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Gratefully, I looked at Hayley. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You keep track of everything."
"It's become much easier to keep track since you're not so scatterbrained anymore." Hayley grinned at me cheerfully. She loved as always to tease me a little. As she passed, she also tickled William a bit and he chuckled again. I bounced him up and down in my arms.
"That's true, I'm much more... organized," I said thoughtfully.
"Carter has been good for you in many ways," Hayley noted.
"You think it's because of him?" This assumption surprised me.
"Who else?" Hayley grinned at me. "Alright, I really have to go now." She squeezed past me and yanked the door open. "Oh," was all I heard before she disappeared and I heard the door close behind me.
"Well, now it's just us two cuties all alone." I smiled at William and planted a soft kiss on his little head. I still couldn't quite believe that I was a mother. William was a wonderful, easy-going baby. I took him with me toIsabella'severy day, where he felt right at home. The guests loved him just as much as he loved them.
"Almost. You're almost alone."
I spun around.
Carter was standing in front of me.
As always when I saw him, my heart skipped a beat.
"You startled me," I smiled.
"That wasn't my intention."
"What are you doing here? I thought you had an urgent appointment in town, with Don." I was quite sure that Carter had told me exactly that this morning at breakfast.
"I do have an urgent appointment. Just without Don." Carter grinned at me. How I loved that grin. "Good old Don is unfortunately unavailable. Ever since he met a lawyer on a dating website, he's usually quite busy." Carter grinned again. "He seems to be very happy."
"I'm glad to hear that," I replied, and I meant it sincerely. Carter's friend had visited us frequently over the past few months and had grown on me as well. "But what are you doing here then?" I asked Carter. "If Don is unavailable, shouldn't you be heading to your appointment even faster?"
"The appointment is atIsabella's." Carter looked deep into my eyes. I still didn't understand. Carter cleared his throat. Then he brought his right hand, which had been hidden behind his back, forward. In it, he held a large bouquet of purple roses.
He looked at me and got down on one knee.
"Isabella Abbott, you've changed my life. You burst in with a bang and almost destroyed my car in the process." Here Carter grinned a little. Then he continued: "You make me laugh and dream, you've given me a wonderful son, and you've stolen my heart. Will you marry me?"
At that moment, Carter pulled out a ring from the bouquet of roses. A ring with a green stone. It matched perfectly with the stone in the necklace that Joanna had once given me and that I wore every day.
Breathlessly, I stared at the ring. Then I looked into the eyes of the man who meant everything to me. He gazed at me expectantly.
"Daaaaa," William crowed in my arms and happily bubbled away.
"Of course," I managed to say, unsuccessfully trying to wipe away the tear that was just running down my cheek. "Of course I want to marry you."
Carter stood up and took me in his arms. He gently kissed away the tear on my cheek. I breathed in his scent while holding William. My two men. The two people I loved more than anything in the world were as close to me as I could ever wish for.
***
Carter
"Well, where's my favorite great-grandson?" Grandma Ruth leaned on her silver cane and peered curiously at William.
"Daaaaa..." he crowed and blew a bubble into the air. Isabella was holding him in her arms and gently rocking him back and forth. That was William's favorite movement.
"He's still a bit tired from eating," Isabella explained.
"Yes, we all know that," my grandmother chuckled. "Come on in, the coffee table is set, and the cake is waiting for you."