Page 61 of Ride or Die
"It's good to have you back, brother," Shade says to me. "Sammi, the nurse who called me, gave me this. Said it was in your pocket when you came into the hospital."
He hands me a small black velvet box. Cali's ring.
"Thank fuck. I thought it might have gotten lost," I say. My thoughts quickly move from one thing to the next. "Is the cartel still a threat?"
"Yes and no. We'll talk about that later. Just focus on getting out of here for now."
"Will you keep everyone out of here for a few minutes?" I whisper as the bathroom door opens again.
"You got it. We'll go get y'all some good food." Shade winks and walks out of the room. Cali climbs back on the bed with me.
"How are you," I ask her. She glances up at me and smiles.
"Much better now that you're awake," she says. I put a hand on her stomach.
"This is kind of out there, but are you pregnant?"
"What? I . . . " She pauses. "I don't think so. Why?"
"When I was asleep, in a coma, whatever, I had a dream you were," I explain. She doesn't answer right away. After a couple of minutes, she gasps.
"Now that I think about it, I did miss a period," she tells me. "There's been so much going on and I've been so stressed out. I never even stopped to consider it."
"So, you could be?" I grin.
"I guess it's possible," she whispers.
"Now could be a good time to give you this." I set the little box on her lap. She stares at it for a second before she picks it up. Her hands shaking as she opens it and gasps. Her eyes move from the ring to me, tears in her eyes and the biggest smile stretching across her face.
"Are you . . . " she says but I cut her off.
"Calina Orlov, will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, a million times yes!" she responds.
* * *
A week later,I'm being released from the hospital. I've recovered a lot better and quicker than they expected. I'm thankful to get the fuck out and go home. Minx brought Cali's car to us so we wouldn't have to have anyone take us home. Rascal and Raze, with Minx on the back, follow us back to the clubhouse. We pull in through the gate. As soon as we're both out of the car, I pull Cali to me, tip her chin up and kiss her.
"What was that for," she asks.
“Because I love you," I tell her. "And I'm so happy I get to keep you for the rest of our lives."
"I love you too," she giggles. "Now, let's go see everyone."
"Congratulations," everyone in the clubhouse shouts as we walk in. Cali and I stand there in shock. There's a huge sign on the wall that says 'Congrats on your engagement' and balloons everywhere. Minx and Rivet are both smiling so big their faces might split open. They're the first ones to run up to us, each one handing us a flute of champagne.
"Wow! This is amazing. Thank you," Cali says with tears in her eyes. She gives me a look like she's asking if we should spill our other news. So I do.
"Well, since we're already celebrating. We might as well tell you our other news." I pause, grabbing Cali's hand. "Cali's pregnant!"
Minx, Rivet, Emma, and Wren simultaneously sequel and wrap Cali in a group hug.
"How far along are you and why the hell didn't you tell me sooner!" Emma asks her.
"We honestly just found out last night at the hospital," Cali tells her. "We were going to tell everyone today anyway."
Minx moves over to me and gives me a hug.
