by Mallory Funk
That’s the thought that stays in my head the whole time we are on our way to the mall and an hour into shopping. What if Derek is losing his attraction to me? What will it be like when the baby is born? I know my body won’t be the same as it was before.
I can tell Courtney is wondering what’s wrong because she keeps sending me questioning looks.
She stops suddenly and grabs my arm. “Okay babe, you have to tell me what’s wrong. Your mind has been out of it since we left the house.”
Paige and Claire also stop to look at me with worried eyes.
“You can tell us, T. What’s wrong?” Paige asks softly.
“Wha… what if Derek isn’t attracted to me anymore?” I say trying my best not to cry. Tears start welling in my eyes.
“Why would you say that? Have you seen the way that man looks at you?” Claire says putting an arm around my shoulder.
“Well, he has been acting weird these last few days, and then when I was leaving this morning he looked more interested in the TV then looking at my ass when I was leaving. He always looks at my ASS!” I say on a sob and Paige directs us to a bench nearby and they all huddle around me trying to comfort me.
“He’s a guy. Sometimes you need to literally stand in front of the TV to get their attention,” Courtney says with a twitch of her lips.
“All of the guys have been acting weird lately, it’s not just Derek. They are up to something. Maybe it’s another prank- a big one- so they are trying their best to be sneaky but not really succeeding at it,” Paige says softly.
“Yeah, Sam has been acting weird, and Cole won’t make eye contact with me. I see the way Derek looks at you and you can tell he thinks you’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” Claire says softly while wiping a tear from my cheek. All I can do is nod my head. I know all the of men are acting weird, but they are up to something. I just need to figure out what it is. It’s driving me crazy.
“We can get to the bottom of it as soon as we get home. Let’s go get some lunch and shop some more before we leave. Shopping always makes you feel better,” Paige says standing up. I nod my head and we do just that- have lunch and happily participate in hours of shopping. It’s almost six by the time we pull up to the driveway. When we pull up, we have mountains of bags in the backseat, but what has us looking curiously at the house is that all the lights are off at all three places. Where the hell are they?
Chapter Thirteen
Derek
A few hours earlier
The last few days have been tough. Since we have thought of the perfect way for me to propose to Tara, and also figured out how Trevor is going to propose to Paige, we have had a difficult time with the girls.
I’m not good at keeping anything from my girl, but I think I did okay. Sure, I didn’t miss the questioning looks she kept sending me, but I didn’t want to ruin what we had planned. I needed this to be special for her. She deserves it.
When Tara asked me if everything was okay the other night, I was glad she couldn’t see my face because I have been nothing but a ball of fucking nerves. I have trouble lying to her and she would have seen straight through that.
I love my woman and I have no doubt that she loves me, but there is always that small chance that she could say no, or that this is too fast, or that I’m only doing this because of the baby. I want to convince my woman that I’m asking her to marry me for the right reasons. I will if I need to, but I really hope I don’t have to because she already knows how much I love her and that she is it for me.
Today the girls had decided to go shopping. When Trevor had texted me that they were going shopping, I had to throw my first in the air. We were trying to figure out how to get them out of the house for a few hours without making it obvious that we wanted them gone.
When Tara came up to change and tell me that she was leaving, I had raced to turn the TV on and pretend I was watching something so that she wouldn’t see the nervousness in my eyes. With one look into my eyes, I knew she could be able to tell something was going on and I could end up ruining the surprise I had planned.
I didn’t get up from the bed to walk her out the door or grab her and kiss her like I wanted to because then she would have seen my hands shake. I had to pretty much sit on them so that she wouldn’t see.
I never knew that asking someone to be your wife could be nerve racking.
As soon as the women pull out of the driveway, we get to work.
We had put a lot into planning and organizing for today. The first question was whether Trevor and I planned to propose together, but Trevor made it clear that he wanted to be alone with Paige when he proposed. They had been through so much emotionally that I knew that was the way for them to go.
I knew my girl would want everyone there. She loves being a part of this group and having all of us in her life, so I knew it would be important to her to have everyone around.
I am proposing tonight, and Trevor was asking Paige to marry him tomorrow.
We spend the day setting everything up, and then spend an hour sitting in the dark at the house waiting for the women to come home. I really hope that I can pull this off.
I want the best for my girl and I hope that she can see that.
I see the lights of the SUV pull up to the house. I blow out a breath and stand up in position.
Here it goes.
Tara
We walk into the house, and that’s when I notice the lights aren’t out. The blinds are drawn making it look like no one is home, but there is a hint of dim lighting.
When I look around, there are strings of lights down the hallway, and rose petals on the floor that appear to be leading to the backyard.
“What the hell is going on?” Courtney says in excitement. Whatever it is looks like it’s going to be good.
I walk through the house following the lights and roses with the girls following behind me.
