The Wedding Engagement

Chapter Thirty-One

Liv rummaged around in the store cupboard, wondering why Mrs. MacKay couldn’t find her own bloody stationery. The older teacher had come into Liv’s class when there were only twenty minutes of the school day left and asked her to go and find some colored card stock. Apparently, the cupboard was too dimly lit for Liv’s colleague to see the color she wanted.

After what seemed like half an hour, though a look at her watch confirmed it had only been five minutes, Liv located said card stock buried under some boxes of pens. Weird that someone moved it under there.

She lifted the pile of card stock and left the cupboard, turning off the light and closing the door behind her. As she made her way back to the classroom, she gave the teaching assistant in Mrs. MacKay’s class a wee wave. The assistant gave her a wave—plus a knowing smile—in return. That was a little odd.

Arran popped into her mind, and her heart lifted at the thought of seeing him in a mere few hours. They had been spending every night at his place over the last couple of months, and it was weird how everything had just fallen into place—as if they’d always been not just a couple, but a little family with wee Jayce right at the center.

Her sense of comfort and grounding had been cemented by her mum and Angus funding her some private therapy, with Arran being there to support her every step of the way. Although her journey where that was concerned wasn’t over, it was well underway.

Turning to enter her classroom with a happy sigh, she found the main area unexpectedly empty. Shuffling noises and giggling came from the back room, which housed the painting corner.

Frowning, Liv moved toward the back, hoping that the kids weren’t running rings around Mrs. MacKay. Though surely not, because the woman certainly ruled her own class very firmly and was a stickler for the rules.

As she entered the space, the kids all froze, looking at her and then over to Mrs. MacKay with cheeky smiles on their faces.

Liv gave them all a bemused look. “What’s going on?” she asked, taking in a row of five easels behind the children, all of which were turned away from her.

Mrs. MacKay shot her a knowing smile, not unlike the one that her assistant had doled out a minute before. “Okay, children. Take it away.”

There was a burst of chatter and scrambling as the children assembled around each easel, then scraping noises as they worked together to turn them all around.

Liv stood open-mouthed as the paper side of the easels came into view. Each had a colorful word painted upon it in the children’s hands. And together, they read:

Will you marry me Liv?

She blinked, attempting to understand why her class was proposing to her. Then a noise made her turn her head. Her pulse picked up as Arran appeared from behind the bookcase in the reading area, where he must have been crouching the whole time, out of sight. Jayce was with him, holding his dad’s hand on one side and carrying a little black box on the other.

A burst of excitement made her drop the pile of card stock, pieces fluttering all over the floor and making a terrible mess that she didn’t care about in the slightest.

Arran gave her a soft smile as they reached her.

She swallowed hard, heart hammering. “Arran?”

He looked down at Jayce, giving him a nod.

Jayce stepped forward, a serious expression on his little face. He opened the box, and Arran simultaneously got down on one knee.

Liv’s heart rose right into her throat, and the children all burst into excited chatter.

“Shh, children!” Mrs. MacKay said, the smile nearly splitting her face.

Jayce held up the box, where a shiny silver ring set with her birthstone twinkled. Jayce cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. “Miss Lib, will you marry us?”

Happy tears pricked at her eyes as she took in the handsome man she was hopelessly in love with—down on one knee—with his adorable son, whom she cherished like her own, at his side. She blinked hard, trying to force her voice past the lump in her throat. “Of course I will,” she managed to scratch out.

“Yes!” Jayce cried, pulling his plastic sword from out of the back of his jumper, where Liv hadn’t even noticed he’d been hiding it. The rest of the class started screaming in delight and Mrs. MacKay had to come over and shush them all before they collapsed from overexcitement.

Arran was blinking hard, his eyes shining, as Jayce handed him the box. He tried to get up, but Jayce stopped him.

“Wait, Daddy.”

Arran paused to look at him.

Jayce solemnly lifted his sword and touched it to each of Arran’s shoulders in turn. “I now dub you: Miss Lib’s husband.”

Liv let out a laugh at the same time as Arran, who pulled Jayce into a hug. “Thanks, pal. Now help your old man up.”

Jayce took Arran’s hand and Arran made a show of getting to his feet, holding on to his back as if he were pained and then giving Jayce a wink.

He stepped over the pieces of card stock fanning at her feet and took out the ring, meeting her gaze steadily as he placed it on her left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

Liv lifted it, lost for words. “How did you know my size?”

He grinned. “Maya and Elise.”

She smiled. “Of course.”

