Page 144 of Winning Brynn

I’ve only been gone a few hours, but I felt the distance between me and my family like a pulled thread in my heart.

Salem catches up a few moments later, holding out her arms for me to pick her up.

“Look at all this,” I say, mystified by the transformation the apartment has undergone while I’ve been at lunch. “Is this all for me?”

Candles sparkle on every surface, casting flickering golden light across the room. Heart-shaped balloons kiss the ceiling, their pink ribbons dangling down and brushing over our heads. Scattered across the floor are even more rose petals, drawing a pathway to the living room rug, where they split to form the shape of a giant love heart.

And in the center of them, wearing his finest black tuxedo and bent on one knee, is the man who owns my very soul.

“Daddy Leo wants to ask you a question,” Ivy squeals, pulling me by the hand toward him.

I guess it makes sense now why my brother took a sudden interest in my clothing choices earlier and insisted I wear a white dress.

Leo smiles softly, waiting patiently until I’m standing in front of him. “Okay, girls, Mama’s gonna need her hands for this.”

Ivy drops the hand she was holding, and dashes to Leo’s side. Giggling through falling tears, I set Salem down on the rug beside me, eyeing a candle on the table next to her with concern.

“Don’t worry about them,” Leo chuckles. “They’re electric.”

“Oh.” I breathe a sigh of relief and turn my attention back to him. Fisting the sides of my dress, my legs tremble as I wait for him to speak.

“Here,” he takes my left hand in his, stroking his thumb over my ring finger. “I would have done this months ago, but between losing the soccer season and going through the adoption process for two children, it had to be delayed a little.”

The Seattle Strikers had tried hard to claw their way back to the top of the league after their stint of losses. Unfortunately, they couldn’t take the top spot, but they did manage to fall in second. Leo blames himself for missing out on the win, but I’m proud of him regardless.

“You know you don’t have to ask, right?” I sniff as a tear splashes on my lip. “Alex has already made me all emotional, I’m not sure how much more I can take.”

“Damnit, Alex.” Leo shakes his head, but he’s smiling as he does so. “Well, you’re gonna have to suck it up. I have a whole speech planned, and everything.”

“It’s gonna be okay, Mommy,” Ivy says seriously. “It’s a good question. You don’t need to cry.”

“They’re happy tears, baby.” Having only lived with us for a few months, Ivy hasn’t fully acclimatized to my random bursts of tears yet, and the various reasons why they happen. Salem, bless her soul, is used to it by now.

“Oh, okay.” The look of concern disappears from her little face. “Carry on then.”

I snort, turning back to Leo.

“Brynn Wolfe, I can’t say that I knew I was going to marry you from the first time we met in the stadium parking lot after you blocked in my car. It was a dick move on your part, and I’ll die on that hill.”

I bark a laugh but let him continue.

“But it didn’t take long for me to figure it out. I could kneel here and wax poetic about all the things I love about you, but you know them all already, and frankly, my knees are starting to hurt. The point is, there is no one else on this earth who I would rather raise our daughters with. You are my favourite person over the age of six and, don’t tell your brother this, my best friend. Will you do me the honour of not only marrying me, but becoming Salem’s Mommy for real?”

He leans to the side, pulling a large brown envelope off the table that I hadn’t even noticed was there.

“Are you proposing to me with adoption papers?” I ask in awe, because it’s probably the most perfect thing he could have done. Adopting Salem is worth more than any diamond in the world.

“Yeah.” He grins. “But I got you this too.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a box. I don’t look when he opens it. I can’t bring myself to pull my gaze away from his. He slips the ring onto my finger anyway, pulling me down onto the rug to seal the promise with a kiss, even though I haven’t answered yet.

It doesn’t matter. He already knows the answer.

“Gross,” Ivy groans beside us.

Salem squeals, tugging on my dress until I wrap my arm around her. Leo tucks Ivy into his side with one arm, winding the other around my waist. I can’t stop myself from laughing as happy tears waterfall over my cheeks, the love I feel in my heart bursting from me with unstoppable force.

Because this moment is everything I’ve dreamed about for as long as I can remember.

I have a brother who would give me his life if I asked for it, a man who loves me more than I could have ever hoped for, and two daughters who look at me like I’m the best thing they’ve ever seen.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Leo whispers.

“That I have everything I could ever need right here.” I look around once more at the faces of the three people I love most in the world. “A family.”

THE END