“Admiring how far we’ve come,” I correct.
Six years ago today, we were standing in a dark motel room, watching Mike be taken into police custody. I remember it so clearly: I’d just found out I was pregnant with Desiree. I remember how scared I was, dreading what life had in store for us.
Now I know the best was yet to come.
“Did you hear?” Haze asks, and I connect the dots.
“Yeah.” I nod and turn around. Haze wraps me up into a warm embrace, resting his chin on top of my head. I listen to his heartbeat and inhale his cologne.
Mike passed away two days ago. Heart attack. The police called me at home since I was his only relative a few days back, but we were too busy trying to convince Desiree to take a bath to pick up, so they left a message. Haze and I heard it at different times.
Since Mike was sentenced to life in prison, some could say he was lucky to escape his sentence early. Still, when I found out, I felt a bit… sad? I beat myself up over it. His confession doesn’t change what he did, I repeated to my heart.
Then I realized that while his surrendering to the police didn’t change the past…
It sure as hell changed the future.
Haze picked himself off the ground and built himself back up after that night. He even got in touch with his family. They’re not what one would call close, but they’re on speaking terms. In a way, that one awful day opened the door to a million beautiful ones.
“Hey, where’s Des? I told you to watch her,” I realize.
“She’s playing with Nathan. Allie just got here. You should’ve seen her face when she saw him,” Haze remarks. “I swear if he grows up to break her heart, I don’t care if he’s Allie’s kid, I’m kicking his ass.”
I laugh and plaster my lips to his. He kisses me back, gripping my waist and lurching my body as close to his as the big bump sticking out of me allows him to. This still feels like the first time. Like the night he first kissed me on that beach all those years ago. My meteor shower tattoo has been a bit stretched out by my pregnancies, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“Hey, Kingston?” He pulls away.
“Yeah?”
“Any reason you didn’t tell your family about me proposing to you last night?”
I grin.
We were cleaning up in the kitchen after we put Desiree to bed yesterday. I asked him to hand me a clean glass so I could get myself some water.
He did just that.
He handed me a glass.
But… with a wedding ring at the bottom.
Want to know what the worst part is?
My dumb ass didn’t even see it until the glass was almost empty and I was this close to swallowing it whole. Haze yelled to stop and saved me from certain death by choking on jewelry.
Then he got down on one knee.
Then we fucked on the kitchen floor—but I figured that sounded less adorable.
“Yeah, about that. I changed my mind,” I tease.
“Did you now?” he smirks, smoothing his hand up and down my arm. Shivers erupt over my skin.
“I’ll tell them soon, I promise.” I kiss the tip of his nose. “I just wanted this day to be about our little guy.”
This seems to be Haze’s cue to sprinkle my stomach with kisses and talk in a ridiculous high-pitched voice to his unborn son. I’m smiling so wide my face hurts.
“We should probably pick a venue,” I say once he’s done conversing with my belly.