
“Yes, well, I also need your dad’s because I respect him and wanted him to know how much I love you. He of course warned me of this exact conversation, and he’ll be happy to know he was right, and I was wrong. I didn’t think you’d get sassy with me on one knee.”
“Clearly, you’ve forgotten who you knocked up,” she teases.
“May I?” I ask, gesturing to my knee in the dirt. She nods.
“Ashton Marie Sullivan. I could go into a big speech about how we’re meant to be together, how much I love you, and how I’m a better man since you’ve agreed to be with me. But I won’t. You know all of that and tell me on a regular basis.” She snorts and I smile. “What I will say is, I love you. With all that I am and all that I’ll ever be, you complete me in more ways than one. Your drive, your passion, your kind heart, and your unfaltering commitment to our friends and family amaze me on a daily basis. It would be my greatest honor if you would let me call you wife and marry me.”
“You did not just say “call you wife”! Dear Lord, Jameson,” she chastises with a smile and eye roll. “Get off the ground.” I do as instructed.
“I’m going to get fat. I’m going to be moody and cry a lot. There will be cravings. Do you get what I’m saying here?” I mimic a bobble head as she pauses. “I’m a lot to handle, but you seem to handle me well. And of course there’s the fact that there is no other person in this world I could love. You’re it for me, Jameson Strauss. End game. You and me. Well, and this nugget. Who, I believe, was conceived thanks to that game of naked Truth or Dare you challenged me to.”
Ah, yes,” I pause tapping my chin in thought. Naked Truth or Dare, I remember that night. It was an excellent night. Messy but excellent. “Well, it’s lucky for you,” I say, pulling the ring from the box and holding it up to the moonlight, “you’re it for me, too. What do you say? Wanna make an honest man of me?”
“Nothing would make me happier.”
I place the ring on Ashton’s finger and scoop her up into my arms as I kiss her. This wasn’t how I envisioned proposing. It surely wasn’t the order in which I expected our future to play out, but that’s par for the course with us. Nothing is ever as we plan it and that’s perfect for us.
We welcome our families and friends to congratulate us. Ashton’s mom pulls her into a tight hug and then looks at her knowingly. When Ashton nods her head in acknowledgement, Patty begins to cry. Confirmation that we’re expecting leads to more congratulations from everyone. It’s only after about ten minutes that I realize we’ve all abandoned the reception. I tell everyone to head back in and hold Ashton back with me. She’s beaming and holding her hand to her abdomen again. I look at her quizzically to which she mimics.
“What?” she inquires with a raised brow.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?”
“Oh stop, I’ve got the ring on, you don’t have to butter me up.”
I laugh because that’s such an Ashton comment to make. I pull my phone from my pocket pull her hand up to take a picture before tugging her in for a selfie.
“What are those for?”
“So, we don’t forget this night,” I say sheepishly as she steps into me, her arms going around my waist as she looks up at me.
“I could never forget this day. October twenty-first will go down in my life history books as one of the single most important days of my life. Never doubt that, J. Ever. Now, your child is starving, and we must be fed.”
I know not to argue with a woman but especially a pregnant woman and take Ashton back to the tent for dinner. We’re greeted with our own round of applause and the DJ playing “Going to the Chapel.” Ben and Piper are ridiculous. And fantastic. This is their day, and they’ve just made a huge part of it our day.