Chapter 23

Casey

“Your family’s great,” I said to Alexander, as we walked up the stairs to our second-floor suite.

“I’m glad you liked them,” Alexander replied. “I could tell they absolutely adored you.” I felt it too, but it was nice to get reassurance from the person I needed it from the most.

Something was tugging at the back of my mind, and I had spent most of the night swatting it away. I figured now was as good a time as any to come clean. “I have to confess,” I started. “There’s something that’s been bugging me all night.”

“What’s that?”

I slid my key into the door and walked inside, sitting down on the king-size bed both for dramatic effect and because my ankles were swollen. “I know we haven’t directly lied to your parents, but I feel bad about hiding the pregnancy. They’re really nice people, and I don’t want to deceive them.”

“Well, do you want to tell them?” Alexander asked. “And we’re not deceiving them. We’re just…umm… withholding information.”

“I don’t know,” I said, pulling my thrift store wedges from my feet. “It’s your family, so it’s ultimately your call.”

“How about we sleep on it and see how we’re feeling in the morning? I’m not afraid to tell my family about our baby. I just wanted to wait for the right time.”

Part of me was swooning—as he called the baby “ours”—and the other part wondered if the right time would ever come. Alexander sat down beside me and pulled my left leg onto his lap. He began to massage my feet, making small, circular motions with his tender fingers. “Yeah, let’s sleep on it,” I whispered.

The warmth of the cotton sheets enveloped me as I turned over to see the handsome man beside me. Yup… this was still my reality. I had gone to bed wondering if I would wake up in the morning and learn that the day before had all been a dream, and I counted my lucky stars that this was all real. Alexander’s family was even more amazing than I had expected. I hit it off right away with Emily, who I spent a good part of Christmas Eve dinner chatting away with, and Alexander’s mom really seemed to take an interest in me. I had never felt so special. More than that, I’d never, even when my mother was alive, had a family get-together of that magnitude.

“Morning, sunshine,” Alexander said. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. The fact that it was finally Christmas hadn’t quite hit me yet. After all, growing up in foster care hadn’t exactly made Christmas a yearly highlight. I noticed that Alexander was already fully showered and dressed, with a form-fitting black V-neck and pair of khakis covering his toned body. “Did I oversleep? Do we have plans?”

Alexander smiled. “No plans! I guess my body just has an internal alarm clock that doesn’t let me sleep in, even on Christmas.” He paused. “But there is somewhere I want to take you before brunch, if you’re interested.”

“What’d you have in mind?”

“It’s a surprise! Get ready and you’ll find out!”

What Alexander didn’t know was that I absolutely loved surprises. After all, growing up in foster care, you don’t get too many of those… at least not good ones. I took what was probably one of the fastest showers of my life and put my hair into a neat French braid.

It was cold for Florida—sixty degrees—so I opted for a maroon jumpsuit I’d bought a few weeks earlier. I had no clue where we were going, but I figured this was the most versatile outfit I’d packed. With my baby bump getting bigger each day, it was a bit more form-fitting than I’d remembered, but I still loved it. It hugged my baby, just like I would get to in a few short months. I admired the reflection of my growing tummy in the mirror and remembered that I needed to bring a jacket along to cover the bump at the Prestons’ house.

“That was fast,” Alexander said, as I emerged from the bathroom.

I beamed. “What can I say? I like surprises.” I looked down at my watch. “We only have an hour until brunch. Are we going straight to your parents’ house?”

Alexander nodded. “I figured that makes sense, since where we’re going is along the way.” I grabbed my jacket from the fabric chair in the corner of the room and followed Alexander out the door.

Since Alexander’s parents’ house had been less than fifteen minutes from the hotel, I knew this was going to be quick drive. I was right. Exactly four minutes later, we were in a large, mostly empty parking lot. A neon-colored sign in front of us read “The Igloo” and had a cartoon picture of a pair of ice skates.

“You mean on top of being rich and handsome and charming, you’re a pro ice skater, too?” I asked, grinning.

