Page 50 of Doctor’s Surprise Twins

“Yeah, well what’s to say? Maybe God really does work in mysterious ways.” He shrugged and took my hand. We chatted a bit more about Peter and how his therapy was helping. When he pulled his truck into the parking lot of the restaurant, my jaw dropped.

“La Rosarita?” Only the fanciest Italian place in a hundred miles. “This place costs a fortune.”

“I know.” Derek waggled his eyebrows and slid out of the truck, rounding the corner to open the door for me. He held out his hand. “Shall we?”

I grinned at him. “We shall!”

The hostess didn’t make us wait at all. She led us straight to a table close to the back. Each table had a long red velvet curtain that could be drawn around it for privacy. The ones near the back wall also had a circular booth that wrapped around the table, providing more intimacy. Derek let me slide in and took my coat. Tiny hooks between the booths served as a means to store coats during colder months.

The black leather contrasted with golden place settings and white tablecloths. This place was so ritzy I felt spoiled. Derek had really gone all out to set this up.

“Thank you for doing this.” I gestured at the fancy table setting.

“Well, the wait staff probably did this.” He laughed. “But you’re welcome. You deserve to eat in luxury every day.” He unrolled his silverware from the black cloth napkin and snapped the cloth, then draped it over his lap.

“I love Italian. You knew that, right?” I picked up the glass of water and sipped it.

“How could I forget spaghetti night? I know my girl.”

I laughed at the nostalgic feeling I got when he brought up our family tradition. Mom started it when I was just a young girl, but Dad kept it going as a means to keep normalcy after her death. Derek was invited on Tuesday nights every week to enjoy spaghetti and garlic bread. Sometimes, we had meatballs, sometimes meat sauce. Every time, we had gelato.

“This is really nice, Derek. Thank you.”

The waiter took our order and brought us a bottle of champagne, and we settled in for dinner. It was just as delicious as I expected it to be, and the gelato—homemade, just like Mom’s—was to die for. I didn’t want the evening to end, even when I had to sneak away to the restroom to replace the nursing pads in my bra after my milk let down. My heart felt whole.

When I headed back to the table, Derek looked nervous. He let me sit down but took my hand, not letting me scoot around the curve of the circular booth. His hand shook. His palm felt a little sweaty on my arm.

“What are you doing?” I peered up at him, gawking at how awkward he must look to other patrons still eating. He hadn’t even bothered to pull the curtain around our booth.

“This,” he said, dropping to one knee. “Magnolia, I need to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder for you when we were kids. I’m sorry I didn’t tell your brother how incredible you were and demand that he allow us to be together. We wasted so much time when all along, we knew we belonged together.

“I don’t want to waste any more time. Your strength carried me out of one of the darkest holes I’ve ever fallen into. When I had that car accident in college and realized that life was so short, I got cleaned up and went back to college, only to come home and find my mom was so sick she would die without help. I begged Dad to do something, Mom to take medicine. Nothing worked.

“When she slipped away, I thought I lost everything. And then you came into my life and I found it again. I found hope and joy. I found my passion for helping women again. I have reconciled with my father and Peter... Maggie, your kind heart, your patience, your love—they are what helped me.

“Now, I want to love you the rest of my life. I want that strength and joy right by my side, always. I want you as my best friend, my partner, my lover, and the mother of my children, however many more we have.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, a small, dainty thing—white gold with a small setting. I loved it. My eyes welled up.

“Maggie, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

I couldn’t respond to him. I covered my nose and mouth and let the tears fall. They weren’t hormonal tears or sad tears. I just couldn’t express how much this moment meant to me. I nodded through the emotion, and Derek took my hand, practically prying it away from my face to slide the ring on my finger. It was a tad on the large size, but I’d get it sized down. I looked at it for a moment, but the ring didn’t hold my interest.

I draped myself around him, crying into his shoulder. “I love you.” I squeezed him so hard he had to have had trouble breathing. And then I began to hear applause. I opened my eyes and sat up, watching a few tables around us that had not drawn their curtains. The people clapped and smiled.

Then an older woman, seated next to a charming older man, began tapping her fork on her stemware. The next thing we knew, the entire restaurant joined the call, tapping metal against glass in a charge for us to kiss. Derek planted his lips on mine. This was all I wanted the rest of my life, to love this man and be loved by him.

The rest was history.

EXTENDED EPILOGUE

Gypsy

Chasing two one-year-olds was not my idea of fun, but my best friend Maggie was marrying her high-school sweetheart and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I had Jenson and Isla’s double stroller there, both of them strapped into it and enjoying their bottles. They were finally old enough to hold the things up themselves, which made my job a bit easier until they wanted to start walking around.

“See you finally got them in one place.” Tony snickered and sat down beside me. Maggie’s father was a kind old man. He’d been helping me for hours with the little tykes who gave even Maggie a run for her money.

“Yes, well let’s hope they drift off to sleep now.” I sipped my soda. Playing babysitter meant no drinking for me. It was still early in the day. The ceremony would start soon, and if they kids napped, I would get to enjoy it all. Barb had offered to hold Jenson if both were fussy at once, which was a huge help. I’d already changed their outfits twice. Maggie planned matching clothes so they’d be extra cute. Luckily enough, they had three different outfits for each, all identical and coordinating in case they soiled themselves.

“Looks like the photographer is calling me back for some pictures. I think we have about fifteen minutes to show time.” Tony stood and patted my shoulder. “I’ll come sit by you once I hand her off.”

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