Page 45

Roman

T he early morning sun creeps through the shades I had installed in my room. It’s just a crack of light getting through but it’s directly into my eyes.

I look over at Eva who is still sleeping soundly on her side. Then my eyes move to the little person between us. Addie is in her baby lounger in the middle of us.

She’s sleeping peacefully in her pink swaddle. I reach for her green pacifier that she spit out and move it down to her feet.

She’s on a good two hour stretch right now. That’s the most she’s given us since we brought her home from the hospital a month ago.

I had no idea how hard it was to survive off of little cat naps for weeks at a time. I even pushed brew on my coffee machine with no coffee cup underneath, coffee spilling all over the counter.

Despite all of that, it’s been the best month of my life.

Eva is a natural. Watching her become a mother has been nothing short of amazing. She doesn’t panic when she cries like I do, or I did in the first couple of weeks. She is calm and patient as she works to find out what Addie needs.

We’ve been in our own little bubble since Addie was born.

I put Penelope in charge for the next three months.

It was a rough go there between us for awhile.

I wanted to let her go because I didn’t like the idea of making Eva uncomfortable, even if nothing ever did happen with Penelope.

She was still my go-to “date” for my events.

But Eva, being the amazing person that she is, sat down with Penelope and worked everything out. Maybe there was some underlying feelings Penelope had for me, but they are definitely no longer there. If Eva feels safe with it, I am not going to fire a hardworking employee.

I thought taking three months off would feel like torture but it’s flying by.

There’s been one thing that has been bothering me since Addie has come along. I look over at Eva’s hand as it rests on her pillow. No ring.

I want to marry Eva. I want to call her my wife as well as the mother of my child.

I keep waiting for this perfect moment thinking I shouldn’t do it while she’s pregnant, she wouldn’t want that. Then I thought I can’t possibly do it while the baby is so young, we have enough on our plates.

But it finally dawned on me last night, it will be perfect no matter what because it’s us agreeing to spend the rest of or lives together. There’s nothing more perfect than that no matter where we are.

I roll onto my side as slowly as possible and reach for the knob on the top drawer of my nightstand. As quietly as possible, I open it up and pull out the blue velvet box.

Lying back down, I open the box. The ring is a two carat, oval cut diamond that sits on an 18k gold band. It took me hours to find the right diamond. I wanted something as breathtakingly beautiful as Eva.

Eventually, I realized that’s not possible. It is still a stunning ring though.

I turn over onto my other side and face my girls. Addie begins to fuss slightly as her shoulders and butt wiggle. Eva places her hand on Addie’s stomach which instantly soothes her. I wait to see if Eva is awake but she seems to have almost immediately fallen back asleep, if she ever really woke.

Her left hand remains on our daughter’s belly. I take this as my opportunity, pulling the ring out of the box. I place it around the edge of her ring finger and gently move it up until it’s mostly on, give or take a couple of centimeters.

She doesn’t budge at all which makes me smile. Poor thing is exhausted. I try to help, but I don’t have tits that produce milk. Even if we do a bottle so I can step in and do a feeding, Eva still has to get up to pump.

The diamond ring I slipped onto her finger catches a faint glint of light through the curtain. I can’t stop looking at it. The sight of it there, where it belongs, undoes something inside of me. It’s more than a promise. It’s a declaration. A quiet claim of who she belongs to.

My chest tightens, but not with nerves–this is something deeper. Gratitude. Awe. A love so deep it can sometimes feel overwhelming.

The ring, resting so naturally like it has always been meant to be there, makes everything real.

Our baby. This woman. This life we are sharing.

Looking at both of them sleeping peacefully, tousled hair and all, I know one thing for sure.

I will spend the rest of my life loving them with everything that I have.

Eva’s eyelids begin to flutter. When they open, I’m hit with my favorite color of green. A smile stretches across her face and my heart thunders against my chest. These are my favorite moments where her beauty shines through the most.

“Morning,” she whispers softly.

“Morning,” I reply.

She looks over at Addie who tries to wiggle. Eva rubs her hand soothingly over her belly.

A soft gasp slips past her lips. She pulls her hand away from Addie’s and holds it up in the air.

“Roman.” Her voice breaks, etched with emotion as her eyes take in the diamond that now rests on her ring finger.

I swallow back the nerves that have suddenly taken over. “I love you, Eva,” I start hoping I can get through this. “From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were different. Someone special. Someone that was far too good for me.”

Tears begin to fill her eyes. Addie starts to whimper again in her sleep.

We both look down at our sleeping daughter for a moment.

“I know we didn’t go about everything the traditional way, but I wouldn’t change our story for anything.

You were exactly what I needed. Before you, I thought the idea of love, one person for the rest of your life, was a joke.

I was an unhappy, cynical man. But you changed all of that the second our eyes met. ”

Her bottom lip trembles. She bites down on it in an effort to control herself.

“I didn’t think it was possible to fall so hard, so fast. What we have has defied all logic.

I don’t know if we were part of a bigger plan or if I’m just that damn lucky.

But I promise I will love you every second for the rest of my life.

I promise to love you through all the hard times that we face, knowing we can get through it if we face them together.

So,” I grab her hand, “Eva. Will you make me the luckiest man on the planet and marry me?”

She blinks once. Twice. And then the tears fall down—slowly at first. Her fingers tremble as if trying to hold in her emotion.

“Yes,” she whispers, her voice barely more than a breath. “Are you serious?”

I don’t waver. “More than I’ve ever been about anything.”

A choked laugh escaped her as she leans over Addie and cups my face.

She kisses me lips as she cries. “Yes,” she sobs. “Yes, yes, yes.”

I’m overcome with my own joy. The most beautiful, amazing woman just agreed to be mine forever. My own tears form in my eyes, a foreign feeling that catches me by surprise. But with her lips on mine, our baby girl in between us, I have everything I never knew I wanted.

She pulls back as Addie begins to whine a bit harder than before. We both look down at her as her eyes open.

“I don’t think she’s going back to sleep,” Eva says breathlessly.

“It’s okay. You feed her, I’ll go get us some coffee.”

Her eyes twinkle with a raw happiness that mirrors exactly how I’m feeling at the moment.

The entire time I make the coffee I find myself smiling like a fool. But the moment I walk back into the bedroom I stop in my tracks. Eva is talking to Addie as she nurses, Addie’s eyes hanging on every word her mama says.

I don’t even hear the words that she is speaking. It’s the scene before me that makes me forget how to move. My two girls enthralled with each other while Eva’s diamond ring rests on our daughters back, shining brightly for the world to see—proof that we’re going to be a family.

I get a sudden image of Eva walking into my office the day we met. It feels like forever ago. Life before her was dark, gray, meaningless. She walked into my life and showed me a full range of colors that life could bring.

I knew then and there she was my forever, and now it’s official. Some people wait a lifetime for a love like this. Me? I just had to wait for Eva.