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Liv gave them all a bemused look. “What’s going on?” she asked, taking in a row of five easels behind the children, all of which were turned away from her.
Mrs. MacKay shot her a knowing smile, not unlike the one that her assistant had doled out a minute before. “Okay, children. Take it away.”
There was a burst of chatter and scrambling as the children assembled around each easel, then scraping noises as they worked together to turn them all around.
Liv stood open-mouthed as the paper side of the easels came into view. Each had a colorful word painted upon it in the children’s hands. And together, they read:
Will you marry me Liv?
She blinked, attempting to understand why her class was proposing to her. Then a noise made her turn her head. Her pulse pickedup as Arran appeared from behind the bookcase in the reading area, where he must have been crouching the whole time, out of sight. Jayce was with him, holding his dad’s hand on one side and carrying a little black box on the other.
A burst of excitement made her drop the pile of card stock, pieces fluttering all over the floor and making a terrible mess that she didn’t care about in the slightest.
Arran gave her a soft smile as they reached her.
She swallowed hard, heart hammering. “Arran?”
He looked down at Jayce, giving him a nod.
Jayce stepped forward, a serious expression on his little face. He opened the box, and Arran simultaneously got down on one knee.
Liv’s heart rose right into her throat, and the children all burst into excited chatter.
“Shh, children!” Mrs. MacKay said, the smile nearly splitting her face.
Jayce held up the box, where a shiny silver ring set with her birthstone twinkled. Jayce cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. “Miss Lib, will you marry us?”
Happy tears pricked at her eyes as she took in the handsome man she was hopelessly in love with—down on one knee—with his adorable son, whom she cherished like her own, at his side. She blinked hard, trying to force her voice past the lump in her throat. “Of course I will,” she managed to scratch out.
“Yes!” Jayce cried, pulling his plastic sword from out of the back of his jumper, where Liv hadn’t even noticed he’d been hiding it. The rest of the class started screaming in delight and Mrs. MacKay had to come over and shush them all before they collapsed from overexcitement.
Arran was blinking hard, his eyes shining, as Jayce handed him the box. He tried to get up, but Jayce stopped him.
“Wait, Daddy.”
Arran paused to look at him.
Jayce solemnly lifted his sword and touched it to each of Arran’s shoulders in turn. “I now dub you: Miss Lib’s husband.”
Liv let out a laugh at the same time as Arran, who pulled Jayce into a hug. “Thanks, pal. Now help your old man up.”
Jayce took Arran’s hand and Arran made a show of getting to his feet, holding on to his back as if he were pained and then giving Jayce a wink.
He stepped over the pieces of card stock fanning at her feet and took out the ring, meeting her gaze steadily as he placed it on her left ring finger. It fit perfectly.
Liv lifted it, lost for words. “How did you know my size?”
He grinned. “Maya and Elise.”
She smiled. “Of course.”
Arran took her chin gently, lifting her face to his for a soft kiss. It was met with a mixture of cheering and “yuck” noises from the kids.
He pulled back, running his thumb over her bottom lip with a smile. “It’s just a temporary ring. Until I can save enough for a big sparkly diamond.”
She shook her head, drinking in the liquid honey of his eyes. “No. I like this one.”
His jaw worked, and he nodded, giving her another kiss, which he broke off after a few seconds because the “yuck” noises were starting to drown out the cheering.