When I make it to the door leading to the backyard, there is a curtain blocking everything from view.
Before I can move the curtain, it’s pulled to the side and I see Liam standing there wearing a collared shirt and nice jeans.
Before I can say anything, he just shakes his head and smirks at me.
I decide to keep walking and, when I look into the backyard, I can’t help but gasp in surprise.
I put my hand over my mouth and I am sure I can hear a bunch of “oh my gods” from the other women, but I can’t help but tune them out when my eyes land on the love of my life.
He gives me what I know is a nervous smile.
I try and give him a smile back, but I know it comes out shaky because I can already feel tears well in my eyes.
I take a second to look around, and there are lights covering the backyard. There are flowers all over the place- roses, lilies, and carnations. I could never pick a favourite flower, but those are my top three. I blink away the tears that form in my eyes.
When I keep looking around, I see buckets filled with water balloons making me laugh at the first prank or ambush we had pulled on the guys.
Next to it are bottles of temporary blue hair dye.
When I look on the other side, I see the bottle of wine that we drank on our first date and I had spilled all over our table.
Then there are the shoes I was wearing beside a roll of paper towel and a bottle of water; all that is missing is a pile of dog shit, but I’m glad he didn’t think to grab that. I probably would have started gagging. Before I bring my eyes to him, I see the same duck pajamas that I was wearing the first morning I had coffee with the brothers, reminding me of how I was so embarrassed with them seeing me that way.
When I finally bring my eyes to Derek, I give him a watery smile.
I feel a small push at my back. I have no clue who it is, but it helps me start moving and I walk on shaky legs to Derek who is standing looking so hot in the same outfit he wore on our first date.
When I make it to him, he smiles at me and gets down on one knee.
I can’t help but bring my hand back to my mouth. Oh my god. He’s really going to do it.
He carefully takes my other hand and kisses me lightly on the belly making it known that he loves our baby too. Then he pulls out the ring. I never take my eyes off of his, so I don’t bother glancing at the ring.
I see him swallow hard. He brings his eyes to mine and I can see all the love he has for me in them, and I hope that he can see the love I have for him in mine.
“Tara, baby. I love you with all of my heart. There has never been anyone more perfect for me than you. The first time I saw you, I thought I had never seen anyone more beautiful. I thanked whoever brought me to you that day and was relieved to know that you were leaving at asshole.” A few chuckles are heard around us. “Baby, when I spent the next couple months trying to get to know you, I couldn’t believe there was this amazing woman in my life. All I could think about was making you mine and, when you finally gave me a chance, I vowed to make sure you never would regret it. I love the way you rant and go off on rambles and then always blush after every time. Even if what you said wasn’t embarrassing, you still get shy and embarrassed when you finish. I love the way you look at me. You are an amazing woman and I’m the luckiest man in the world to have someone like you to think that I’m worthy of your time and love. Tara Stone, would you do me the honours of becoming my wife and being Mrs. Tara Hastings?”
I nod my head eagerly before yelling. “Yes! YES!” which earns a few chuckles from everyone.
Derek smiles widely and slides the ring on my finger before standing up and kissing me hard on the mouth.
There are cheers and hollers coming from our family.
When he breaks the kiss, he places his forehead on mine and I’m smiling so widely that it hurts.
“I love you so much, baby,” he says kissing me lightly on the lips.
“I love you too, Derek,” I say smiling back at him before I’m pulled away to get swamped with hugs and congratulations from my family.
I notice the women have tears on their faces and everyone is smiling. I take another look around the backyard and see that everything is just perfect.
Derek takes me to the porch, and that’s when his brothers all grab water balloons and I stand and watch our family have a water balloon fight as Derek has his arm around my shoulder and I lean my head against him and smile.
This is perfect, and this is us.
Chapter Fourteen
Derek
This night couldn’t have gone more perfect if I had wanted it to. The look on Tara’s face when she was looking around the backyard, and then when she realized what I was doing, is something I will never forget.
As we stand there watching our family have a water balloon fight I can’t keep the smile off my face.
The woman I love just agreed to marry me, and now we are watching our family laugh and have a good time.
We are making tacos and having orange juice for supper since those are the things that Tara craves the most.
Of course, after that, my brothers plan to have beers while I spend the night with my new fiancé. I know it hurts her too much to have sex, so I just plan on spending the night with her in my arms. Nothing sounds more perfect to me right now than that.
Tara
Going to bed with Derek that night had been amazing. I couldn’t believe I was worried all day that he wasn’t attracted to me anymore when, in reality, it wasn’t anything like that. He couldn’t look at me because he was nervous, and I would have been able to tell that he had something going on.
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect proposal. He did everything like I had always imagined. He took everything that had reminded him of me and us and added it all in the proposal.
