“We know!” Olive and Julia yell in unison.
Lilah gives them a quelling look before continuing. “And we’re having twins,” she says before sticking her tongue out at her sisters.
Olive screeches like a barn owl, and Julia cackles.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Olive jumps up and down while their grandmother hustles to give Lilah a hug. She swats at Julia’s shoulder as she passes, but Julia keeps laughing.
Lukas kisses his sister on the cheek and congratulates Ben while I give Lilah a one-armed hug.
“I knew you weren’t drinking seltzer for fun,” I tease her.
“I know,” she laughs. “I just wanted to hit twelve weeks and make sure everything was ok before we broke the news. Thanks for being cool about it, unlike some people!” She raises her voice at Olive as she finishes her sentence but grins at her sister, still bouncing excitedly.
“How was I supposed to know? I just thought you were being sneaky for no reason! You could have dropped a hint, you know!”
Lukas and I settle on one of the log benches, watching the fire and listening to his family give Lilah a hard time. Cujo has been the life of the party, chasing every stick and wolfing down every bite of food that gets snuck his way, but he seems to have worn himself out. He sits next to me, his broad head resting on my thigh. Lukas kisses my temple, running his fingers up and down my arm.
“I love your family,” I tell him.
“And they love you. Almost as much as I do,” he replies. I fiddle with Cujo’s collar, fingering the quality leather and big chunky buckle. I spin it to admire his shiny new tag, blinking to make sure I’m not seeing things. But I’m not imagining it, I realize, my heart pounding so hard I’m briefly worried I might have a heart attack.
Freshly engraved in the metal are the words:
Will you marry me?
Love, Lukas
Lukas is perfectly still, his hand unmoving on my arm. When I whip my head up to look at him, he’s smiling but visibly nervous.
“Are you serious?” I ask quietly. He nods, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
“I know better than anyone that you don’t need someone to take care of you, but I want to do it anyway. I want to be part of your adventure and your partner in crime. I love you and I can’t live without you, Freckles. I want you to be my wife if you’ll have me.”
I pull back, searching his face. I almost can’t believe this is real.
“Yes. Oh my God, yes.” My voice climbs as I answer. I put a hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes. “I love you so much. Yes!”
“Oh, thank God,” he exhales roughly. “Jesus, you scared me for a second,” he laughs, taking a relieved breath. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a box, and I can’t help it when the tears well up in my eyes. He opens the box and pulls out a ring, the stone glittering in the firelight. He slips it on my finger and laughs sweetly, wiping the tears from my cheek.
“Don’t cry,” he whispers.
“I can’t help it,” I laugh, blinking the moisture away.
He cups my face, kissing me deeply.
“Hold the fuck up!” Olive yells from across the fire. “Did you just ask Parker to marry you?!”
The whole yard goes silent as they look from Olive to me and Lukas. I hold up my left hand so they can see the ring, turning back to Lukas. My body lights up as he buries his hands in my hair, kissing me as the cheers go up around us. He’s the best man I’ve ever known. Neither of us is perfect, but we’re more than perfect for each other.