Arran took her chin gently, lifting her face to his for a soft kiss. It was met with a mixture of cheering and “yuck” noises from the kids.

He pulled back, running his thumb over her bottom lip with a smile. “It’s just a temporary ring. Until I can save enough for a big sparkly diamond.”

She shook her head, drinking in the liquid honey of his eyes. “No. I like this one.”

His jaw worked, and he nodded, giving her another kiss, which he broke off after a few seconds because the “yuck” noises were starting to drown out the cheering.

“Okay, guys,” he said, turning to the kids and rubbing his hands together. “Thank you all! Operation Marry Miss Holland is a big success.”

Jayce whooped loudly as he galloped round his cheering classmates, like a victorious knight on horseback.

—

Later that evening the fairy lights twinkled around the edge of the fort, filling the area with a warm glow that matched the one inside Liv’s chest. The TV played quietly across the living room, visible through the open end of the fort.

She snuggled closer into Arran’s side and he tightened his arm around her, bending his head to kiss the top of hers. Jayce was lying sleeping on Arran’s chest, his little fingers curled around Liv’s index finger as he snoozed.

“I should really take him up to bed,” Arran murmured, the soft rumble of his voice soothing her cheek.

“Just five more minutes,” Liv said, letting out a contented sigh and taking a deep breath of both the gorgeous scent of Arran and the adorable smell of Jayce.

Arran’s voice was laden with love. “Okay, Aggie.”

She shifted her face to nestle into his neck, taking in the way he shivered in response. She eyed Jayce’s fist clasped around her finger, and her engagement ring shining on the same hand.

Arran kissed the top of her head. “When do you want to get married?”

She gave him a squeeze. “I really don’t mind. As long as I get to have you forever.”

He chuckled, rubbing her back. “Done deal. I was thinking about next year, maybe? Or the year after? I want to save up enough dosh to give you everything you want.”

She shook her head. “All I want is you and Jayce. But I don’t mind waiting if you prefer.” She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Although I thought you said that long engagements were a bad idea.”

He smiled. “Not if they’re with the right person.”

Her heart practically glowing with warmth, she leaned up to kiss him. “I love you guys. Our wee family.”

He kissed her back softly. “We love you too.”

Jayce stirred, and Arran froze—a “yikes” expression on his face making Liv stifle a laugh.

“Okay. I’m going to take him up and get him settled,” Arran said, gathering Jayce close and managing to shift out of the fort and onto his feet like a pro. “You stay here and think about me until I get back.”

Liv chuckled. “No problem. Pretty much got you on my mind twenty-four seven anyway.”

He gave her a wink over his shoulder. “Good girl.”

He left the room to climb the stairs with Jayce in his arms, and Liv shifted onto her back to gaze at the fairy lights, utterly content with her brilliant lot in life. Plans were already afoot for their travel adventure with Jayce next summer, and for the first time ever, she felt she had things to look forward to. Gone was the dread in the pit of her stomach whenever she pictured a future with a man, and instead joy shone in her heart whenever she contemplated what was to come with Arran.

He came back down the stairs and into the fort, lying down next to her and tucking an arm around her middle, rolling her onto her side to look at him as he propped himself up on his elbow. He gave her a coy smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she said, unable to keep the grin off her face.

“Miss me?”

“Yes.” She gave him a kiss and then let out a contented sigh. “I can’t believe we’re finally together. After all that’s happened.”

“I know,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I hate to say it, but at one point I thought this was never going to happen.”

Liv chuckled. “At one point? How about for bloody years, on my part.”

Arran frowned, cocking his head. “Years?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Or is this the wrong moment to confess that I’ve fancied you since we were, like, twelve years old?”

His mouth dropped open. “You had a crush on me for fifteen years?”

“Yep.”

Arran’s eyes darkened, and he suddenly flipped them over so that he was lying on top of her, eliciting a little squeal from her lips.

“That’s hot,” he said, his voice husky.

“Is it?” she asked, the last syllable turning into a gasp as he kissed her neck.

“Fuck yes,” he muttered, biting her skin gently. He slid a hand down onto her thigh, then around to squeeze her arse. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. “I wish I’d known you liked me like that. We could have had more time together.”

She shook her head. “I think it was meant to be. Because this way, we got to have Jayce.”

Arran swallowed hard, lifting a hand to caress her cheek. His voice came out hoarse. “I love you so much. I’d move heaven and earth for you. You know that?”

She smiled, absorbing the adoration in his eyes. “I know you would,” she said softly. “And I love you too. Always.”