Josh and Gemma Make a Baby(97)

“What was your resolution?” Hannah asks.

I’m still looking at Josh, his expression is intimate and I’d like to take him upstairs to someplace quiet so that I can kiss him and…

“Gemma?”

I blink and shake my head. Josh chuckles. He knows exactly what I was just thinking.

“It came true,” I tell everyone. I take Josh’s hand and hold on to him. “And it was better than I could ever have imagined.”

I never, ever could’ve guessed what fate had in store for me when I wrote my New Year’s wish.

“Do you know,” I say to Josh, “everyone in my family had their resolution come true. The kids got their puppy, Dylan got his promotion, my parents went to Fiji. But I never…”

I frown at Josh and wrinkle my brow.

“What?” he asks. He lifts an eyebrow and pulls me closer to him.

“I never asked what your resolution was.”

Every year, when we write our resolutions and my dad reads them out loud and then tosses them into the fireplace, I imagine that there’s a little bit of magic helping make our dreams come true. But I never asked Josh if his resolution came true.

The corner of his mouth lifts into a nervous smile and he shakes his head.

“What is it?” I frown.

“No, it didn’t happen yet.”

My chest pinches. He seems so uncertain. He swallows nervously.

“What?” I ask. “Can I help? What was it? I mean, this amazing guy I know once said, anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”

Josh chuckles, “Did he now?”

“He was right,” Brook calls over her husband’s shoulder.

Hannah’s munching on a pickle, but she says, “I have a quartz on me if you need to manifest your intentions.”

I grin at Josh, and his eyes light up with laughter. “I’m good,” he tells Hannah. “I’m just about to get there, I think.”

“Oh,” I say in surprise. “That’s good.”

Josh nods. “Sure is. Want to hear it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Josh presses a kiss to my lips. I wrap my hands around his neck.

“That was it? A kiss?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “Not even close.”

Since he’s not talking, I think back to last year’s reading. “Was it to take night classes?”

“No.”

I laugh, “Go to the gym?”

“No,” Josh growls.

I look at him and the expression in his eyes makes my heart stutter. “Save money? Travel?”

He slowly shakes his head.

I can’t think of any other resolutions from last year’s reading. In fact, the only thing I really remember is Josh lifting his glass to me, toasting me as if we’d just made a deal. My dad had read my resolution last and Josh had watched me and…

He watches my expression intently. “You want to know?”

“I do.”

He smiles when I say those words.

“What was it?”

He leans close, presses his lips against my ear and says, “Convince the woman I love to marry me.”




He made a resolution.

My heart gives a happy, joyful beat, then I turn my face to him and catch his mouth with mine. I clasp my hands around his neck and kiss him.

“Wow, that’s some resolution,” Hannah says.

I laugh against Josh’s mouth.

Finally, he pulls away.

“Last year?” I ask, “You made that resolution last year?”

He gives me a laughing look and then says, “I had high hopes.” Then he drops to his knee in front of me and takes my hands in his. Around us, all of our friends and family realize that Josh is about to propose. The room grows quiet, and even the puppy stops misbehaving.

My vision goes blurry and I blink back tears.

He made a resolution to marry me last year?

“Gemma, I love you,” he begins and he squeezes my hands. “We’ve known each other a long time.” He grins and lifts an eyebrow.

A laugh bubbles up. “Twenty-five years.”

He nods. “I think you can say that I’m a decent guy.”

“Mhmm.” I can’t speak. I can’t…he’s so wonderful, so Josh.

“We grew up in the same town. Went to the same school. Your brother’s my best friend. I come to your holiday parties, birthdays. I’m always around.”

I start to laugh, I can’t help it. But I’m also starting to cry. I love him so much.

“I have straight teeth, a nice chin. Healthy genes. I’m smart. Athletic.”

“All true.” My lips wobble as I try to smile.

A happy light fills Josh’s eyes as he gazes up at me. “I thought…maybe you’d want to know me for another twenty-five years? And then, twenty-five after that. And then, many years more, for as long as we both live?”

My heart fills with so much joy, so much love.

“Marry me, Gemma. I love you. I’ll keep on loving you. You’re the star that guides my heart. Marry me?”

I try to hold back my tears but I can’t. “Yes. Yes, of course, yes.”

I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around him. He pulls me to him and presses his mouth to mine. I can taste tears of happiness, and love and joy. The baby gives a kick. Josh grunts in surprise and then pulls me closer.