Page 63 of Royally Knocked Up

“I know. Our anniversary.”

“Something more.” He cleared his throat and stepped away from her, and Hailey realized to her surprise that he looked a little nervous.

“Are you all right?” she asked him.

“I’m all right,” he said.

“You look unwell.”

“No. I’m fine. I’m good. Let me say what I need to say.”

She nodded and stood back to let him get the words out.

He took a deep breath. “Hailey, the thing is… it took me a while to really understand what I wanted our life to look like,” he said. “I think that’s because neither one of us planned for this. Neither one of us saw it coming. And everyone else in my life, when they’ve found themselves in this position, they’ve done a lot of planning to get there. There’s always been a goal, always an intention. It wasn’t like that for you and me. We didn’t mean this to happen. But it was bigger than we were. We got caught up in it, like a wave. You were a wave — my love for you was a wave — and I got rolled by it.”

She ached to reach out to him. Where was he going with this? She only knew that he seemed to feel uncomfortable.

Then he looked up at her, and she saw that his eyes were shining.

“Hailey,” he said softly. “It took me a long time. Longer than it should have, I think. But I know what I want now. I know what I want for us. I want you to be my wife.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Hailey knew what would be inside before he opened it and revealed the ring, but she still let out a gasp.

He dropped to one knee. “Hailey Jones — will you marry me?”

“Of course.” The words spilled out effortlessly. She hadn’t seen this coming, but it didn’t require so much as a moment’s thought. “Enzo, of course.”

He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. The weight of it was unfamiliar, and yet it felt as though it belonged — as if it was a part of her hand that had always been missing.

He rose to his feet and pulled her close.

“You knew I’d say yes,” she murmured.

“I hoped,” he said softly.

“I could never have said anything else.”

She kissed him, and it felt as if the two of them were the only people under the massive starry sky.

The End