Meredith

My head rests on Gabe’s chest as I cuddle into him. His thick fingers run slowly through my hair while I happily pick at the last pie crumbs on my plate. No point being modest about my sweet tooth now.

“We're engaged,” I mumble to myself, as I try to process the thought. To the same man who I was absolutely certain, beyond any shadow of a doubt, was the one person to avoid at all costs when I came home. And then he goes and ends up being the one to give me the very things I feared I’d never have. I wanted a partner and a family. And now, thanks to Gabe Wilde I’m going…scratch that, we’re going to have both those things. Together.

How is this even possible?

Right now, I don’t want to know the answer. I don’t really care. I’m simply happy. I sit up and turn to Gabe. “I love you.”

Gabe’s eyes brighten. “I love you too, Doll.” He cups my face and kisses me, his thumbs grazing my cheekbones. I melt in to him, angling my face to deepen the kiss. I never imagined happiness could run so deep, could fill me so completely.

Gabe pulls back a fraction, his gaze trained on mine. “You ready to go, or would you like to stay a while longer?”

“Is there more planned for the evening? Part of me wants to stay like this forever, but alas…” I sigh. “That’s probably not realistic.”

“Well, I have one other thing planned, but there’s no time constraint to it so, whenever.”

I bring my finger to my lip and tap it, thoughtfully. “Hmm. My curiosity for what else you have up your sleeve might be outweighing my desire to stay. So I say, we go.”

“You sure?” Gabe asks.

I nod and begin packing things into the basket.

Gabe stands and helps me up, then shakes out as much sand as he can from the blanket before rolling it up and tucking it under his arm. We walk back to the truck side by side; Gabe carries the blanket and picnic basket in one hand, while his free arm wraps around my shoulder.

“You are aware you make me happier than I’ve ever been, aren’t you?” Gabe whispers in my ear.

Swoon.

When we reach the truck, Gabe opens the passenger door and holds my hand, helping me climb into my seat. He circles around to the other side, haphazardly tosses our picnic supplies into the back, and climbs behind the wheel. He starts the truck and, as we make our way back to the road, bump by painful bump, Gabe reaches for the radio, turning it up just enough to be heard over the road noise. “You mind if we listen to some music?” he asks.

“I don’t mind at all.” I lean against the door, happily staring out the window, watching the world pass by. The sapphire on my finger catches the evening sun and I give in to daydreams of our future, together. Together—I like the sound of that.

Gabe settles on a station that plays all the classics of the eighties and nineties. I’ve heard them referred to as oldies, but I reject the idea outright. One of my favorites is playing. “With or Without You,” by U2. He turns the volume up and starts to whisper-sing-hum along while he drives. Seeing Gabe this carefree makes me happy.

The next thing I know, a strand of hair is being brushed behind my ear as Gabe attempts to wake me. “Mer—we’re here.”

I stretch my arms and fight a yawn. “What? Where?”

Apparently, complete contentment equals sleepy. That, or for the first time in over a week I let myself relax for more than ten seconds. It’s a tossup.

“Home.” Gabe unfastens my seatbelt, carefully navigating it around me. “Boy, you must’ve been out hard.” He points at a spot on his chin as he sits back giggling.

“Huh? What do you…” I wipe my face and find a small channel of drool. “Oh my God, how embarrassing.”

“Not at all. It’s cute,” Gabe says, doing his best to control his laughing. “But you probably ought to clean it up before we go inside.”

I look around, confused. “Why are we at my house? And what do you mean, before we go inside?”

“Well, I guess I could honk the horn until your folks come out, but wouldn’t that be rude?”

I wipe at my chin again, pushing back disappointment as I try to wake up and gather my bearings. “I thought you had something else planned? Did we skip it because I fell asleep?” Sleepiness combines with the disorientation of waking up in an unexpected place and I’m left confused.

“Nope. This is it.” Gabe opens his door, hops down, and makes his way around to my side.

I stare at Gabe through the open window. “Your plan was to bring me home?”

Confusion bubbles into irritation as Gabe opens my door and offers his hand to help me down. “Mer—seriously, would you trust me already?”

For the life of me, I can’t understand how we went from perfect evening to you're home, now get out. Had I said or done something to upset him? Attempting to show my displeasure, I skip his hand and hop down on my own. In retrospect, it’s maybe the dumbest way ever to make my point, considering I’m questionably five-foot-tall and his heavy-duty pickup seems about half a mile off the ground by the time I land.

Alright girl, not the most graceful maneuver, just walk it off. Don’t show him it hurt.

I walk towards the door as fast as I can without limping.

Gabe rushes to catch up. “Hold on a sec. What’s the matter?”

I stop at the steps. “I was having a wonderful time. It was a perfect evening. Why did you bring me home? ” Tears stream down my face. “We could have spent the night at your place. I don’t know, I'm not ready for this to end. Anything would be better than saying goodbye.”

“Mer. Hey. Don’t cry. ” Gabe catches a tear with his thumb and rubs it into my cheek as he brings his hand to the base of my neck. “Doll. I’m not dropping you off. Dry your eyes. This is the plan. You’ll see.”

