“I didn’t know what happiness looked like until you walked into my life, Cleaver.”
My eyes fell back down to him as I snickered. Making him smile brighter than I’d ever seen.
“I knew only darkness before you shined your light into my eyes. And I have to admit, for a while, it hurt. It hurt to look at you and it hurt to touch you and it hurt to kiss you because I’d never experienced that kind of light before. My knee-jerk reaction was to shield it away from my eyes. Pull away from the source of my pain. But you kept coming. You kept knocking at my door. You kept fighting with that strength I admire every single fucking day, and I adjusted.”
I giggled. “You make me sound like a virus.”
He chuckled. “You came into my life and your light illuminated my darkness. You showed me the absolute hellscape I was living in and showed me a better way of living. A better way of existing. A better way of loving. And I want to spend the rest of my life bringing you the same light, and the same hope, and the same happiness you bring me.”
“Oh, Clint.”
“I want to love you like you deserve to be loved. I want to protect you the way you deserve to be protected. There’s no other woman I want in my life--or for my children--but you. And everything I have is yours.”
I sniffled. “I love you so much.”
He stood to his feet. “I want to build our family with you under this roof. I want to bring you home after our wedding to this place. I want us to grow old here. To make memories here. To live out the rest of our days in one another’s arms here.”
I watched him pop open the black velvet box, only to reveal the most gorgeous ring I’d ever seen. Well, from what I could see out of the bottom of my view.
Because my eyes never left his face.
“Raelynn Anne Marie Cleaver. Will you marry me?”
I smiled brightly. “Yes!”
I threw my arms around his neck as Michael and Allison clapped. I buried my crying face into the crook of his neck and his arms cloaked my back. He swayed us side to side. I thought my heart might burst with too much happiness. I clung to his broad shoulders. He picked me up off my feet. And after swinging me around a few times in the middle of our new home, he set me back down.
Before taking my left hand within his.
“I believe this is yours, then,” he said.
I sniffled and wiped at my face as he slid the beautiful, sparkling diamond ring onto my finger. I wiggled it in the sunlight streaming through the windows behind me, watching it twinkle, like Clint’s eyes did every morning. I couldn't take my eyes off it. The damn thing was mesmerizing. And it wasn’t until I heard Allison’s voice in my ear that I lifted my head.
“I love you so much. Congratulations, Rae.”
Michael patted me on the back. “You deserve it. Way to go.”
I smiled. “Thank you. Both of you. Really. I love you two so much.”
Allison smiled back. “We love you, too.”
Clint tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Ready to tell them the news? Or do you want to wait?”
Allison paused. “There’s more news?”
Michael gasped. “You’re not.”
Allison furrowed her brow. “What?”
I looked over at Michael. “We are.”
He leapt for joy. “Holy shit, you are!”
Allison scoffed. “What are you two talking about!?”
Clint laughed. “We’re pregnant, Ally.”
She gasped. “Oh. My. Goodness!”