Scream For me

Everyone nodded, game for that idea.

It took a while for everyone to get their things together. Ava disappeared to pack a bag for Warner with everything he might needit took me back to the time I had to do that with Benand Jade called her friend to make sure we had a table and the best service.

When we finally headed down the street, Jade, Ben, and I walked to my car while Noah and Ava got Warner into his baby seat in theirs.

“Dad?” Ben asked when he strapped himself into the backseat.

“Yeah?”

“Warner is cute, right?” “Very,” I said.

“Do you think we can have a brother or a sister, too?”

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror before I glanced at Jade. She had a small smile playing around her mouth.

“I think we can definitely talk about it,” she said.

I grinned. We most definitely could.

What could be better than expanding my family with Jade?

I couldn’t think of anything.

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EPILOGUE – JADE Six Months Later

“L ook at you, all dressed up,” I said when Ben came into the bedroom wearing the tux he’d chosen for his school dance. My heart constricted when he walked into the room. He was growing up so fasttoo fast for me to keep up with.

It had only been six months since I’d moved in with Aaron and Ben and taken on the role of stepmom, but already I was all the way in this game, emotionally attached and such a teary mess about every milestone he achieved.

“Do you think it looks stupid?” he asked. “I think it looks stupid.” He walked to the mirror and studied himself from head to toe. He’d slicked back his hairwith Aaron’s helpand he wore a red bowtie rather than a tie.

“I think you look dashing,” I said.

Aaron appeared at the door and folded his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorpost.

“That’s what Dad said, too,” Ben said, tugging his bowtie. “But I don’t know…do you think she’ll laugh at me?”

Ben had a crush at school and summoned enough courage to ask her out. The cherry on top had been that she’d said yes. Now, she was going to meet him at the school, and she’d told him very specifically that she was wearing a red dress.

“I think she’ll think you look like a prince,” I said. “Girls love it when you dress up for them and make an effort.”

“Really?” Ben asked. “I feel better in jeans.”

“That’s normal, buddy,” Aaron said. “But girls really do like it when you treat them like they’re special.” He winked at me. “And as soon as you realize that you care so much about them that you’re willing to make an effort, they give you something you can’t find just anywhere.”

“What do they give you?” Ben asked, his eyes hopeful. I could see his mind leaning toward candy or a cool new toy.

“They give you their hearts.”

Ben groaned. “That doesn’t sound cool at all.”

Aaron laughed and reached for Ben’s hair to ruffle it, stopping himself before he messed up his hair.

“One day, you’ll get it.”

“Is that what happened with you and Jade?” Ben asked and looked between the two of us.

Aaron grinned at me, his gaze filled with warmth and affection.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Something like that.”

Ben tilted his head, thinking about it. “Yeah, okay,” he said.

“Okay?”

Ben nodded. “If it’s like you and Jade, it can’t be all that bad.”

Aaron chuckled. “That’s my boy.” He held up his hand, and Ben highfived him. “Let’s get going. You don’t want to be late.”

“Do you think she’ll like the flowers I got her?” Ben asked, fidgeting with nerves again now that his mind was back on the topic.

“She’ll love them,” I said. He’d chosen red poppies for her because they would match her dress. It was adorable.

While Aaron straightened his bowtie, I snapped a few photos of Ben and sent them to Olivia.

He’s so handsome! Olivia replied almost immediately.

You’ve got to be the cutest mom in the world, too!

I rolled my eyes, but grinned. I’d never thought I would fall into an already existing family like this, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I loved Ben like he was my own, and I couldn’t wait for the rest of our lives togetherthe three of us.

We headed to the car, and Ben hopped in the backseat. Aaron and I drove him to the school, where we watched him give her flowers and tell her how pretty she looked in her dress and how she melted at the compliments.

Just before they walked in, when her back was turned, Ben flashed us the biggest smile. He was happyit had worked.

“Turns out you were right,” I said, nudging Aaron.

“About what?” he asked.

“Girls do like it when you make an effort.” Aaron chuckled. “I have something to show you.” “What?” I asked.

He opened the car door for me and got behind the wheel after I was seated. He drove away from the schoolwe would pick Ben up laterand took me to a park. We climbed out and walked through the trees and onto the lawn drenched in moonlight. The stars were bright, the sky clear, and the breeze was fresh and crisp.

Somewhere from beyond the trees, music started. It was the sound of a lone violin singing into the night.

“What is that?” I asked.

The sound of another violin sounded, and then the sound of a cello until a whole bunch of them made a sweet melody.

“Let’s go look,” I said. Were we intruding on something? What if it is an event?

I walked through the trees, and Aaron followed behind me. When I stepped through the trees onto the next manicured lawn, candles had been put all over the grass, lighting up the night. A string quartet played music to the side, and a red blanket was laid between the candles.

“Oh, I think this is” I turned around while I talked to face Aaron to tell him that we were probably intruding on someone’s special moment when I found him on one knee behind me.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “What…” My eyes widened when I realized what was happening. This was our special moment.

“You’re everything, Jade. I don’t have all the perfect words to tell you how much you mean to me. All I can say is that I was incomplete until I met you, and I don’t want to do another day without you by my side as my wife. Marry me?”

I blinked at him, tears welling up in my eyes.

His eyes were filled with questions, and I glanced down at the black velvet box with the perfectly sized diamond in it.

He was asking me to marry him, to be his wife. He was asking me to share the rest of my life with him. He was offering to give me the world.

I wanted nothing more than to wake up at his side every day for the rest of forever.

“Okay,” I whispered, the tears rolling down my cheeks. “I’ll marry you.” Aaron grinned and jumped up. He grabbed me tightly and kissed me.

“I love you so much,” he said.

“I love you more.”

He shook his head. “Impossible. Here.” He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto my finger. It fits perfectly.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Olivia and Ava together are a mean team,” he said with a grin, and I laughed. My friends had my back, and it meant so much to me.

“Dance with me,” Aaron said, nodding at the red blanket between the candles.

I nodded, and he took my hand, leading me onto the blanket. I stumbled, and Aaron wrapped an arm around me, pulling me tightly against him so that he caught me and blocked my fall. He kept me upright.

“I’ve got you,” he said.