Can you see her?” I asked, anxiously holding up my phone, ready to capture the moment she came on stage.

“No.”

“Where is she?”

“Maybe she’s in the back,” Emil suggested. “Don’t worry, she’s there. It’s not like she ran off.”

We both looked at each other.

“Okay, maybe she ran off, but I doubt it,” he said.

I bit my bottom lip, starting to get a little worried.

Emil looked down at me, wrapped his arm around my waist, and kissed the top of my head. “Don’t look so worried. It’ll be fine. How hard can preschool graduation be?”

“Well… any number of things could go around…”

“Cassandra,” he said in a reprimanding tone. “Stop worrying.”

“I’m trying.”

Like all of the other parents, I waited for Kimmy’s big appearance, but there seemed to be some kind of a delay. In the end, I sat down, my phone still in hand.

Emil held my hand.

I turned to look at him. “You know, Kimmy asked me the other day if you were going to be her new daddy.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “What did you tell her?”

“That you might be. I mean, I don’t want to push that role on you or anything, but she does seem very fond of you. Plus, you handle her very well,” I started to rant, my cheeks turning bright red.

He chuckled and kissed my nose. “You’re cute.” He squeezed my hand. “And I would love to be her new daddy. Actually –” Before he could finish his sentence, there was movement from the stage.

To everyone’s delight, the procession of preschoolers had started. One by one, they walked out in their little gowns and accepted their diplomas, taking a moment to smile for the camera before scurrying off to be with their classmates.

Kimmy appeared somewhere in the middle, marching forward like a little soldier.

“I can’t believe how alike you two are,” Emil whispered.

“Well, she is my daughter,” I answered, recording the moment. She beamed at me, waving excitedly before she hurried off the stage, her diploma clutched in her tiny fist.

“Do you mind getting the flowers now?” I asked him.

“Not at all.”

As he left, I couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been going to say before he was cut off. By the time he returned, I was still dwelling on it, but I didn’t dare to ask him. I figured it would come up again in conversation if it was important.

* * *

After Kimmy’s graduation, we went to the park. Kimmy was in love with her bouquet of flowers, clutching them to her chest and totally forgetting about her diploma.

She held Emil’s hand, tugging him toward the playground.

“Mommy, can you hold these?” she asked. “But be careful! Flowers are fragile!” She enunciated fragile, having learned it in her last week of classes. She made it a point to use the word at least once a day. It seemed to be her new favorite word.

“Sure, honey.”

Gleefully, she ran off with Emil. He pushed her on the swings. As I watched them, I couldn’t help but think that Emil would make an amazing father. Sure, he had made his fair share of mistakes. Stacey was one of them. But I knew deep in my heart that he had learned from that mistake and would never do it again.

For better or for worse, I was stuck with him.

After a while, they returned to the bench where I had been sitting.

When I looked up at Emil, he looked oddly nervous.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“What? Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Emil, spit it out,” I prompted.

He took a deep breath, and before I knew it, he was down on one knee.

It took me a moment to realize what he was doing. I was just about to tell him to get up when he pulled out a tiny red box, holding it out to me.

I gasped.

The ring was beautiful, sparkling in the bright sunlight.

“Wow!” Kimmy exclaimed. “It’s so pretty!” She got on her tippy toes in order to see it better, a look of awe on her face. Usually, she would run up and touch things, but she held back, as if afraid of this particular piece of jewelry.

“Cassandra… you’ve done nothing but make me happy. When no one else would give me a second chance, you gave me a home. You introduced me to a charming young girl who has stolen my heart.” He looked at Kimmy, who giggled, blushing. She hid behind my leg, suddenly bashful. “I never want this to end.”

I could feel my heart beating faster than ever.

Was this really happening? Or was I dreaming?

“I want to be your husband, and I want to be Kimmy’s new daddy. I want us to start a family together. To grow old together. There are so many things I want to do with you, Cassandra, but to start that list, I want to marry you.” He took a deep breath. “So, will you be my wife and make me the happiest man in the world?”

My heart skipped a beat as my legs turned to jelly. It felt like I was about to faint. I couldn’t believe this.

“Emil…” I whispered.

Fear swept across his eyes.

Suddenly, I sprang forward, tackling him to the ground. “Yes!” I screamed as we rolled around on the ground. Unable to help ourselves, our lips collided into a passionate kiss.

As soon as we broke away, Kimmy jumped into the cuddle puddle, smiling brightly. “Mommy and Emil are going to get married!” she announced to the world, hugging our heads and pulling us together.

I laughed, knowing this was just the start of the rest of our lives together.