Crown Jewels (Off-Limits Romance #1)(93)

There was a time when I felt panicked driving by her flat. Embarrassed—that it all came out: the way I was manipulated. I find as I hold Lucy’s hands and coach her on her breathing that I don’t care anymore.

I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not…but Lucy labors fast. And loud. We’ve only been in our labor suite for five hours when the doctor agrees it’s time to push.

She squeezes my hand, and I can feel the blood drain from my face.

“Liam—it’s okay.”

“It’s going well,” the doctor tells me. “She’s doing a great job.”

Meaning there’s no chance she’s going to die pregnant, the way my mother did. I nod, and try to put away my nervousness. I shut my eyes and ask my mother, like some patron saint, to oversee my son’s safe birth.

In an hour, I stare down at Lucy as she cradles a fat-cheeked, pink newborn on her bare chest. He’s got dark hair, just a little wavy like his mother’s, and his dad’s dimple.

Lucy laughs when she looks up at me.

“Oh my God. I had a baby!”

I lean down and kiss her cheek. “I’ve got a present for you—sometime. Maybe when we get home.”

“What? You can’t tease me like that.” She smiles down at Oliver. “Just kidding,” she murmurs. “You can. I don’t need another present.”

That night, as she dozes with our son, I hope and pray she doesn’t mean that.

In my pocket, I’ve got something heavy. Something I got from my father just a couple days before we saw him at the stables. I can’t sleep because the weight of it is crushing me. The weight of Lucy’s answer. I’ve waited a long time to ask her. But I felt like we needed time.

That night, before I manage to drift off, I take the time to write three drafts of a short letter. Using voice to text inside the tiny hospital bathroom, I get a map of what the words should look like, and have decent luck mimicking them: I thought I’d end this the way you started it: with crown jewels. I love you Lucy. Will you marry me?

I want to ask her in the privacy of Haugr Castle.

It takes us four days to get there. The first time Lucy slips into the bathroom, leaving Ollie in my arms so she can get a shower, I pull out the folded note and also, my mom’s emerald.

She and Lucy share a birth-month. The oval-shaped ring is one I picked out for her, a gift for her last birthday.

I want to come up with a fun surprise for Luce, but I’m not good at things like that. When Ollie falls asleep, I lie him in his bassinet and tuck the note against his soft, blue gown. I hold the ring up to his hand, curious to see if it is big enough to slide over his tiny wrist.

It’s not.

But Ollie reaches out and grabs it. He falls back asleep with the ring enclosed in his fist. I can’t help laughing.

Lucy walks out in a new, red robe, a soft smile on her mouth.

“What’s funny?”

I can’t help beaming at her, then laughing again, out of nervousness.

“Oh, nothing. Just the baby.”

“Ohh, I want to see him.”

My heart is pounding so hard as she walks over, I have to turn around and pretend to look at Grey as he stretches in the windowsill.

I hear a faint crinkle.

“What’s in his—”

Lucy gasps. I turn around in time to find her staring down at Ollie, huge tears rolling down her face.

“Oh my God.” She starts laughing as she lunges for me. “Liam—oh God! Oh God!”

I pull her up against me. “Did you see what Ollie has?”

There’s screeching, wailing, and then crying as she opens up our baby’s hand and I take the ring from her.

“Lucy Rhodes…” I get down on one knee. “I know it’s still a little soon, but I can’t wait. Will you marry me?”

The baby cries. Lucy wraps her arms around my neck, pressing my cheek against her flatter belly.

“YES!”

That’s not how our story ends. It’s the beginning.