Finding Our Forever: (A Defining Moments Novel) (33 page)

We spend the day at the lake, laughing and lounging. I read for a bit while we’re sitting on the beach, and when the air starts to get a bit chilly, we decide to head back to town to eat dinner.

“Why don’t you just come to my place and I’ll make dinner,” I request. When Eli smirks and gives me that questioning look, I flip him off, which makes him laugh.

“Hey, I can cook. You just distracted me last time, so it was your fault our dinner got burnt,” I rant.

“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we stop by the store, get what you need, and then we’ll make dinner together,” Eli replies with humor in his voice.

“Whatever,” I retort, smiling and shaking my head.

After a quick trip to the store to grab steaks and fresh veggies, we’re heading back to my house when Eli’s phone rings.

He looks at the screen and furrows his brows.

“Hello,” he answers sternly.

I can hear a female’s voice but not what she’s saying. I watch Eli’s face for a reaction and the longer she talks, the more relaxed he looks.

“I would love that, Julia. Thank you. What time are you dropping her off?” he asks, happiness playing in his voice.

“That’ll be fine. See you tomorrow,” he says before hanging up.

He turns to me and smiles brightly. “That was Julia,” he tells me as though I’m supposed to know who that is. He must see the look of confusion on my face because he continues with, “My dad’s girlfriend. She said her sitter canceled on her and she needs someone to watch Amelia tomorrow evening while they go to counseling.”

I can tell by the look on his face that this is great news. “You want to come over and have dinner at my place tomorrow so you can meet her?” he asks excitedly.

“I’d love too,” I declare. I love babies.

Dinner goes off without a hitch, and I even manage to make the roasted veggies without burning them. Eli is thoroughly impressed.

HOLDING A SLEEPING
Amelia in my arms makes my heart happy. I mean, I’m around babies every time I’m at work, but it’s different. This little girl has stolen my heart already and I just met her.

“She’s perfect, isn’t she?” Eli whispers to me as he takes her from my arms to put her in the portable crib in the corner of his living room.

“Yeah, she is,” I whisper in response.

Watching these three huge men play with her over the past couple hours leaves me with no doubt that they will be amazing fathers someday. I watched them roll around on the ground with her, making her squeal with delight. I watched them stack up all the blocks just so she could topple them over and laugh hysterically. And then I watched them sit and listen to her jabber like she was telling them the secrets of the world. They love that little girl with their whole hearts.

I’d never admit it out loud, but watching Eli hold her almost made my ovaries explode. I’ve been thinking about what it will be like to be a mom since the day I got the negative test.

When Julia and Justin arrive to pick Amelia up, I watch Eli’s exchange with his dad and its super awkward. He introduces me to him reluctantly, but Justin knows who I am. I can see the recognition on his face when he shakes my hand.

After they’re gone, Eli walks me to my car so I can go home. I have to work tomorrow so I need to get to bed.

He starts to open the door for me but stops.

“Wait, Sara, I need to tell you something,” he announces, causing my heart to drop. That doesn’t sound good.

He lets go of the door and grabs my hands in his, looking at me with a serious face.

“I love you,” he blurts out and then takes a deep breath before continuing, “I know we’ve only been back together a few weeks, but I couldn’t go another day without telling you how I feel.”

I feel as though I do nothing but cry like a big baby every time he says something sweet to me, but this, him telling me he loves me, makes my ugly cry come out in full force. I cup my hands around his big ole face and smash my lips into his.

“I love you, too,” I choke out, never completely removing my lips from his. “I love you so much, Eli.”

He pulls me into his arms and kisses me as though he’s been starving for it. When he finally pulls back, I’m not sure if the tears on his face are his or mine, and I don’t care. He loves me.

“The past few weeks have been amazing, and I can’t believe I was ever afraid of this being temporary. The love I feel for you is like nothing I’ve ever felt before, and I can’t imagine living my life without you always in it. I fought so hard against this and almost ruined it. You are my future, Sara. You are my forever. I now have zero doubt that one day, I’m going to put a ring on this finger.” He pauses long enough to hold my hand up and kiss my ring finger. “And then someday, we’re going to have babies. Lots and lots of babies.”

