Page 28

EPILOGUE

PUT A RING ON IT

ELI

SIX MONTHS LATER

Walking through the door, I close my eyes for a moment, stopping in the foyer. The scent of lasagna hits my senses. I love these days, the ones where Wrenly has the day off, and she spends it doing homemaker things around the house.

Sure, I enjoy the fact that she works and does her own thing, too. But I wouldn’t be mad if she wanted to be a stay-at-home mother and wife. In fact, I would be more than happy to facilitate that for her if it’s what she wanted—not only for selfish reasons like lasagna.

Kicking off my shoes, I close the front door behind me, locking it before I continue to move into the living room. That’s when I see Ryan sitting on the floor, a pile of Lego blocks in front of him.

He lifts his head, his toothy grin meeting mine. “Dad,” he calls out. He's only six months older, not even two years old, and he’s grown so much since I first met him. I’m glad I haven’t missed even a minute of it.

Crouching down, I open my arms. He stands and runs toward me, his whole body slamming into mine. Wrapping my arms around him, I pick him up off the ground, spinning him in a single circle. He squeals with his delight as his face lights up, his smile consuming all of him.

He’s the happiest kid I’ve ever seen, not that I’ve seen a lot of kids in my life, aside from Luke and Clara’s daughter Sloane. But still, I know that he’s special and likely a genius, mainly because he’s Wrenly’s. All the good he got is definitely from her.

I hitch Ryan up against my chest, and he wraps his little arms around my neck as I turn and head toward the kitchen. Ryan presses his wet lips on my cheek before he lays his head against my shoulder.

I’m sure he’s tired. No doubt, having given his mother a run for her money all day long. Standing at the doorway, I don’t make a sound, watching my woman move around the kitchen.

She works around the room. I don’t know what she’s doing, mainly because I can’t focus on anything but her—anywhere but her. She turns her head and looks over her shoulder at me, her eyes finding mine, and a smile appears on her face before she spins around to face me.

“My boys,” she cries.

I can tell that something is wrong. Her tone, her voice, she’s shaky. “Sunshine?” I ask, taking a tentative step toward her.

Her eyes widen, and she lets out a puff of air. She doesn’t say anything, though, at least not immediately. “You need to tell me what’s going on,” I softly demand.

“Well, you see…” she begins. “Remember that time a few weeks ago when I was getting over being sick?”

“I do…” My words trail off because she was really sick with pneumonia for a few weeks. Thankfully, she was able to get over it relatively quickly with antibiotics and rest. But it scared the shit out of me. Hell, I still jump any time she coughs.

“Well, see, I wasn’t thinking. The doctor told me and everything, but I was so sick I wasn’t really listening.”

“Wrenly,” I warn.

My heart races as I begin to sweat. What the fuck is she trying to tell me here? And why isn’t she just telling me whatever it is? At this point, I need to know just so I can stop feeling sick about it and deal with whatever it is that’s coming my way.

She rocks from foot to foot as she continues to stare at me, still not saying a damn thing. Ryan, thankfully, doesn’t wriggle around too much, his head resting on my shoulder, no doubt hearing and feeling my heart slam against my chest.

Then Wrenly clears her throat, and she inhales a deep breath before she holds it for a moment and lets it out with a whoosh.

“I’m pregnant.”

My whole world freezes. It pauses at this moment. Even the air around me becomes thick and stagnant. I stare at her, my throat completely closed, my heart pausing its beating in my chest.

If I thought my world changed the moment Wrenly and Ryan appeared in my life. It doesn’t hold a candle to this.

And it doesn’t hold a candle to this because instead of feeling panic, I’m freaking the fuck out with pure unadulterated joy.

WRENLY

Eli stares at me in silence for what feels like an eternity. Then I watch as he bends slightly, placing Ryan on his feet. But before he straightens, he drops to his knee. My eyes widen, and I lift my hands, my palms facing toward him as I begin to tell him no.

This is not what I wanted. This is not what I expected. But as he continues to move, I watch as he shoves his hand in his pocket and pulls out a box, and that’s when I drop my hands. I don’t know what to do, what to say. I stand stock-still and stare at him, my lips parted in awe.

“I don’t know how it happened this way. I actually had a whole thing planned, and I picked this up today from being sized on my way home from practice.”

My eyes fill with tears, and as much as I try to blink them away, it doesn’t work, and they end up falling down my cheeks. Thankfully, I’m not wearing any makeup today since it’s my day off. I spent it cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking, along with going to the park and playing with Ryan. So there are no mascara streaks dripping down my face.

“Eli?” I whisper.

It’s the only thing I can say. I don’t know what to do right now. I’m frozen, my muscles completely seized as I stare at him in awe and wonder. Then he opens the box, and my whole body jerks as if someone has pushed my back from behind.

“What the—?” I ask in a whisper.

Nestled in the little turquoise velvety box is the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen in my life. A marquise solitaire on a plain rose gold band. It’s stunning. No, it’s beyond stunning. It’s perfection. And as tears well in my eyes, I can’t help but wonder how this is happening.

We’ve only been living together for five months. I moved after the team won the Cup. It was such an exciting time. There was a break in the schedule during which Eli came to Texas, and we packed up everything and drove it to Ohio.

Then, as if we weren’t crazy enough, we packed our bags and jumped on a plane to North Dakota. That’s where I met Eli’s parents and his sister. Our relationship has been short, a whirlwind, to say the least, but I didn’t expect a ring anytime soon, maybe not even ever. I don’t know what I expected or when, but this seems to be fate, happenstance, whatever you want to call it.

“This isn’t too soon?” I ask.

Eli chuckles as his eyes search my wet ones. “Sunshine,” he says, “nothing about our lives has been on any kind of normal timeline. Nothing is too soon when it comes to us.”

He’s right. Nothing is too soon or too late when it comes to our lives. I just can’t help but think that we’re rushing into this. But then I hear Ryan clap and giggle from the living room, and I realize that we’re a family. Even if it’s at warp speed, it doesn’t change that.

“Yes, Eli. Of course, I’ll marry you. I love you so much.”

So damn much.

I truly do.

I walked into his life with no idea about what was going to happen, and he didn’t just accept the fact that he was Ryan’s father—he embraced it. He didn’t make me feel like shit for running scared.

He’s never held anything over my head, even though he missed so much when it came to Ryan. He’s been patient and kind and, above all else, understanding and loving.

Everything about this man is loveable. Even the parts of him that are annoying, and I know that everyone can be annoying, but even those parts aren’t deal-breakers. I’ll take the dirty, smelly hockey bag and stinky gym clothes every single day as long as it means we’re together.

The moment he slips the ring onto my finger, my breath hitches. There’s a weight to it, but it’s a welcome weight. It’s stunning, but I wouldn’t care if it were a simple band as long as he was the one putting it on my finger.

Eli stands, and before he can reach out for me, I wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his neck as I burst out into sobs. Happy sobs, but a sobbing mess just the same. His hand slides up my back, tangling in my hair before he gently tugs my head away from his neck so he can look into my eyes.

“I love you, Wrenly. I love us.”

When I feel his warm palm against my belly, I suck in a breath. His smile widens, and he lets out a chuckle. “This is the best day of my life.”

I hope he always feels that way because standing here in the kitchen, food cooking, our son happily playing, me in his arms—it’s the best day of my life, too. In fact, every single day I’ve been here with him has been the best day of my life. And it all just keeps getting better.

Every hour.

Every minute.

Every second.

The best day ever.