Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“I know,” she says. “He’s been dying to ask you for the past four months.”
“I said yes,” I say. “I said yes to being his father, and I really hope,” I say now, getting down on one knee in front of her, “that you’ll say yes and marry me. Become my wife.”
“This is really awkward,” she starts, “but I have a counter.”
“Of course, you do,” I say, shaking my head.
“I’ll only become your wife if …” I wait for it. “If you give me a baby.”
She smiles. “I want to have another baby.”
“Only one?” I ask.
“We can start with one,” she says. “I can be maybe persuaded to go up.”
“Yes,” I say, and then I open the box with the ring, and she sobs. “Caroline, will you be my wife?” She nods her head, her hands on her mouth, and tears streaming down her face. I take the ring out of the box, and she reaches her left hand out, and it’s shaking like a leaf. I slide it on her finger and see the five-carat square diamond sitting on it. “This is forever.”
“Forever,” she whispers, leaning down and holding my face in her hands. “And ever.” She kisses me.
* * *
Nine years later
“Good luck tonight,” I tell Dylan as he slips on his suit jacket. He grew to be a full six feet, five inches, and he works out even harder, so not only is he tall, but he’s also a rock. He was also drafted first overall, making him the fourth Stone to be drafted first.
“It will be what it will be.” He smirks at me as we walk out of the hotel room, and he makes his way to the rink. He gives me a hug before he walks to the back and gets ready while I make my way to the box where my family will be joining me. “Hey,” I say to Matthew who just sits there on the phone. I sit next to him, watching the ice, getting ready for the big game.
“How’s your boy?” Matthew asks from beside me.
“Calm,” I say. “Nothing like his father.”
“It’ll be okay,” Matthew says, and I just look ahead. Slowly, the box fills with all the kids and the wives, and I look over when I hear my name being called. “Dad.” My eight-year-old son, Christopher, calls my name, and he walks in wearing Dylan’s jersey. He looks exactly like me.
The night we got engaged is the night we decided she would get her IUD removed, and we would see what happened. It took one month before she was pregnant, and nine months later, my son came into the world. “Hey, little man.” I open my arm, and he gives me a side hug. “Where is your mom?”
“She’s coming,” he says. “She was crying, so Grandma is talking to her.”
My head snaps up, and I’m about to go check on her when my twin girls, who just turned five, come into the room wearing Dylan’s jersey also. To say everyone was surprised when we were told we would be having twins would be an understatement. Having them come out looking exactly like my sisters is something else. Their hair is just a touch darker, and where Zara and Zoe have green eyes, my girls have baby blue eyes. “Abigail and Gabriella, where is your mother?” They both shrug and run to the food.
I’m about to charge out when she comes into the room with my parents beside her. “Sweetheart,” I say her name quietly, and she comes to me, and I lean in and kiss her lips. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” She pretends she wasn’t crying.
“Christopher told me you were crying,” I say, and she glares.
“Christopher should mind his own business,” she jokes, and the crowd starts to cheer so you know the team is going on the ice. I kiss her forehead, and we stand, watching Dylan take the ice. “It’s a big night.”
“Or not,” I say, trying not to get my hopes up. “He just needs to do his thing.”
The game starts, and the three Stone men stand side by side. My father is in the middle of Matthew and me. “You ready for this?” I look over at my father, who just smiles and beams with happiness.
“It’s time,” he says, and I just smile. The game is uneventful until the last two minutes of the game when Dylan takes the puck and skates it out of the zone, my stomach fluttering for him.
He passes the puck behind him to the defenseman and makes his way into position right inside the zone. They pass the puck from defenseman to defenseman and then they slip it to Dylan, who is winding up his stick for a one timer, and just like that, it hits the back of the net. His hands go up in the air, holding his stick, while the box erupts with shouts.