Poppy’s mind since their discussion in the music room. With everything that had happened since then, there just hadn’t been time to give it voice.
His frown was severe, yet tender, she didn’t know how he did that. “But? Talk to me, babe. Remember we figure this stuff out together.”
“I don’t want to be a single parent,” she said, finding her courage. “I do want to have children, you know that. But I don’t want you to agree just because it’s what I want. If it’s not something you want to commit to, I’d rather you be honest and we talk about it some more. I’ve seen the way you are with Emmie, and Noah, and the baby. You’re amazing with them. Incredible. But having children of our own will be different. I want them to know you and expect you and to have you in their life. I feel awful piling more onto you and, of course, this isn’t something that has to happen now but—”
“You want me to be involved,” he murmured. “In the raising of my children.”
His tone didn’t reveal much about his thoughts. “Yes. And even if something happens to us, if we don’t make it for whatever reason, I don’t want you to give up on them just because you can’t stand living with me.” She sighed. “I don’t know, First. I have so much hope for us, for the future, and then something happens and I’ll see that life isn’t always what we want it to be. Just because I love you and want us to have this incredible life together doesn’t mean we will… We don’t communicate as much as we should—”
“We’ve had a lot to deal with,” Turner said. “Things are slowing down now. It’s our time. We’ll figure all of this out. And I never agreed to having kids just because it’s all I can give you. I want it too.”
“You do?” she asked, hoping he meant it. “And how do you feel about being there at breakfast time, doing the school run? Eating dinner with us? Bath time? Bedtime stories?”
“Babe,” he said, his lips curling as he cradled her face in both hands. “That’s what having children means. It means raising them and teaching them, guiding them, caring for them. Whether we have one building or two, there is always the chance I’ll be called out to deal with something, but I’d never put business before our children.”
Feeling better, Poppy relaxed. “I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. My dad’s embargoed anyone proposing marriage to his daughters in the future.”
“Then it’s a good thing I got in before that embargo.”
Her confusion only lasted a few seconds. When Turner descended onto his knee in front of her, gathering her hands into his on her lap, she figured out what he meant.
“Oh my God,” she whispered as he took something from his pocket.
Poppy couldn’t believe it when he produced her grandmother’s engagement ring. It was so sparkly that it could’ve been brand new.
“Will you make me the happiest man alive, Poppy Felicia Granger?”
“Oh my God,” she whispered again as tears warmed her eyes.
“Marry me, Candy-Cane?”
How could it be that something she’d almost lost was returning with such ferocious passion? Her heart wanted to burst.
“My First,” Poppy whispered, sliding a hand onto his face.
“Let me be your last.”
Nodding, she couldn’t speak for fear she’d sob. The happiness was difficult to contain. It came spilling out with the tears that fell from her lashes.
“Yes,” she gasped when he didn’t put the ring on her finger. “God, yes! First!”
Thrusting her hand at him, she wanted to scream when he slid the ring onto her finger. Instead, Poppy threw her arms around him and bounced from the window seat, using her momentum to push him onto the floor behind the desk.
On top of him, Poppy didn’t give him a choice about kissing her. She pushed her mouth onto his and squeezed her tongue between his lips, desperate to pour her gratitude into him. The rhythm of their kiss quickly sped up. All she wanted was to be with him. Everything else in the world would come second to them. Poppy didn’t need a ring to know that she was the center of his world, he’d proved that in his actions.
Turner fought for her. He didn’t give up. He stayed, knowing how much she needed him and how their lives would only be complete with each other at their center. His hands curled around her hips, pushing her pelvis