I can’t hold back the sobs that are wracking my body, and he hugs me to him and lets me cry until all my tears are gone.

“Come home with me, Eli,” I whisper against his lips.

He doesn’t even go back into the house to get his shoes; he just gets in the car without another thought.

Later, when he’s making love to me, he tells me over and over again how much he loves me, and for the first time in my life, I have zero desire to change anything about my life, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Eighteen Months Later.

WHEN I HEAR THE
announcer call out “Elijah Harper,” followed by “Bachelor of Science, Psychology,” it takes every ounce of my energy not to throw my head back and yell at the top of my lungs.
I did it.

As I stride across the stage to receive my empty diploma folder, I hear the screams coming from my crazy family over in the corner and throw them all a wave. Sara looks so beautiful today, and I seriously cannot wait until tomorrow. I can’t wait to see her face when I drop to one knee and ask her to be my forever.

I’ve been planning this proposal for months because I wanted it to be perfect. It’s December, and it’s been a cold, snowy winter already. That had thrown a little bit of a kink in my plans, but with the help of Mama and Cord, I think I’ll be able to pull it off.

At the end of the commencement, I find my family and we head to the reception for a few minutes just so I can say good-bye to the few friends I’ve made at UC. With Sara by my side, I make my rounds.

When it’s over, I hug my family tight and take my girl home. Cord and Mama helped me buy my first house six months ago, and Sara moved in with me. The big down payment was my early graduation present. It’s a fixer-upper, but it works for us right now. It’s closer to the school, Briarwood, and my part-time job. I’m only able to work part-time right now because come spring semester, I’ll be back in school to get my Masters in School Counseling.

Tomorrow evening, my family is throwing me a graduation party that will double as our engagement announcement. It’ll be at Mom and Cord’s place on the lake, which is part of the proposal plan.

I can hardly wait to make her my wife.

AS WE STROLL ALONG
the shore of the lake, both of us bundled up from head to toe, I start to wonder about Eli’s sanity. Why he wanted to go for a walk in this cold-ass weather at dusk is beyond me. The snow is starting to fall again, and just as I’m about to suggest we head back, Eli stops and turns toward me, taking both my hands in his. He leans forward and kisses my lips sweetly before laying his forehead on mine. I can feel him shaking and his breath is unsteady. I pull back to look at his face and notice tears in his eyes.

“Eli, what’s wrong?” I ask, my voice full of concern.

He drops his gaze to our hands, rubbing his gloved thumbs back and forth across the top of my hands. When he lifts his eyes to mine, a tear rolls down his face and I watch as he drops down onto one knee, causing a sob to rip from my throat.

“Sara Marie Calhoun, I love you with every single ounce of my soul. I want to wake up to your face every single morning for the rest of my life. I want to have coffee with you in bed while you read. I want to make fun of your crappy music choices. I want to watch our children grow in your belly. But most importantly, I want you to be my forever,” he chokes out, tears streaming down his face. He lets go of my hands, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring box. When he tries to open it, he’s shaking so bad he can’t.

Placing my hand on top of the box to stop him, I grab his hands and, with tears rolling down and freezing to my face, I whisper, “Just ask me, Eli.”

“Will you marry me?” he blurts out so loud it echoes through the darkness.

I tackle him into the snow, both of us crying and freezing, and just as I catch my breath, I scream “Yes” at the top of my lungs.

He laughs loudly before pulling me to my feet, and with his fingers laced through mine, we run back toward his mom’s house. When I hear screaming and yelling, I look up to see my family and his all out on the back balcony. Both our moms are crying happy tears and hugging each other. My heart couldn’t be any fuller than it is right now.

Five years later.

AS I WATCH THE
tech squirt some weird jelly crap on Sara’s belly, I can’t help but laugh when she squeals that it’s cold. I squeeze her hand and wink at her. I’m too choked up to talk. Today, we get to find out the sex of our baby.