Page 57 of Hot Summer Nights

“I love you too. So much.”

I pull away from her long enough to slide the ring on her finger. She admires the way it shines in the light for a minute before she stands on her tiptoes to kiss me again. That’s when my second surprise starts.

Bursts of color begin to shoot off and explode in the sky right in front of us. I turn to watch Ember’s face and I’m not disappointed. Her eyes are so wide as she stares up at the fireworks. We stand in silence for several minutes as the display I arranged wraps up. Ember turns to me with the biggest smile on her face.

“Did you set that up?” She asks, wrapping her arms around my waist and cuddling into me.

“Anything for you, Em.”

“Perfect proposal.” She sighs as she leans her head on my shoulder.

“You deserve everything Ember, you should have fireworks every day.”

“I don’t know. I think they’d lose their magic if I had them every day. They should just be for special occasions.”

“As you wish, Ember.”

I take her hand and lead her back down to the waiting car. I open the back door and help her slide in before I follow after her. She wastes no time cuddling up to me. I pull her closer as she rests her head on my shoulder and the car begins to take us home.

“You know I kind of see fireworks every time you’re inside of me.” She whispers in my ear.

“And can you have those fireworks every day? Or will they lose their magic too.”

“Why don’t we test it out and I’ll let you know.”

God, I’m one lucky man. My lips find hers as we head home to do just that.

FOURTEEN

Ember

Five Years Later…

I tuckmy twin boys in for the night, giving each about a dozen goodnight kisses before they finally agree to settle down for the night and go to bed. I smile at their mess of hair, which is the only thing visible from under their covers. The door closes with a quiet click behind me as I head down the hallway to find my husband.

Weston and I got married a couple of days after he proposed. We found out I was pregnant and expecting twins a week after that. I thought that maybe Weston would be mad, or think that we rushed into things too fast but he just laughed. He said he’d been moving fast since the day he came into my sleepy little town and he didn’t see why this should be any different.

The pregnancy was rough and I had to be put on bed rest towards the end of my third trimester. Both boys were born healthy but we still decided that taking care of two would be enough for a while. Trust me, those little boys know how to keep us busy.

Weston has pulled back at work a lot. He only works an hour or two a day now and all of that is from home. Occasionally, he has to go into the office for a meeting or whatever but that doesn’t happen very often. He helps me with the kids and the house and all of the errands and playdates. He’s given me the family that I always wanted but never dreamed I would get. My life couldn’t get more perfect.

The twins turn five in a couple of months and I’ve seen the way that Weston has been staring at all of our friend’s babies. He wants another one and I know that he would love to have a girl. He says he wants one that looks just like me. I’ve been thinking I’m ready for another too and I was going to tell my husband that tonight. Then, hopefully, we can get started trying. Now, if only I could find him.

I search our bedroom and the living room and kitchen before I double back and look in his office and the guest rooms. Still no sign of him. I frown as I retrace my steps, thinking he must have been in a closet or one of the bathrooms when I notice the balcony doors are open. I head in their direction and when I get closer, I can see him leaning against the railing.

“Hey, there you are.” I say as I come up behind him.

He turns to me with a smile before he pulls me into his arms and in front of him. I put my hands on the railing as I lean back into his chest. We stare out at the New York skyline together in silence for a few minutes.

“Did the kids go down alright?” He asks.

“Yeah. Did you get the bathroom cleaned up?”

We both laugh at that. Normally, Weston would help me put the kids down but they made such a mess in the bath tonight, so Weston stayed in there and mopped up all of the water while I got the kids in their pajamas and read them a story.

“What are you doing out here?” I ask as I turn in his arms to look up at him.

“Just wondering how I got so lucky.”

---