“Do you still love me?” I whisper and push her back so I can look in her eyes.
“So much,” she replies. “I’ve missed you.”
I cup her face gently and kiss her softly, barely grazing my lips over hers, then nibbling the side of her mouth, the way I do that always makes her grin. I kiss her cheek and pull my nose down her jaw, taking in a deep breath of her fresh scent.
“God, I missed you too, sugar,” I growl. “Last night was the last night we’ll ever spend apart. Understand?”
“Moving in with me?” she asks sassily and brushes happy tears off her cheeks.
“No, you’re moving in with me. You have a kitchen remodel to oversee, and my kid misses you.”
“He likes me.” She shrugs and grins. “What else?”
“What else?” I pretend that I don’t know what she’s talking about.
“Yes. What else?”
“Well . . .” I tilt my head from side to side, as though I’m thinking about her question very seriously. “We can live in sin for the next sixty years.”
She smacks my arm and laughs. “I’m not talking about marriage.”
“I am.”
She sobers and blinks, surprised.
“My life has been so much better since the day I found you,” I begin and swallow hard as I think of the words I want to say. “I’ve met many people in my life. I’ve watched some of them die. Lost touch with others. There are few people in my life that I feel permanently connected to, who fit into the puzzle that is my life. My son. My parents. Josh, Ty, and Cara.
“Now these two new babies.” I rub her belly gently and smile up into her eyes. “And you. I want the parts of you that you refuse to give anyone else, Jill. I can’t imagine anything better in this life than sharing it with you. Choosing you, every day.”
I brush a tear off her cheek with my fingertip, then cradle her face in my hand, rubbing my thumb over the apple of her cheek.
“You’re mine. You belong on the ranch with Seth and me, and I’m never letting you go ever again. I’ll screw up.” I cringe and shake my head. “I will make mistakes, but you have to know that of every person that drifts in and out of your life, no one will ever love you the way I do.”
“Did you just ask me to marry you?” she whispers.
“If the answer is yes, then yes, I did.”
She smiles and pulls her fingertips down my cheek.
“My answer is yes. As long as we can do it before I’m too big to fit into a dress.”
“I’ll marry you tomorrow, my love.”
Epilogue
— OCTOBER —
JILLIAN
“Are you ready for visitors?” Hannah asks as she finishes checking me and assuring me that I am good to go. “You have quite a lineup out there.”
“You can send them in,” I reply with a smile. “They’re all family.”
“Big family,” she replies and smiles at Zack. “Congratulations again. They’re beautiful.”
“Can I hold one, please?” I ask and hold my arms out. My handsome husband is holding both of our newborn babies, one in the crook of each arm. “Wait, I need a picture of that.”
I grab my phone and snap the photo.
“Can I come in?” Seth asks from the doorway.
“Good timing, buddy. Come stand by your dad so I can take your picture.”
“She’s going to take pictures all the time, isn’t she?” he asks Zack as he joins him at my bedside.
“Yes, I am,” I reply and feel my heart expand at the picture before me. Two handsome guys grin at me over the heads of our babies. After I snap the photo, Seth gently takes our daughter from his dad’s arms, already a pro, and sits in the rocking chair in the corner, gazing down at her with awe.
“I guess that leaves me with my little guy,” I say and sigh with happiness as Zack lays our son in my arms. Zack kisses my forehead and gently pulls the tip of his finger down our son’s cheek. “They’re so small,” I whisper.
“They’ll grow.”
“Where are my grandbabies?” Nancy demands as she stalks into the room with a wide smile and tears in her eyes. “Oh, look how precious they are. Hello, sweet girl.” She kisses both of my cheeks and then my son’s head and looks at me with a hopeful smile.
“Here, you take him,” I offer. Nancy cradles him close and then walks over to sit next to Seth, cooing over both babies.
“They’re gorgeous, just like their mama,” Jeff says with a wink.
“Is this where the party is?” Josh asks from the doorway and saunters in with Cara, Ty, and Lo in tow.
Ty is carrying his daughter, Layla, in his arms.
“Hey, princess.” He kisses my cheek and smiles warmly. “You good?”
“I’m sleepy and happy and sore. And very, very good.”
“They are precious!” Cara exclaims, leaning over the babies before she rushes to me for hugs. Zack is pulled around the room in a flurry of hugs and claps on the back.
“Can I at least hold my niece?” I ask and hold my hands out for the sweet, tiny baby girl. Ty gives her to me, and I grin at the sweet pink flower pinned to her jet-black hair. I can’t wait to dress my daughter up.
“What have you named them?” Lo asks and settles into my brother’s side.
“Well, Mama King is holding Miles Jeffrey King,” I reply with a wide smile at Jeff, who immediately tears up and hugs Zack close.