“Oh my God, that was so much fun! Did you see my mom dancing like a loon? She’s nuts, I’ve never seen her like that before.” Parker crashed into the cab next to me, chuckling loudly. “And now I get to go on a romantic holiday for two whole weeks. I get you to myself, I’m so damn lucky.”

“Yeah, and where are we going?” I turned to face him full on, excited to find out more. Whereas I planned the majority of the wedding details, Parker had insisted that the honeymoon was his deal. He’s been extremely secretive about it, and now I was thrilled to finally discover the truth. “Please tell me the truth. I think I’ve been patient enough, don’t you?”

“Okay, we have a fortnight in Paris,” Parker grinned with relief as he could finally tell me what he’s been up to behind my back. “And a trip up the Eiffel Tower tomorrow night. There’s also a boat ride and a bunch of museums, but I’ll save all the intimate details until we get there.” He kissed me lightly, causing the butterflies flapping in my stomach to grow into the size of birds.

“Oh my God, that’s incredible! I’ve never been to Paris before, and it’s the city of love, that’s just...” I threw my hands around his neck. “That’s so romantic, thank you so much. And yes... I did see your mom,” I giggled with him. “I think she was having a great time. Good luck, Hank, you’re gonna have your hands full tonight. I can’t imagine she’ll be easy to get into bed.”

“Yeah well, better him than me. I will be flying over the ocean, which sounds much more exciting. Drunk Mom is not my forte.”

We’d both laid off the booze because of the flight tonight, which hadn’t mattered because we’d managed to have a good time anyway. Now it felt good to be sober, it meant I was still alert and wide awake, ready for my next adventure. I just couldn’t wait to see how enjoyable Paris would be.

I opened my mouth, finally ready to spill the secret that I’ve been keeping to myself, only because I wanted the right moment to say it. But before I got the chance Parker interjected once more, silencing me rapidly.

“Actually, I do have one more thing to talk to you about.”

“Erm…alright,” I was taken aback, but I allowed him to speak. If he had something important to say then I wanted to hear it. My thing could wait for a few more moments. “Sure, what is it?”

He reached behind his back and pulled out a small bag which he held out for me. “Go on, open that,” he insisted, with a big grin on his face. He was bouncing up and down on the seat - he was that excited.

I took it from him, with tentative anxiety creeping through me. I had no idea what this could be, and honestly, I was a little afraid to find out. He’s done so much for me already, I wasn’t sure how weird it was going to feel to have something else added to that list...

But as I pulled the item from the bag, I realized that this was something I had done, he just helped me along with the dream. “Oh my God,” I gasped loudly, clapping my hand across my mouth. “Pretty Little Liar, this is my book. How did you manage to get a proof so early? I thought it wasn’t going to be ready until the end of next month.” My heart was racing, my mind spinning, this was absolutely phenomenal.

“I spoke to some people,” he shrugged, trying to act blasé, but his beaming grin gave him away. This couldn’t have been easy, which made me so grateful. Parker was utterly perfect.

“I can’t believe I’m holding a book that I’ve written, do you know how amazing this feels? When I started out on my writing journey, this felt like a pipe dream, and now it’s become real. I just...” My eyes were welling up, my whole body trembling in happy shock. “I’m just so happy, you know? Thank you so much for this, this gives me something to look forward to when we come back from our honeymoon, not that I ever want to come back. We haven’t even got to Paris yet, and I already want to live there.”

“Oh I know, I won’t either, but I suppose we have to start our real lives eventually.”

Speaking of real life...

“Erm, actually,” I put the book on the seat for a second, knowing that I’d return to it in a moment when I got a second. This was important, I couldn’t put it off any longer. “There’s something I need to discuss with you, on the topic of real life.”

“Oh, yeah?” Parker’s tone was breezy, I just hoped it remained that way when I told him what was going on with me. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is good, really good.” I felt happy about this, but it was much sooner than we originally planned. I was well aware that this could so easily backfire on me. “Erm, I guess the best way to tell you this is to just say it.” I sucked in a few deep, calming breaths but they did nothing to cool me down. “Our family is about to get a bit bigger.”

“It is?” The confused look Parker sent me proved that he had no idea what I was getting at. I was going to have to spell it out. Damn him and his straightforward way of understanding the world!

“Yes... I’m having a baby.”

We’d been careless, we’d spent too much time getting caught in the heat of the moment, which was why this shouldn’t have been so much of a shock, but Parker’s stunned face matched how I felt when I first found out.

“You are? We are? Oh my God, I’m about to become a dad! That’s the best news ever!”

“Yeah? It is?” Admittedly it had taken me a lot longer to come to terms with it than that. I went through a whole range of emotions first. I went through fear, upset, unbridled terror, and slowly towards happiness. Now I adored the little bundle of joy growing in my stomach, and I was so excited that Parker felt the same way. “I mean I know it is, but you aren’t freaked?”

“It’s a shock, but a happy one. I’m overjoyed that we’re going to have a baby. We have so much love between us and now we can shower it over this little darling.” He pressed his hand against my stomach, making my heart swell with joy. “I just can’t wait to meet the little girl or guy. This is just... the best wedding present I ever could’ve hoped for.

I slumped back in my seat, grinning brightly at the man who was now my husband. He was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I didn’t think he would be, when the first car crashed into my life, if anything I hated his guts, but now we were going to Paris, we were married, and we’d created the most precious thing ever... a brand new life.

“So, what about names?” Parker asked me excitedly. “Have you thought about names?”

“If I’m honest, I’ve only just got my head around the idea. It took all that I had just to tell you about it, I was so scared that you were going to totally freak. I haven’t even considered what gender the baby might be, never mind any names.”

“Well, I like Jessie, or Carter, or maybe even Ben.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I murmured with joy flooding my system. “I don’t mind, we have months yet to decide, let’s just focus on enjoying Paris first. I think we need to have at least one romantic vacation that’s just you and I before we worry about our future.”

“Okay, I’ll try, but I can’t promise that I won’t mention the baby at all. I’m just too damn happy.”

Well, that was one reaction, and it was the best one I could’ve hoped for. Parker and I had the perfect future awaiting us, and I just knew that now we were both more settled in ourselves we would happily grab onto it with both hands. When we first met, both of us had issues, but we’d worked through them together and now... now we finally had our perfect love.

Parker and I were forever more, and that was the best feeling in the whole damn world.

* * *