I was holding my breath, waiting for her to notice his onesie.
"You are-" She cut herself off, her eyes glued to his chest for a full minute, before slowly turning her head my way. Ellie quickly took Andy from her and subtly showed the onesie to everyone, eliciting tiny gasps from the women and deep chuckles from the men.
I walked over and grabbed Naomi"s hand before bending down on one knee in front of her. Her eyes were bouncing back and forth between mine as I cleared my throat and began, "I tried, for days, to think of an eloquent way to ask you to be with me for the rest of my life. Because you deserve that. You deserve something more than a simple will you marry me? So I racked my brain, trying to figure out how to give you the best of me. How to take the best thing I"ve got and give it to you. But then I realized, you"re the best thing about me."
Naomi"s eyes shimmered with tears as she held my hand impossibly tight.
"You are. It"s like, I don"t even know how I existed before I met you. It sounds so cheesy, but it"s the truth. And even though my feelings aren"t simple, what I want is. I want to marry you, have children with you, and grow old with you. I"ve known since the beginning that you were going to be one of the most important parts of my life, and I don"t want to waste a single second without the rest of the world knowing it, too. I love you, Naomi." I pulled my hands away and reached into my pocket, pulling out and opening the box.
"Sweetheart, will you marry me?"
I heard her mother, Mark, and Ellie crying a few feet away as Naomi knelt down in front of me. She was full-on crying now and her bottom lip was trembling. I closed my eyes as she lifted her hands and stroked my beard before winding her fingers through my hair.
And then she said the greatest word in the world...
"Yes."
I blindly gripped the back of her neck and pulled her in, kissing her like I"d been drowning, had just burst to the surface, and she was my oxygen. The background held cheers of joy, clapping, and a baby"s giggles. It was the most perfect moment of my entire life.
We were laughing and crying as our emotions made it impossible to keep kissing. It was hard to stay away from each other for the rest of the night, but we still tried to mingle with everyone. Even so, we couldn"t go longer than five minutes without seeking the other out.
Andy kept his onesie on for the rest of the night and everyone took pictures with him. My favorite was of Naomi and him, her ring proudly on display and her smile as bright as the sun. That"d be a wallet picture for sure.
Later that night, we were wrapped around each other, laughing about nothing and talking about everything.
"Hey, Day?" she whispered into my chest.
"Hmmm?"
She grabbed my hand and placed it on her bare, flat belly. I froze, all my thoughts focused on how ready I was to have my baby inside her. "You know... we"ve never talked about it before," she whispered.
"I"ve seen the way you look at Andy."
Naomi tipped her head back and gave me a soft smile. "Oh yeah? And how"s that?"
"Like he"s everything you never knew you wanted." Her fingers flexed against mine.
"He is. I never thought about it one way or the other, but yeah, I really want children. With you."
"Thank G.o.d," I murmured before sealing our mouths together. We were panting as we pulled away minutes later. "I"ll give you anything. All you have to do is ask."
She smirked and tapped her chin, like she was thinking hard about it. Suddenly that playful expression dropped, and all I saw was sincerity. "I want every kind of chaos you can give me," she whispered against my lips.
"Done." My response was quick and sure.
She beamed. "Good, fiance." Naomi paused as her eyes welled with tears. "It"ll be perfect," she finished reverently.
We didn"t say anything else as I smiled and rubbed our noses together, because we both knew it would be.
Unveiling Chaos Playlist.
"Stressed Out" - twenty one pilots.
"Touch" - Pia Mia.
"Got Love" - Tove Lo "Collide" (Acoustic) - Howie Day "Gravity" - Sara Bareilles.
"Staring At It" - SafetySuit "Nightingale" - Demi Lovato.
"Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol "Broken" - Lifehouse "Big Girls Cry" - Sia.
"Stolen" - Dashboard Confessional "Come To Me" - Goo Goo Dolls.
Acknowledgements.
As always, thank you to my family and friends for always supporting and encouraging me. Especially when all I want to do is take a nap or binge watch Netflix.
To my editor, Stephanie Parent, I"m so incredibly grateful I found you! Thank you for being so prompt and thorough. :) To Sarah at Okay Creations, thank you for designing this absolutely stunning cover. I may have squealed when I first saw it-it was love at first sight. ;) Thank you to my beta-readers for all your helpful advice and insight.
And lastly, thank you, the readers! Nothing would be possible without you guys. Time is the most precious thing you can give another person-thank you for giving me, and my book, yours. <>
About The Author.
Jeannine Allison is an author of contemporary and New Adult romance. After waffling between many degrees in college, she finally graduated with a BA in English Literature from Arizona State University. She loves writing and reading -- obviously :) -- but when she"s not, she enjoys playing with her two dogs, watching her favorite YouTube beauty bloggers, drinking coffee, googling new tattoos, and pretty much anything else that allows her to wear yoga pants and a sweatshirt.
Look out for Sherry"s story next...
Coming Early 2017.
Unveiling Ghosts.
Four years ago, Sherry lost everything.
Her house. Her parents. And Hunter, the love of her life.
She left the small town she"d called home and tried not to look back.
He"s gone. Move on. Don"t think of him.
But when she learns that Hunter is alive, she"s forced to question that awful night when everything was ripped away from her.
Four years ago, Hunter lost Sherry.
She was his home, his family, and the love of his life.
He abandoned the town that held so many painful memories, but he couldn"t stop himself from looking back.
Where was she? How was she? Did she think of him, too?
But when his father"s death brings both of them back home, he must deal with the fallout from his choice all those years ago.
Hunter and Sherry were childhood friends, high school sweethearts, and everything in between. Hunter always told her...
Ours is a love people write stories about.
But will it be a fairytale or a tragedy?.
end.