Futures and Frosting (Chocolate Lovers #2)(61)

Claire laughs through the tears that are now falling freely.

“This time, I needed you to know every fact about why I love you. I wanted to marry you the first time I saw you again. I wanted to get down on my knees and beg you to never leave me. And I should have done it. I should never have waited this long. There is no one else in this world I could imagine spending my life with. I want to teach inappropriate things to our children with you forever. Claire Donna Morgan, will you please, please marry me and love me for the rest of your life?”

She leans over and throws her arms around me, holding me tight as she sobs out the one word I have waited forever to hear from her.

“Yes!”

I pull out of her arms long enough to take the ring from her hand and slip it on her finger. Our happy moment is interrupted seconds later by Gavin running into the kitchen.

“Mom, guess what? I swallowed a penny!” he announces.

Claire and I pull away from each other and turn to see all of our friends and Claire’s father standing in the doorway wearing the shirts Drew had picked out that say, “I played beer pong and all I got was this lousy t-shirt, knocked up, and a fiancé”.

“Sorry, Carter, I couldn’t resist the shirts. And really, they’re still appropriate considering how you proposed,” Liz says with a smile.

“Wait, I’m sorry. But did Gavin just say he swallowed a penny?” Claire asks, wiping the tears off of her cheeks.

“Oh, yeah. Well, we think he swallowed a penny. We’re not quite sure,” Drew explains. “He wanted some candy so Liz dumped out her purse on the floor because she knew she had a bunch of Tic Tacs at the bottom. He started scooping things up and shoving them in his mouth before we saw what he was doing. According to him, he swallowed a penny. But kids are liars.”

Gavin stomps his foot. “YOU’RE A LIAR YOU BIG FAT TURKEY!”

“I am not fat. I’m muscular. Get your facts straight,” Drew argues.

“Okay, can someone please tell me if my kid really swallowed a penny?” Claire asks loudly, putting a halt to the arguing.

“Well, I Googled ‘kids swallowing pennies’ and you’d be surprised how many hits I got,” Liz says. “Anyway, as long as the penny was made before 1982, he’ll be fine.”

Claire and I stare at her for a few minutes before Claire explodes.

“What the f*ck?!”

“Awwwwww, Mom,” Gavin scolds as he pointed at her.

“I’m sorry, what the f-u-c-k does t-h-a-t mean and w-h-a-t do we do n-o-w?”

She has officially turned into one of the Stepford mothers, spelling words she doesn’t even need to spell because she is so freaked out. She is not going to be happy about this.

“It’s fine, Claire. I used my metal detector on him and the penny wasn’t there,” George stated.

“You’re kidding me, right? You know there’s this fancy thing called a hospital you can go to, don’t you?” she asks.

“I walked uphill both ways in a snow storm with no shoes just to get to school when I was his age, and I ate metal shavings for fun. A little copper isn’t going to hurt him,” George argues.

“Unless the penny was made after 1982 because then it’s made with enough zinc to melt his esophagus,” Drew said matter-of-factly. “I’m pretty sure that would have happened by now though, so he’s probably good.”

Claire bends down next to Gavin and pulls him into her arms.

“Sweetie, how do you feel? Is your tummy okay?” she asks him.

“My tummy is good. Papa said I need to drop a deuce and check it for money. I can poop money!” he says excitedly.

“I wish I could poop money,” Drew complains.

I bend down next to Claire and Gavin, gathering both of them in my arms.

“Just so you know, we’re totally eloping,” I tell her.

“Oh thank God,” she replied.





22. Hump, Hump, Hump


“So you really like it?” Carter asks for the hundredth time.

We are finally in bed relaxing after the long day, and I can’t stop staring at my ring.

“I think I like it more than you.”

Carter laughs. “Very funny.”

“Oh, I’m totally serious. I’ve been thinking all this time that you just didn’t want to marry me and here you were carrying a ring around in your pocket. I kind of want to whittle my toothbrush into a shiv and stick it in your eye,” I tell him seriously.

He rolled over onto his side and rested his hand on my stomach.

“I’m sorry. I should have done it the day I bought the ring. I just wanted it to be perfect and then we found out you were pregnant and I know how your mind works. You would have never believed I was doing it for the right reasons if I did it right when we found out,” he says as he gently rubs his palm in a circle on my protruding belly.

“I know, you’re right. My mother said the same thing,” I tell him, placing my hand on top of his and pushing it down towards the bottom of my stomach where I usually feel the teeny tiny kicking of little feet. To me it feels like bubbles popping, and I'm not sure if he would be able to feel it yet but it doesn’t hurt to try.

“Rachel actually said something that made sense?” he asks in surprise.