No damn way.
“Married?”
She nods. “Right under the tree where your Ma and Dad got married. This weekend.”
“Emery, wait, you want to getmarried? Inthree days? Onthe farm?”
“Why are you saying it like that? Yes, I want to get married. To you. In three days. Right here. On the Farm. Under the tree where your parents did.”
My heart’s racing in my chest. Fucking pounding so hard it feels like I’m going to fall off my feet. The one thing I’ve wanted from the second we decided to continue the facade of a fake engagement was for this to be real. I’ve always been a step ahead of her, but I was happy to wait. However long it took for her to catch up.
“Wait… You’re serious?”
“I’m serious.”
“We’re going to get married? In three days?”
This time she groans and walks over to the girls. “Do you hear your daddy, girls? I’m trying to tell him I want to marry him and he’s acting like I’m speaking a foreign language.”
She hardly has time to finish the sentence before I’m sweeping her off her feet into my arms. Yelping, she holds on to my neck.
“I will marry you whenever you want, Emery Davidson, any second of any day. There’s nothing in this world that would make me happier. You know that. Are you high right now? Did you get into Allie’s stash of edibles?”
“No, you crazy man, absolutely not. I just… Graham, I love you. I have loved you from the moment you forced me to the doctor and took care of me while I was sick. I have loved you every single moment since that day. Without fail. But these past two weeks have shown me that life is so incredibly short, and it is never promised. You have held me at my worst, and loved me through it. You are my strength when I’m weak, my happiness when everything is dark around me. I want to be your wife, and I don’t want to wait. I want your mama to watch us get married in the same spot she stood, and I want it to make her so happy to know that we are happy. I want this, I want to marry you and I don’t ever want to be without you again. Home is nothing without you, it’s hollow and empty, and I don’t want to live without you.” Her hands hold my face, the pad of her thumb tracing the line of my jaw tenderly. She’s crying by the time she finishes, but they’re not sad tears; they’re happy ones.
Fuck, Em wants tomarry me. And she wants to do it now because she wants my mom to see us be married. Because that’s who Emery is, her heart is so fucking big and so bleeding, she knows how much it means to my mom.
How much it would mean to me. How sometimes time isn’t always on our side, and she’s doing this to make sure Ma doesn’t miss this moment.
And this girl is actually going to bemy wife?
“I love you so much it takes my breath, Emery. Every single day I wake up and I can’t even believe that you’re mine. You’remine.If you want to marry me, baby, let’s do it. Hell, let’s do it right now. Fuck, are we doing this, Em? Are we getting married?”
She nods, tears falling, until she throws her head back and laughs. Pure, unblemished happiness is all that this moment is.
“God, this is so crazy! We’re getting married. What do you think your mama will say?” she asks.
My throat feels tight with emotion.
“I dunno, Em. I know she’s be happy, but fuck, three days? We’re gonna plan an entire wedding in three days?” I glance over at the girls, who are babbling happily in their seats. “What about flower girl dresses for my babies? Shit, we’ve got to tell our moms.”
I’m rambling, but don’t even notice it until Emery presses her lips against mine as they’re still moving.
“Are you nervous, Graham Adams?” She’s teasing me, but judging by the smirk on her lips, she’s enjoying every second of this.
“Fuck yes, I’m nervous. I’m about to marry the love of my life, the woman of my dreams, the mother of my babies. The same woman I’ve been pining after since I saw her sitting in the arena, not in the least bit interested in hockey, drinking a big ass beer. I couldn’t fucking breathe when I saw you, Em. I thought to myself, I have to fucking have her. Whatever it takes. And now look at us? The second most important day of my life is going to be watching you walk down the aisle.”
Tears slip down her cheeks as I speak, and I mean every word of it. Emery’s my best friend, and I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone.
“What do you say, girls? Wanna see Mama and Daddy get married?”
Quinn giggles, and you know what? I’ll fucking take it.
All four of us head inside, and I swear I’m so fucking glad, I don’t have to keep this a secret because I can’t wait to scream it from the rooftop. I couldn’t possibly hold this shit in if I tried. The first thing I’m doing is telling the guys as soon as our family knows.
I can’t wait to make Emery my wife.
My Wife.