Page 123 of What if It's Us

My hands go to my chest and I swear to God, my heart might actually come out of my body.

One girl. One boy.

My mouth forms the words,“No way.”

Someone behind me shouts, “This is better thanThe Bachelor!” and I laugh because of course she’s right.

Ledger pauses before the final puck. Spins in a slow circle, soaking in the moment like the showman he is. He gives a high-five to Lumin and the rest of the team skates out to stand behind him. He gives them each a fist bump and then, with a dramatic flourish, he takes the shot.

CRACK.

Pink.

The crowd explodes again. I’m laughing, crying, completely overwhelmed.

Two girls. One boy.

Our little trio.

Our family of rookies.

In his excitement, Ledger takes a victory lap around the ice, his arms up in the air with his stick in hand, a pink mist following behind him from the last crack of the puck. Then out of nowhere he lowers his stick a little too much and trips over it, face planting against the ice. For a moment, I’m worried he’s really hurt but then in pure Ledger Dayne dramatic fashion, he rolls over and pretends to make snow angels in the pink and blue dust.

Griffin skates over to help him up and then he points his stick toward me and bows. Hebowslike this is a figure skating competition. I blow him a kiss through watery eyes and then he skates over to me and wraps me up in the biggest hug my belly and his uniform will allow.

“I love you so fucking much, Marlee.”

“I can’t believe you did this!” I cry happy tears. “And you did it without me knowing?”

“Ella can keep a good secret but the entire downstairs hallway smells like cinnamon rolls right now.”

I throw my head back in laughter as the players file over to us, clapping Ledger on the back and giving me hugs.

“Bro,” Griffin yells, “you’re so screwed!”

“Two daughters?” Barrett shake his head and whistles. “Say goodbye to sleep and your bank account!”

“I’m starting a diaper fund for you, man,” August says, clapping him on the shoulder.

Ledger’s grinning, red-faced, and glowing with pride as he yells back, “I’m already practicing ponytails and braids, boys!”

He looks up at me one more time, lifts his hand to his chest, and says, “I love you.”

I wipe tears off my cheeks. “I love you too, you ridiculous, amazing human.”

And right there, in a freezing arena filled with beer, nachos, and way too many people, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the man I will spend the rest of my life with.

We’re barely outof the arena parking lot and I’m still clutching the gender reveal pucks Ledger had someone grab for me. One’s stained pink, the other blue, and the last looks like it got smacked with cotton candy.

Ledger glances at me as he turns onto the main road, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “You haven’t said anything in, like, five minutes. Are you mad I turned our unborn children into pyrotechnics in front of ten thousand people?”

I burst out laughing. “No, I’m not mad. I’m… still trying to process what happened. One minute I’m eating arena nachos, and the next, I find out I’m carrying two girls and a boy.Via exploding hockey pucks.”

He grins. “So…not mad?”

“No! Shocked is more like it. Emotionally short-circuiting. And possibly craving more nachos.”

He chuckles, one hand reaching across the console to squeeze my thigh. “I just wanted it to be special. For you. For us.”

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