CHAPTER TWENTYONE
Instead of working on the caseload Gabe had handed me when I’d arrived at work this morning, I’d been preoccupied with thoughts of my girls. I couldn’t focus on anything else. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
“Can’t think straight?” Gabe asked from across the room where he was sorting through his own pile of new cases.
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“You ask her yet?”
I lifted my head and threw the papers onto my desk, giving up on even trying to concentrate on work. “No, I’m waiting for the right moment, but it never seems to come.”
“So make the moment. You know, like I did with Ivy,” he said.
The cogs in my brain started to turn over this new information and process it. It wasn’t a bad idea. Ivy had loved the flowers and romantic shit Gabe had done for her the night he proposed. An idea started to form in my mind. I would make the moment.
“Do we have any urgent cases that need our immediate attention?” I asked Gabe.
A knowing grin spread across his face. “Nope.”
I picked up my phone and called Axel. He answered, and I told him to meet us at the office. Twenty minutes later, Axel walked in with a bag full of take-out. “Hungry, bitches?”
He knew us well. We dug in while formulating the perfect proposal.
THE NEXT DAY.
Ivy was taking Mia on her first outing without me to help with Belle. They were going shopping or some other equally girly activity. I didn’t care what exactly they were doing as long as Mia was out of the house.
I waited for Ivy to text me that she’d picked up my girls and the coast was clear before I went back home. The unit was a mess, so I started cleaning it up. I threw on a load of washing, stacked the dishwasher, and vacuumed and mopped the floors. Then circled back and put the washing from the machine into the dryer and threw in a new load of dirties.
By lunchtime, the house was pristine, and Axel was due to arrive with the flowers any minute. I cranked up the air con so the flowers wouldn’t wilt in the incessant heat. Gabe texted to say everything was sorted out on his end and ready to go. The front door opened, and Axel came in carrying a vase full of peach coloured roses.
“These smell really good,” he commented as he placed them on the coffee table.
“Good, I want everything to be perfect.” I slapped him on the shoulder, and we headed to his car to get the rest of the flowers.
Two hours later, the unit was transformed. Vases of flowers covered the coffee table, the side table, the kitchen bench, and the top shelf of the bookcase. Axel and I had strung fairy lights up along the top of the walls casting a warm glow around the room instead of blinding light from the ceiling lights.
The caterers arrived right on time and set up outside in our little courtyard. Not long after, Gabe showed up with Stella, Bray, Sloan, and Dex. Everyone was here, except for my girls and Ivy. My palms began to sweat as I realise this may not have been the best idea after all. What if Mia said no?
Axel, the little prick, chose to draw everyone’s attention to my sudden revelation. “Check it out. Mr Confidence is sweating bullets. You think she’s secretly in love with me, don’t you?” he mocked. “Shit, the secret’s out. Pack it up everyone. Show’s over,” he announced.
Before I realised what I was doing, I punched him right in the jaw. He burst out laughing and rubbed his jaw with his good hand. “I got your mind off your nerves though, didn’t I?”
“Fucker,” I muttered but pulled him into a man hug to thank him for helping me pull my head out of my own arse.
My phone pinged with a text from Ivy saying they were just pulling into our gated community. I passed the info on, and everyone moved to the kitchen and dining area. I waited in the lounge room alone.
Two minutes passed in complete silence, except for the clicking sound from me nervously opening and closing the ring box. Then I heard the sound of Mia’s sweet voice through the door and jumped to open it before she got there. I swung it wide taking her by surprise. “Oh my god! What are you doing home already?” she asked breathless.
I smiled at the sight of her. “I couldn’t wait to see you, so I came home early.” It was partially true.
Her answering smile obliterated my earlier nerves. “Come inside, baby. I’ve got something for you.” She dropped the nappy bag she had on her shoulder when she noticed the flowers on the coffee table. Her confused gaze moved from the flowers to me and back again as she adjusted Belle in her arms. “Do you like them?”
“Do I like them? Are you crazy? Of course, I like them. They’re gorgeous,” she said.
I took her hand and led her over to the couch and waited for her to sit. When she did, I dropped down on one knee in front of her, and she gasped. Her doe eyes widened. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Proposing.”
A big fat tear leaked from the corner of her eye as she stared at the little red velvet box I held up in between us. “Yes. A million times yes, Kai. Oh god, I love you.”
“I haven’t asked the question yet. I had this whole speech prepared to convince you to marry me.”
“You don’t need one. You are the best man I’ve ever known. I love you with all my heart, and I can’t imagine a life without you in it,” she whispered.
I took the ring out of the box and slid it on her petite finger. “Perfect.” I said when I saw it sitting in place.
“I’ll never take it off,” she promised.
Belle started to squirm in Mia’s lap where she way lying. I scooped her up and held her close to my face as I breathed in her baby scent. “Hey, baby, what do you think? Should mummy and daddy get married and have a bunch more babies?” She squirmed some more, and I pulled her away slightly so I could kiss her teeny, tiny little nose.
I cradled Belle in my arms and looked back to her mumma. “Mia, you are my life, you and Belle, you’re my future. And you’ve become my family, too. And I’m not the only one who feels like that,” I said as our hiding guests took their cue to join us.
Mia watched as the room filled with our extended family. “You should know marrying me means marrying into all this.” I gestured to everyone gathered behind me. “You became a part of us six months ago. And none of us will ever let you go.”
Mia’s brown eyes filled with tears, and as they spilled over her cheeks, she launched herself at me, only slowing just before impact so as not to squish our baby. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she kissed my face all over. “You have given me everything I ever wanted. You showed me kindness, you taught me love, and you gave me a family.”