Alexander shrugged. “I may have taken a lesson or two… hundred.”

“You skate?!”

“Yeah, let’s not ever talk about it after today,” Alexander said sarcastically. “In all seriousness, this was one of my favorite places in the world when I was a kid. I used to come here for lessons twice a week from the time I was eight, until I was twelve. After that, I got to the age where it was considered uncool for boys to take skating lessons, so I mostly came here after school with buddies from time to time.”

Out of all the things I had been expecting for Alexander’s surprise, I could honestly say that ice skating wasn’t one of them. “Wow,” I said.

“You showed me your own little corner of the world in Tallahassee,” Alexander said. He reached forward and placed his hand on my belly just in time to feel the baby kick. “So, I thought I’d show both of you mine.”

My heart felt as though it were turning to mush as we walked inside to the rink. Alexander just had a way with words. I was so in love with this man, with the way he spoke and the way he moved and the way he was, that I wasn’t even worried about the fact that I had no clue how to ice skate.

“We’re going to have to rent skates,” Alexander said. “My skates from fifteen years ago are just a tad too small.”

I laughed. “Can I rent some skating abilities while we’re at it?”

We put on our skates, and I watched in amazement as Alexander glided around the ice with such grace. While skating may not have been considered a masculine sport by some, he made it surprisingly sexy. After a few warmup laps, Alexander grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the ice. I knew there was no use in arguing against it. Everything I had been afraid of, Alexander had helped me conquer and had ended up being wonderful, so I expected this wouldn’t be any different.

I wasn’t heading to the winter Olympics anytime soon, but I made it around the rink three or four times without falling. Stumbling was another story. This was just a small part of Alexander’s childhood that he was letting me into, and it felt amazing to have this insight. Now I knew how Alexander felt the other day when I showed him my entire childhood in a matter of hours. It was amazing.

“We should head out,” Alexander said after completing a flawless spin. “We don’t want to be late.”

I let him lead the way to a set of benches near the skate rental window. As I tried to maneuver my belly out of the way so I could remove my skates, Alexander got down onto his knees. What a gentleman, I thought. He even helps me take off my ice skates! What I wasn’t expecting, however, was for him to reach into his coat pocket instead of toward my skate.

Before I knew what was happening, Alexander was opening a blue velvet jewelry box to reveal the most beautiful ring I’d ever laid my eyes on. This had to be a dream. It just had to be. Tears clouded my vision as Alexander said something I didn’t quite catch. “Oh my gosh,” I whispered.

“Casey,” Alexander started. “I know our relationship didn’t start out like most normal ones do, but it brought us here, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

I was lucky I was sitting on the bench or I probably would have collapsed. Was this really happening? I was fairly certain Alexander was looking for some sort of affirmation, but all I could muster was another, “Oh my gosh.”

Alexander took my left hand in his. “I’ve loved you from our very first date, and I want to love you for the rest of our lives. Would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

“Yes!” I exclaimed between tears, loud enough to catch the attention of the few people around us. “Are you serious?”

Alexander nodded and said, “Of course. I love you more than anything, and I want us to be a family.”

If only he knew that I had never wanted anything more. He laid a delicate kiss on my lips, and I watched in awe as he slipped the stunning ring onto my finger. It had a single diamond in the middle with small clusters of white pearls on each side. The band had smaller diamonds going halfway up each side. It was everything I’d ever dreamed of—exactly how I wanted it. How did he know? Pearls weren’t the norm for engagement rings, but my mother had worn pearls a lot when I was young, so they meant a lot to me.

As we embraced, I wondered how Alexander knew about my dream ring. “Did you talk to Liana?” I asked lightly. “She’s the only one who knows how much pearls mean to me.”

Alexander blushed. “She may have helped a bit,” he said. “Is it what you wanted?”

“It’s perfect,” I said. The shock hadn’t quite begun to wear off yet. “Just like the man who gave it to me.”

