Page 94 of Pregnant By the Playboy

“What about here?” I say.

Courtney gestures to a row of portable toilets nearby. “You can do better.”

“Right. Good point.”

We walk down the hill to Grenadier Pond and spend a few minutes looking at a swan. Evie cries when Mean Daddy Julian tells her that she cannot ride it. She is comforted when Awesome Uncle Vince flips his sunglasses up and down to make her laugh.

We arrive at a smaller collection of cherry trees to the east, and I decide it’s the right spot to bring Marissa tomorrow morning. We’ll have to wake up early. We should probably be here by seven thirty or eight so it won’t be too busy.

I don’t need to propose in front of a giant crowd.

Courtney spreads out a picnic blanket and takes some pictures of Evie. After we eat gingersnaps and fruit, Julian and Courtney lie back on the blanket and look at each other like lovesick fools—not that I’m in a position to judge—while I play with Evie. I sit her down beside me, and she immediately crawls away at breathtaking speed and attempts to stuff a stick in her mouth. I pull her back and hold onto her.

There’s a gust of wind, and petals fall from the trees like snow. Evie tries to slap them.

Next year, I’ll be able to do this with Marissa and our own child. We don’t know if it’s a girl or boy yet, but we’ll find out at the ultrasound next week, and I’ll be happy either way.

I glance over at Julian and wonder if we’ll have a second child. I like having siblings, but if Marissa doesn’t want to do this again, that’s okay.

Evie continues to play with petals and sticks, and Julian falls asleep, which he never would have done before. A nap! In the middle of the afternoon! My older brother supposedly stopped napping when he was six months old.

Courtney sits up. “This is a lovely spot, but are you sure it’s the right time to propose?”

“Yes,” I say sharply.

I understand why Marissa kicked me in the shin the first time I proposed to her, but now she’s much more than a two-night stand. Now, we truly know each other, and I love her.

I think she loves me, too, even if she hasn’t said so, and perhaps it’s foolish, but Brian’s feelings for me are reassuring. I don’t want him to hurt—I hate that part—but now I know that my deep, dark fear of being unlovable is unfounded. Even when I was a bit of a mess, somebody did love me, somebody who isn’t family and wouldn’t feel obligated to do so.

But I’m desperate for confirmation from Marissa and to have everything settled.

“You haven’t dated for very long,” Courtney says. “You think she’s ready?”

Marissa has to be ready, right?

By this time tomorrow, she’ll have my ring on her finger and we can start planning our future together. It’s what I need.

And it will be perfect.

Chapter 26

Marissa

“Hey, Marissa. It’s time to get up.”

“I’m sleeping,” I mutter.

“I have a surprise for you,” Vince says.

Hmm. A surprise. Could be nice.

But you know what’s really nice? Sleep. I pull the blankets up to my chin.

He sighs. “Humor me and get out of bed.”

“Fine, fine.”

When I stay motionless under the covers, he lifts me up and sets me on my feet.