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Kiti burst out laughing. “I’ll stop doing it when you stop fucking falling for it.”

“You are such a dick.” Laki spun back around and ambled over to pull me into a tight hug, a huge grin on their face. “Congrats, bro.”

“I—What?” I was back to shocked, standing there gormlessly as my mom and Aunt Indi practically elbowed each other out of the way in their haste to be the first to reach us.

Mom won, obviously, yanking me into a hard hug, already weeping. “Oh, my darling, I’m so happy for you.”

“Did you all know about this?” I was still a little dazed as I received hugs from the rest of my siblings, so I blamed that for the pointless question.

Suni held up her phone to show me Daga and Elern on the screen, connected to a video call so they could congratulate us too. Aunt Indi squished my cheeks before doing the same to Anita. Uncle Bax gave me a jovial slap on the back as he hugged me hard.

Anita’s friend Hustin, who I’d already met several times, appeared to congratulate me, looking a little frazzled from having to single-handedly hold back my family while Anita actually proposed. When I apologised on their behalf, he waved it off but beelined straight for the bar to grab himself a drink. One of the bartenders from downstairs had appeared and was busy pouring champagne into many glasses.

Greid and Beryl were the last to reach us, bringing up the rear of the group.

“Ha! You had no idea.” Beryl pecked my cheek as I ducked down to give her a brief hug. “We helped Anita plan it. Well, Hustin did most of the work, but that was why we left the party early.”

“I should’ve figured.” I rubbed the back of my neck with a sheepish grin as Beryl squeezed Anita tight.

“I told Anita what you’d suggested to me about the Basalt rooftop proposal.” Greid grinned as he gave me a hug. “Figured you were describing your ideal proposal.”

“I mean, this was pretty perfect.” I sniffled and tried not to start blubbering again. “But, shit, I’m sorry we’ve pulled the focus from your own engagement—”

“Don’t be,” Greid said quickly, casting Mom and Aunt Indi a fearful look. “Seriously. Don’t be sorry.”

“I did ask them beforehand,” Anita told me quietly, leaning into my side as she smiled up at me, “whether they would mind us getting engaged just a couple of months after them.”

“Okay.” I tugged her closer. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like… I’m just a little stunned. Were you seriously… How long have you been planning this?”

Anita gave a mysterious shrug. “A while.”

“Is this why you’ve been so stressed out?”

“Honey, she’s been planning the proposal and your firm’s event simultaneously.” Hustin reappeared and handed each of us a full flute of champagne. “Yes. She’s been stressed out.”

“Babe.” I hated the thought of Anita being so stressed. “You should’ve told me.”

“Might’ve ruined the surprise just a little.” Sorin nudged me with a grin, then accepted his own glass of champagne from the bartender who appeared with a tray.

As everyone else grabbed a glass to toast us, I leaned down to kiss Anita’s temple. “What about your family?”

She smiled up at me. “We’ll tell them tomorrow. My parents aren’t really party people anyway. Mum’s usually in bed reading by about eight. And Devi and Malcolm already know, so we’ll call them tomorrow to tell them how it went.”

I chuckled, kissing her again before straightening when I heard a throat being cleared and everyone else began to quieten down. Mom led the toasts, followed by Uncle Bax and Laki. Laki’s almost made me tear up again, but I held it together. I kept my arm wrapped around Anita throughout all of it, unwilling to let go of her for even a second.

When everyone started drinking their champagne and the focus was no longer solely on us, I dipped down to kiss the top of Anita’s head again. I couldn’t stop smiling.

“God, I hate classical music,” I heard Greid mutter to Beryl as he glanced over at the string quartet playing softly under the pergola.

I chuckled, then cracked up when he looked around again before furtively taking a napkin out of his suit jacket’s inner pocket and unfolding it to reveal a handful of tiny brownies from the party.

“Dude, did you take those from downstairs?”

He froze with one halfway to his mouth, looking guilty. “What? No, I—These are from… somewhere else. Home,” he blurted. “I brought them from home.”

“Sure.” I gave his shoulder an affectionate punch.

“Want one?” He held the napkin out to me.