Page 45 of Misery In Me

“El corazón quiere lo que quiere, y te quiere a ti.I knew I was falling in love with you when you came home from deployment and caressed my face, looking into my eyes like I was the only thing you wanted to see. I knew when I took care of you that it was always going to be you. Whatever this life is, I know I want to do it by your side.” She turns her head and kisses me so softly, her hand reaching up to caress the back of my neck as she deepens the kiss.

Holy fucking shit.

This is happening.

I pull back and stare at her, still in shock that she actually said yes. “Are we—did we just get engaged?”

She laughs, leaning in back to kiss me again. “Pretty sure we did. All while you’re still inside me. Not really a story we can tell the kids.”

“We’ll make some shit up, it’ll be fine.” I wrap my arm around her stomach and pull her tighter to me, kissing her like she’s mine.

Because she is mine.

All fucking mine.

EIGHTEEN

ALEJANDRA

We pull up to the medical treatment facility on base and Gage puts the truck in park. Turning to face me, his hand caresses my cheek. “You guys can wait here if you don’t want to go in with me. I don’t know how long this is going to take.” He looks into the backseat at Zoe in the little mirror that shows that she’s asleep. “It might be a while.”

I sit there silent for a moment. I know that if we go in with him, people are definitely going to make assumptions about us. I bring my eyes up to his and any negative thought I had disappears. He looks at me with such tenderness that I don’t care how crazy this may seem to others. I’m proud to be with him, to be his fiancée. “We’ll go in with you. I’m not ashamed, Gage.”

“I’m not ashamed either, I just didn’t know if you wanted to wait in there for who knows how long.” He leans in and his lips brush mine in the softest kiss. “Afterwards, I’m going to go see my master sergeant. If I’m cleared to return to duty, I’m going to have to get up to speed on what’s going on.” Kissing me again. “Then I’m taking you straight to the courthouse to make you my wife. We can have a big wedding once things calm down.”

Once things calm down.

That’s one thing I haven’t really considered in all of this.

War.

My heart drops into my stomach and my face must give away the sadness that thought brings me because his eyes soften even more. “Ale?”

“I’m fine.” Blinking to keep the tears back and averting my gaze when one sneaks out. “I just never really considered... the war. And what it would mean… if…” I take a breath and let it out. “If we’re married. What is it going to mean for us?”

“Come on.” Gage takes the keys out of the ignition and opens his door. “We can talk about it more while we wait.”

We get Zoe out without waking her and head inside the building. I take her from him and find a seat in the waiting area while he checks in, and when he’s finished, he comes to sit with us. "Look, I know it’s probably freaking you out, and I would understand one hundred percent if it is. But I don’t want fear to stop us from being happy,Hermosa. We’ll figure it all out. Getting married is going to make things easier for you while I’m gone. You’ll have health insurance, access to the base without me being here, and other shit that I know I’m not thinking about.”

I give him a half-hearted smile, the overwhelming feeling making my stomach twist in knots. “What about work, Gage? I’m going to need to work so I can help my family.”

“My money will be your money, Ale. Your job is to raiseourdaughter,” and he leans over and whispers in my ear. “And hopefully grow our beautiful baby in that belly of yours.”

My face flushes and I bite my bottom lip and look up at him. “So you want me to be at home, barefoot and pregnant with our kids?”

“God, yes. For the foreseeable future, if I have it my way.” He playfully winks at me, and I know there isn’t a bone inside me that wants to argue with him.

Ay Dios Mio, We’re going to need a bigger house, I know it.

“Donovan,” A corpsman with a clipboard calls into the waiting room.

“Be right back,” he places a kiss on my head and walks toward them.

I watch him walk away, the calm confidence in his stride never failing to make my heart flutter. I glance down at Zoe, her little hand resting peacefully over her tiny belly, her eyelashes fanning out like delicate feathers against her soft, chubby cheeks. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Her warmth radiates from her little body, and as I softly rock her car seat back and forth, I try to push away the anxious thoughts creeping into my mind.

Gage has already given me so much—his love, his loyalty, his daughter—and now he’s offering me a life with him, one that’s built on a foundation of trust, respect, and tenderness. But I can’t shake the sense of unease that lingers in the pit of my stomach. It’s the war, I know. It’s the thought of him being sent back to the front lines and what that would mean for us, for me, for Zoe.

I breathe deeply, trying to clear the tension. I’ve known Gage for such a short time, and I admire his strength. But as we step into this new chapter of our lives, it’s becoming painfully clear that his job doesn’t allow for the luxury of normal. For all the love between us, there will always be the threat of separation, of uncertainty.

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