I was on cloud nine the entire way to Christmas brunch. Not only was I celebrating Christmas with a real family, but they were going to be my family soon, too. Alexander suggested that we announce our engagement and the pregnancy to his family, as he wasn’t sure when we’d see them again. Of course, I had no objections. Secrets were no friend of mine.

As we pulled into the driveway, I tossed my jacket into the back seat. “Guess I won’t be needing that,” I said to Alexander.

“I don’t ever want to hide our baby again,” Alexander said. The look on his face told me he meant it.

“Never.”

We walked hand in hand up to the front door, and Alexander turned the knob. “We’re here,” Alexander called into the foyer.

“Come on in,” Alexander’s mom yelled back. “We’re all in the dining room!”

I drew in a deep breath and walked inside, standing behind Alexander until he was ready for our moment. “No matter what happens, I love you,” I whispered.

I peeked over Alexander’s shoulder into the dining room, where his father, brothers, and sister were seated around the table. “Mom, can you come in for a sec?” Alexander said.

“How’s it going?” Connor asked us. “Showing Casey your old stomping grounds?”

Alexander let out a nervous laugh as Mrs. Preston walked in from the kitchen, oven mitts still on her hands and a flour-covered apron over his clothing. “What is it, Alex? I don’t want to burn the casserole.”

“We have something to share with you,” Alexander said. “Two things, actually.” He squeezed my hand so hard I thought it was going to fall off. Once everyone was looking up at us, Alexander directed me to step out in front of him. I glanced back and forth between my fabric-covered bump and Alexander’s family.

Jaws were dropped all over the room, but Emily was the first to respond. “Oh! My! Gosh!” she squealed. “You’re having a baby?!”

“We’re having a baby,” I said, smiling. She darted over from her seat and gave us both a hug.

I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt!” Emily said. She turned to me. “And that Alexander finally found his soulmate.”

Emily’s positive reaction meant a lot to me, and I could tell it did to Alexander, as well, but we were both nervously waiting for his parents to say something.

“Mom? Dad?” Alexander nudged.

Alexander’s mom kept a stoic look on her face as she took a seat at the end of the table. “Oh my,” she said. “What a surprise! It’s marvelous, of course. I’m just, well, trying to soak it in.”

“I know it’s a surprise,” Alexander said. He put his arm around my waist. “But we’re really excited about this!”

Alexander’s father pounded his fist on the table. “Then we are, too!” He got up from his seat and embraced Alexander in a way I almost envied. I’d never had to worry about sharing news—either good or bad—with family members, so this was all new to me. Everyone got up from the table and took turns offering congratulations and hugging Alexander and me.

“Wait a minute,” Patrick said, breaking us from our huddle. “What’s the other news?”

I knew it was my turn to drop the bomb. I looked at the glistening rock on my finger, held up my hand, and said, “We’re engaged!”

“Holy shit!” Emily exclaimed. She and I jumped up and down together like we’d been best friends our whole lives, while Alexander high-fived his brothers. I’d never had anyone who resembled a sister in my life, other than Liana, so having such a warm welcome from Emily was more wonderful than I was sure she’d ever know.

“I can’t believe this,” Mrs. Preston said. “My baby boy is growing up! A baby and a wedding?! This is definitely a Christmas to remember!”

After another round of hugs and congratulations, Emily and I went to the kitchen to help Alexander’s mother carry the food to the table. They took turns looking at my ring and seemed thoroughly impressed by Alexander’s choice. Emily asked about the pearls, and I gave a vague but honest response about how pearls were important to my mother.

Once Emily had left the room with a serving dish in tow, Alexander’s mother pulled me to the side. “I have to confess something, dear,” she said.

“What is it?” I asked. I knew this had all been too good to be true, but I was ready for anything she threw my way. I had my ring, and my baby, and my guy, so nothing could tear me down.

“I knew from the minute you walked in the door two days ago that you were going to become a part of our family,” she said. She took my hands in hers. “I didn’t know I’d be a grandmother so soon, but I did know that I’ve never seen my son so happy.”