The water balloon fight was the best to watch although I hate that I had to miss it due to my pregnancy because it wouldn’t exactly be recommended to have someone hit me in the stomach with a water balloon. Watching our family laugh and have a good time since the first time I ambushed Derek and his brothers made it special in its own way.
Everyone cleans up and we have supper. I am so happy to see everyone is having tacos and orange juice for supper. I know that once we are done, everyone will break out beers while Derek and I go upstairs to be alone.
Since sex is out of the question, I will be glad to just cuddle with my man all night.
It doesn’t take me long to eat a ton of helpings for supper, but I was really hungry since I was worried all day about Derek and barely ate.
Everyone had to laugh at how fast I ate and, when I told them I already had his ring on my finger so it was all downhill from here, everyone including Derek burst out in laughter.
After supper, Derek and I make our way upstairs, but not before we get more hugs and congratulations from everyone.
I don’t think that anything could wipe the smile off my face.
Once we are in our room, Derek kisses me softly and leans back to smile at me. “Do you want to call your parents, baby?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, I don’t think this is something I could wait to tell them,” I say with a small chuckle.
“Better do it now because your father has been bugging me to do it since I asked for his permission,” Derek says, and I can’t help that my mouth opens in shock.
Derek really asked permission to marry me? I can feel the tears welling in my eyes.
“You really asked my father?” I ask in awe.
I watch his eyes soften at my question. “Of course, baby. He’s important to you, and I knew you would want his blessing because you’re his little girl.” I just nod my head and he chuckles at me while wiping the tears that have fallen down my cheeks.
I take a second to wrap my head around everything that has happened in the last couple hours before I call my mom. I have a feeling that my mom will be very excited for this new turn of events.
I dial her number and on the second ring she answers.
“Hey mama!” I say into the phone. Shit, did I sound too happy? Is that even possible?
“Hello, how’s my baby girl doing?” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m great… considering Derek just asked me to marry him!!!” I yell into the phone.
“WHAT?!?!?!” my mother yells back and squeals in excitement.
“Woman, what is going on that you have to make all that noise?” I hear my dad grumble in the background.
My mother continues her squealing, and I am glad she’s not holding the phone close to her face or I would have gone deaf.
I hear the phone being moved around.
“Baby girl? What did you do to your mother? I think she’s broken!” my dad grumbles.
“Nothing. I just told her that Derek asked me to marry him,” I say with a smile. I look at my man and he’s grinning at me.
“Well that’s great, baby girl. It’s about time he got the guts to ask you after making me wait all of this damn time,” my dad says, and I have to laugh. He’s not exactly the most patient man in the world, so I could imagine him calling Derek every day and asking him when he was going to do it or if he had done it yet.
“Is mom okay? I can’t hear her squealing anymore,” I say with a small laugh.
I hear my dad let out a laugh. “Yeah, she’s fine. She’s jumping up and down and stole my phone to call your sister, brother, and probably every member of our entire family.”
I roll my eyes. Well at least I know that I don’t have to call anyone else. I talk to my dad for a few more minutes before I let him go so that I can spend time with my man.
“Okay, well, I will let you guys go. See you next week.”
“Alright, baby girl. I’m very happy for you. You have a great man there,” my dad says, and I smile before I hang up the phone.
I can’t help but sigh. I really do have a great man.
“Everything go okay, baby?” Derek asks with a twitch of his lips.
“Yeah, you could say that. I swear my mom was s
quealing like a pig,” I say with a laugh.
“She sounds very happy for you,” Derek says looking at me and grabbing my hand so that he can guide me to bed.
“I’m sure she is. I know how much she already loves you. My entire family does. Seems like you’ve won everyone over,” I tell him as I lay on my side to face him and get comfortable under the covers.
He just smirks at me. He knows I’m right because they call him or text him like they have been in each other’s lives for a long time. I swear that my brother thinks that they are best friends now.
Our phones keep going off with texts. Everyone who is downstairs, and my family, have probably called around or texted to let everyone know the news, but we don’t bother looking at our phones and take this night to ourselves.
After a couple minutes of silence and looking into his eyes, I speak up.
“So… what kind of wedding do you want?”
“Any kind of wedding you want, baby. I don’t want to have a long engagement though, so you better hurry up and start planning,” he says and kisses me lightly on the lips.
“Okay. I would like it after the baby is born though so that we can take wedding pictures with the baby in them,” I tell him, and he smiles softly at me.
“Sure thing, baby.”
We spend the next couple hours talking about everything and anything. I tell him what I would like for the wedding letting him know that I don’t want anything big- just our family and friends. He was more than okay with that.
I go to sleep happier than I could ever have imagined, and I have my man to thank for that. I never thought I would find someone who I love with my whole heart and who would love me the same in return. I don’t remember a time I have ever been this happy.
Chapter Fifteen
Derek
Seven weeks later
I spent the last seven weeks in wedding chaos.
Tara has made a plan to have the wedding three months after she has the baby.
