Page 96 of Stirred

“Seriously?” His whole face had lit up.

Scott frowned. “Well, there’s no title for second cousin, is there? And she isn’t just going to call you Jake.” There was no chance of that. He wanted his baby to have a family around her; relations with whom she knew her place and her standing. If it was a girl. He was sure it was. Keren was still refusing to say what she thought it was. Not that it mattered. It would be loved. Massively. And even though it was a baby that had come out of the blue, it couldn’t be any more loved already.

“Uncle Jake. I like the sound of that.”

I like the sound of ‘Daddy’ more.He could’ve said that, but Jake was hurting. That was clear and he was past wanting Jake to hurt. “I know you’ll be good for him or her.”

Jake nodded. “So we’re moving on?”

Scott slapped him on the back, or tried to, given that they were in a cramped vehicle. “We already had. So go do what you need to do and just get your arse here tomorrow once you’re done with jobs and let’s get this den up.”

“So it is a den? A man-cave?” Jake’s eyes narrowed, his smile wide.

“Fuck off. I’m going in to see my woman.” Scott opened the door and saw Jake smile genuinely for the first time in ages. His heart felt a bit lighter. A bit more at ease.

The driveway was lined with lawn, late blooming flowers sprawling from beds onto the path. Keren hadn’t even put her head out as they’d dropped off the panels for the summerhouse, which he did find a little suspicious. He’d even phoned her to check she was okay – apparently she was reading a book, which was fine by him. Anything she did was fine by him, as long as she was happy and relaxed.

He put the key in the lock, still a novelty that he was coming home to a place that wasn’t above the bar, and one that he and Keren shared. Because she hadn’t wanted him to move in gradually, or see how things went, she’d decided that they were a package now: the good thing to come out of what occurred on Bleak Low.

“Hey, baby!” His voice boomed down the hallway.

“In here!” Her response came from the kitchen.

He walked though, happy to see her and the bump that was now rather large, although he avoided saying that in front of her, however proud of it he was. “I need to tell you something…”

He stopped, frozen, the kitchen door wide open and exposing him to a scene he’d never have predicted. Keren stood there, flour on her hands and clothes, a cake on a plate in her hands.

“I wasn’t quite ready.” Her words were quiet, her expression that of someone who had been caught unawares.

“What were you trying to be ready to do.” His breaths were short. He had glanced at what was written on the cake in scrawled writing, but he didn’t dare check that what he’d seen was true, just in case it wasn’t.

“Propose.” Her answer was straight, totally her. The answer he’d hoped for. “I want us to get married.”

Scott tipped his head back and laughed, loud and long.

“Keren Leigh, did you just ask me to marry you?” He steadied himself, deciding this was not the time to fall over.

She dropped to one knee, putting the cake with its haphazard writing to one side. “Scott Maynard, will you marryus? Maybe not for a few months, or a year, or till whenever I decide I feel like I’m ready to wear a wedding dress and look how I want to feel, but are we doing this, and being a married old couple living in Sunlight one day and still dancing together? With alpacas and grandchildren watching us?”

He took her in his arms, their bump in between them.

“Keren Leigh: the girl I grew up with and fell in love with so hard I couldn’t ever get over her, of course I’ll dance with you.” He felt her softly nuzzle his chest. His whole world set perfectly as it should be, everything in order.

“But will you marry me?”

He pulled away to look at her. “Seriously? Of course I’ll marry you. As long as you agree to marry me when I propose.”

Her laugh was playful, teasing. “But I asked first. So I won.”

“You did. And you always will. Come first…” His hands dropped and he heard her giggle.

“Like now?”

“Like always.”

And he meant it. Keren. The baby. Their babies. Always first.

Forever.

The End.