Jackson chuckled and took over answering the barrage of questions she was throwing out. “No, we haven’t really had a chance to talk much about the baby beyond the fact that we are both very happy about it. I don’t know what the timeline is for finding out the sex of a baby, but I assure you that I want to know!”

“Hey!” I cried. “I want to know, too! You don’t get to be the only one to know, buster…” I mock-growled.

We had a nice visit with Chloe, but after a while she said she needed to get going. Before she left, Jackson asked if he could talk with her for a bit. I nodded and kissed him, letting him know that I was going to run home and get a shower and make sure things were going to be ready for the movers. Since Brandon was nice enough to do that for us, I wasn’t going to turn it down. I hated moving!

Once I checked on everything at home, making a list of things I’d need to do before the movers came, I headed over to Jackson’s house to see what Brandon had left there. I walked into the empty house, moving from room to room and taking in the finished product of what Jackson had worked so hard on. With the accident and spending all my time at the hospital, I hadn’t thought much about what was happening at the house. The foreman had finished everything to Jackson’s specifications and it was gorgeous. Even empty, the house had a warm, inviting feel to it, and it felt like home.

I found Brandon’s present in the bedroom beside the master bedroom. Sitting in the middle of the room, there was a beautiful espresso-colored wooden baby crib with matching changing table and dresser. I ran my hand over the smooth railing, smiling as I imagined the nursery all put together and ready for my baby…and then I sank to my knees on the plush carpet and, finally, where no one could see me, I dropped my head in my hands and sobbed.

Chapter 22

Emma walked beside me, laughing as she took in the huge grin plastered across my face.

“What?” I asked her, giggling at her amused expression.

“You…I swear you have sunshine rays and rainbows shooting out your ass right now!” Emma said.

“I’m happy! Is that a bad thing? Jackson gets to come home tonight!” I squealed like a school girl, bouncing all around as we got into Emma’s car.

She’d come by the new house and picked me up to go to the hospital. Luke, Sarah, and Chloe were all meeting us there, but I wanted to get a few things done so the house would look perfect when we got home. The move had gone off without a hitch, made better by the fact that I really didn’t have to lift a finger. Emma, Chloe, Sarah, Leah, Jenna, Jan, and my mom had all come over and help me get things unpacked and situated as best as we could. I couldn’t really lift anything too heavy, just because I didn’t want to risk anything with the baby, but between the girls and then, surprisingly, the guys including Brandon, it got done a hell of a lot faster than it would have otherwise.

But now that the house was pretty much done and Jackson was coming home, it gave me the perfect excuse to throw up a few decorations for a small welcome home party. And yes, Brandon was coming to that, too. We talked a little bit…I missed him. I really did. It was hard not to run into his arms and kiss him when I saw him, and I know he struggled with it a little bit, but I wasn’t going to push it. Hopefully things will get easier because, like he’d said, we were going to be in each other’s life for a very long time.

Emma plugged her phone in to the car and turned on her music. I laughed at her when Billy Idol’s White Wedding began playing. “Old school, much? We can listen to this any time, but I have a new song for you. Check this one out!” I unplugged her phone and switched it out with mine, turning on the song that I’d stumbled upon by accident the other day.

“You know how much we love Halestorm…” I told her. She nodded because yes, we definitely sported girly wood for Lzzy Hale, the front woman for Halestorm. She’s badass and she’s hot, and most importantly, she fucking ROCKS!

“Well, this is Adrenalize by In This Moment. They’re like Halestorm on crack and not in a bad way. This bitch is badass and if you think we have girl crushes on Lzzy, just wait til you see Maria Brink in action!” I crowed, clapping my hands together.

Emma’s brows raised and I knew I’d caught her full attention. She pulled out onto the street as the song began and halfway through she handed me her phone to download it for her. “Love it!” she yelled.

We rocked out all the way to the hospital but when we pulled in, Emma looked a little bit guilty. She just shook her head when I asked her what was wrong, so I shrugged and brushed it off.

I practically skipped into the hospital, groaning in frustration when Emma told me to slow down and wait for her. She was walking like an old woman! We got into the hospital (finally) and eventually stepped into the elevator. We heard a shout and had to hold the elevator for a man rushing toward us with a huge bouquet of flowers.

I sighed as he took his time getting situated behind the flowers and then pushed no less than three buttons as he looked at the card on the flowers again and again, muttering beneath his breath when he hit the wrong ones. I rolled my eyes at Emma who smiled and started tapping her toes to the song playing. I found myself singing along in my head with Bruno Mars’ Marry You. The song lasted through two of the three floors we had to stop at, and a new song had started when we finally got rid of flower guy and were on our way to our floor.

I glanced at Emma in surprise when the new song turned out to be Marry Me by Jason Derulo. I was a little confused when her eyes looked suspiciously misty, but then she started singing along to the beautiful lyrics. The elevator dinged and the doors opened; I gasped. The music was louder here, and there was a line of nurses stretching down the hallway.

Each of them held a single flower, alternating between star gazer lilies and red roses, both of my favorite flowers. They were all grinning and holding out the flowers for me to take as Emma, tears now freely flowing, pulled me down the hall toward Jackson’s room. I took the flowers, thanking the women distractedly as we walked until we turned into the doorway of his room.

The door was open and Emma pushed me through to see Brandon, Luke, Sarah, and Chloe standing in a line, but I didn’t see Jackson anywhere. As the chorus started again, each of them held up a sign with one word on it as it was being sung…

Brandon’s: Will; Luke’s: You; Sarah’s: Marry; and Chloe’s: Me?

OHMIGOD! I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock and my eyes welled with tears.

As soon as Chloe’s sign went up, they parted in the middle and there was Jackson, sitting in a wheelchair and holding up a ring box…

Emma pushed me forward and I spared her a glance, my eyes widening and more tears flowing as I noticed that my parents, my grandparents, and Emma’s whole family were crowding the room behind me. I turned back to Jackson and stepped towards him on unsteady feet. The song finished and silence fell. It was so quiet that it seemed like everyone was holding their breath to hear what would happen next.

“Allie…” Jackson said. “I love you. We’ve known each other for a relatively short time, and have been together even shorter…but I know you’re it for me. You are The One. We’ve had an unconventional relationship-” he paused when a couple people hooted over that (namely Calland and my Nanny), “but I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything that has happened with the accident and all, well, it made me realize that tomorrow isn’t promised. But if I were to die tomorrow, God forbid, I would go happy knowing that I’ve loved and been loved perfectly. Because that’s what I have with you. A love that’s messy, fun, true, and so imperfect…that it’s perfect. We fit. And you’re having my baby!”

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