We stand outside for a few minutes while I compose myself. When I’m ready, Gabe wraps my hand through the crook of his arm and walks me to the door. “Ready or not, here we go.”

“Ready for what?” I look him in the eyes while I open the door to the dark house.

“Surprise!” voices yell from inside, scaring the living shit out of me. I turn on the light and wonder if I might still be in the truck, dreaming. My parents, my brother James, my brother Mark and his wife Jenn all stand together in the living room. The fact no one is yelling, or clambering to get their hands around Gabe’s throat is odd. Can they not see the man? But what really throws me for a loop are the Wildes. Yep, Chet, Christy, Marie, and Hank are all standing around, in my parents’ house, with my parents, smiling.

I squeeze Gabe’s hand and ask, “What is happening?” through the best fake smile I can muster.

“Are you surprised?” Gabe asks, excitedly. “We had it all planned out. Everybody knew tonight was the night, so once you said yes I just had to sneak a couple texts, informing everyone to get over here and…voila.” Gabe lifts my chin. “So, Mer-bear? Are you surprised?”

Am I surprised? I wouldn’t be more surprised if Santa Claus himself popped out of the fireplace in a pair of Speedos and kissed me on the lips right now.

“Uh, yeah. I am definitely surprised.” I look at the two families occupying the space. “How did you know my parents would go along with this?”

“Because…” Gabe pauses and sighs. “I came over while you were out and had a talk with your dad. But before you get mad, hang on a sec, okay? I told him how much you mean to me, and how I’ll spend the rest of my life doing whatever it takes to make you happy. And then I asked him for his blessing.”

“You did? Really?” I lightly pat Gabe’s chest, while my heart fills with joy. Jeff thought that was an outdated tradition and never bothered to ask my folks for their blessing. I know that had to mean a lot to my dad.

“Alright you two. Enough standing over there mumbling to yourselves. Come and show us your ring, already,” Mom says. “So we can cut into this fine cake Marie made. Let’s get to celebrating.”

Marie beams with pride as she watches the two of us. I elbow Gabe in his rib. “Regretting the pie instead of a real meal, now?”

“Not even a little.” Gabe rubs his hands together. “Let’s do this.”

Everyone mingles, talking and laughing as they share stories about Gabe and me from childhood and high school. Christy abruptly excuses herself to the bathroom. When she returns, her obvious distress causes the room to fall still.

Chet’s upbeat mood vanishes. “What’s wrong?”

“My water just broke,” Christy replies, holding her belly. “We should probably get to the hospital.”

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Chet look anything less than confident, until now. He trips over himself as he rushes about to help Christy gather her things and get out the door.

I look to Gabe. “You probably want to go too.”

“Nah. I doubt they need my help for this.” He smiles.

Marie comes to his side. “Ahem. I’m sorry to break up the celebration, but they brought me tonight,” she points out the window at the taillights racing toward the road.

The happiness on Gabe’s face fades. “I guess that’s my cue after all, Doll. Sorry. You stay and celebrate with your family.”

“Don’t be sorry. I understand, this is exciting stuff. Go. Maybe take notes while you’re there. You’re going to need to be ready for this yourself, sooner than you think.” I stretch up on my tiptoes and throw my arms around his neck. “Go be with your family. I’m not going anywhere.”

Gabe hugs me and looks to Marie. “Home or hospital, ma’am?”

She smacks his arm, lightly. “Hospital, duh. You think I’d miss the opportunity to welcome my first grandchild into the world?”

Gabe lifts me off my feet and squeezes me tight. “Alright. I’ll text you when I have news, okay?”

I nod and kiss him; my parents be damned. I'm carrying the man's baby and wearing his ring. If they have a problem seeing us be affectionate, they’re going to have to get over it.

Gabe calls to Hank, interrupting a conversation with Mark. “Time to go, buddy. Party’s over. Chet ruined another one.”

Marie thanks my parents for hosting the party while James awkwardly shakes hands with Gabe. “Sorry about that day in the driveway.” James looks Gabe in the eye. “She’s my only sister, you know? And I didn’t realize how you felt about her. Truce?”

Gabe nods his head. “She’s your family. Enough said. I’m sure I’d do the same, if I had a sister.” His lip curls into that wicked smile of his. “Hank here is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sister.” Gabe wraps his arm around his brother’s neck and attempts to give him a noogie.

Marie intercedes as the men begin to scuffle about in the living room. “You two stop that right now,” she insists. “Let’s go.”

After Gabe and his family leave, I dig for the pint of Ben & Jerry's stashed in the back of the freezer, hopeful it will numb my disappointment. I close the freezer door, ready to say my goodnights and head off to my room, only to find my family seated around the kitchen table, staring at me. It appears they have something else in mind—an inquisition.

Oh boy.

By the look on their faces, they're ready to tell me what's what, but they're not going to like what I have to say. They've been fighting me about Gabe for most of my life, but the man is about to be my husband. It's time I start fighting back. I take a seat and lock eyes with each of them, one at a time. Here we go.