Page 129 of Serpent & Saviors

The atmosphere in the room changed drastically. A sense of anticipation took over. The heartfelt sentiments from earlier faded almost as Andrew stood on the precipice of making promises. My heart slammed against my chest as he focused solely on me.

His demeanor, so composed and assured, suddenly seemed tinged with a hint of nervousness, a stark vulnerability I hadn’t seen before. He hesitated, and my stomach dropped, but the sincerity in his eyes held me frozen.

The depth of emotion shimmering was overwhelming. No one had ever looked at me that way. When he spoke, it was with a tenderness that touched my soul and broke through the silence of the room.

“Victoria, my first wish is easy. It’s to give you back your last name. To restore what was unjustly taken from you long ago. I present you with official papers to change your name from your previously married name back to Laurent.”

He whisked the piece of paper out. “Our family solicitor has drawn these up. All it requires is two witnesses. I doubt you’ll have any trouble finding them. I want to find a way to right every wrong ever done to you, angel.”

His words resonated in the room. He understood how much this meant to me. I took the paper and clasped it to my chest in disbelief. His gaze shifted over my shoulder and outside once more. I turned to look as well.

“My second wish is to restore what’s mine. This one will need a signature too, but I’ve petitioned to have our son’s birth certificate changed. To have it reflect the truth, that I am not only his father, but I don’t want him to ever doubt, not even for one second, my love for him, and for his mother.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks, and the profound weight of this day crashed into me like a violent wave against the shore. He dropped to one knee in front of me, a glint of determination in his eyes.

He leaned in toward my middle and placed soft kisses on the material of my dress. With his head tilted back, he grabbed my left hand. And stole my breath away. The entire room let out a loud gasp.

“Victoria,” he stated, his voice unwavering despite the emotion lingering between us. “My final wish, above all else, is to spend the rest of my days loving you, cherishing you, and building a future together. You are the person I want to have a billion adventures with. I want to hold you in my arms, dance with you, kiss in the rain, and rush home to be with you. I want to have pillow fights with our son, chase you both around the house, laugh with you, hold you when you cry and I want…”

His voice broke, and he had to clear it. A single tear fell from his eye. My hand reached out to grab it. The most beautiful man I’d ever met was bent down on one knee, his heart laid bare. I was going to scream yes, even though he hadn’t asked me the question, but his next words made breathing almost impossible.

“I want to fall in love with you every single day. You are my person. You make me more than who I ever thought I could be. With you, I’ve found someone who speaks the language of my very soul.”

My eyes snapped up. At some point, the Carusos and Kings had joined us. Soft smiles filtered across their faces.

“Son,” Andy said, calling him over.

Declan’s face was flushed with excitement. His eyes, so much like his father’s, were bright with the remnants of his afternoon pirate adventures. My heart threatened to burst from all the emotions today had brought. With all the boundless energy he could muster, Declan hurried over. His gaze alternated between Andrew’s earnest one and my shocked one.

“Breathe, Mummy.” He reached out and took my right hand. Immediately, he started rubbing circles on my palms. “Like this, Daddy, right?” he asked, and I burst into tears as the room erupted in soft laughter and sighs from the women.

“Exactly like that. Now, as soon as she stops crying, we’ll ask her what we really want to ask. Think you can dry your eyes for us, angel?”

I shifted my gaze from my son’s innocent and pure love. He’d let go of my hand and produced a wadded up handkerchief from his pocket. After wiping my eyes, I looked once more at Andrew. He’d removed a small box from his own pocket, and I took a deep breath.

“Victoria Laurent, will you do me the greatest honor and become my wife? Will you marry me?”

“Yes, a thousand times yes,” I exclaimed as he heaved a sigh of relief. He slipped the most enormous ring onto my finger and kissed his way up my hand.

The room erupted in an array of laughter, congratulations, and backslapping.

The early autumn breeze drifted through the open window, ruffling the plans before me. I curled my legs beneath me on the sofa, absently twisting the engagement ring on my finger. The weight of it, I still wasn’t used to.

It still felt unfamiliar, like something I didn’t quite deserve. Across from me, Isabella sat criss-cross applesauce, scrolling through something on her phone. Every few seconds, she’d glance up and study me, like she knew I had something on my mind.

“What is it? Might as well tell me,” she said after the seventh time.

“Is it wrong of me to want to hold off?”

“With?”

“You know the wedding.” I gestured to the papers lying before us. “At least until we find her?” The last part tumbled out before I could second-guess it.

It was one of the things I loved so much about finding them again. The ability to converse whenever and however we wanted. It was still so unreal. Isabella didn’t immediately respond. She set her phone down on the armrest and ran her hands through her long black locks.

“How upset do you think he’ll be?” I asked.

That made her snort. She shook her head with a knowing smile, brushing a stray lock from her face. “That man is so obsessed with you, it’s not even funny. If you asked him for the moon, he’d try to find a way to get it for you.”