Ryan's Love - C.A. Harms Page 0,60

like now.

Olivia noticed Amber’s calm demeanor at the same time I did, and when my daughter smiled up at me, I winked. Amber’s love for this place was one of the biggest reasons I had chosen the water’s edge as the place to ask Amber to share her life with us, forever.

I removed my arm from Olivia’s shoulder and turned to face Amber as Olivia stepped to the side, allowing herself the perfect view.

I took Amber’s hands in mine, and she looked up at me before shifting her eyes toward Olivia. “What are the two of you up to?” she asked

“Do you know how much we both love you?” I asked.

Her throated bobbed as she swallowed, and her eyes instantly filled with tears. A gentle nod told me she thought she knew. But she truly had no idea. She couldn’t ever comprehend the amount of love I felt for her, and the love I saw in Olivia’s blue eyes toward Amber was just as overwhelming. Each day our love for her only grows deeper and stronger.

“I love you both too, very much.” The emotion in her voice made her words come out as a whisper.

“You are so amazing and compassionate. Your kindness and willingness to accept us, flaws and all, confirms just how perfect you are for us.” I had rehearsed what I wanted to say, yet nothing was coming out the way I had planned. With Amber’s big doe eyes looking up at me, holding such love, my mind was becoming scrambled.

I lowered myself down on one knee and kept her hands held firmly in mine. “From the first time I saw you kicking the hell out of your tire,” I started, and she smiled at me, “I knew you were a breath of fresh air—feisty, but just what I needed. Even in those first moments, I felt like in one way or another, you would change my life. Whether it be as a friend or more, I just knew I wanted you in my life.”

She blinked, and a tear fell down her cheek. “I felt the same way.”

“Good.” I lowered my left hand and reached into the pocket of my jeans. Without looking up, I heard her breath hitch when she saw the ring I held between my fingers.

“I’m glad you felt that way too, because each day since then it has been next to impossible not to imagine you in my life. Olivia and I are asking you to become our family. We want to share every smile and all our laughter with you. Even in the bad times, it’s you we want to have helping build us back up.”

Amber’s gaze switched to Olivia, and my sweet girl offered her a reassuring nod.

“Baby,” I said, pulling Amber back to me, “we don’t want to spend another day without you right here where you belong, with us.”

I lifted the ring higher as her lower lip quivered.

“Marry me,” I said.

She covered her mouth with a hand, and the tears fell heavier. She lowered it and opened her lips to speak, only to take in a deep, calming breath before trying once more.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”

The nervousness that had settled deep within my stomach was instantly replaced with an overwhelming urge to hold her close. I slid the ring onto her finger and stood quickly before pulling her against my chest. “I love you, Am. So much.”

Tilting her head back, she looked up at me and smiled. “I thought I had felt love in the past. I was sure of it. But now I know it was just an illusion I’d created in my mind, because nothing has ever felt like this. Nothing has ever given me the joy you and Olivia give me. Everything else was just the path that led me to the two people I was meant to love.”

She reached out for Olivia and pulled her closer. “I know now that anything I felt before wasn’t love because you two are the ones that taught me what true love is.”

***

Amber

Ryan was hovering over me, grinning in that satisfied way I love so much. His chest heaved as he tried to regain his composure. He was still securely tucked between my thighs as my legs remained locked around him. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss against my lips and lowered his body closer to mine.

“I think each time I’m inside you, it gets more intense.” He kissed me once more before rolling to the