Chapter 97 - 2.18

The twins seemed to vibrate in their seats as we got to the park. "Hold on, you two!" They both froze to listen, "do not leave my side until we get to the playground, okay?"

"Okay!" They both sang.

We got out of the car and I put Addie into her stroller. The twins impatiently followed beside me as we made our way to the park. The kids searched around with their eyes for Willow as I looked for Marie.

"Weren't they going to meet us here? They left the school before us."

"Momma! There's Willow!" Archer gasped as he pointed over to the park walking trail entrance. Willow waved her arms above her head while jumping up and down.

"Over here!" She called before rushing onto the trail. The twins suddenly grabbed either handle of Addie's stroller.

"Come on, Momma!" They called before rushing off, pushing Addie in front of them.

"Archer! Ashley! Stop!" I hollered as I rushed after them. My heart started beating in my throat when they ran out of my reach. I paused as they ran down the path and looked for Marie or Willow. What the hell? What has gotten into them?!

I ran down the trail but slowed to a jog as I heard the twins and Willow's voices coming from around the trail curve that went around a large bush.

"Archer! Ashley!" I growled, "what in the world do you..." I froze as I came into view of them, "what?"

Marie had tears in her eyes as her mouth nearly broke from such a big smile. Willow, Archer, Ashley, and Addie in her stroller were to her left. At her right was Jayden with a lovesick smile.

"You're not supposed to be back until Sunday. And why are you here? What's going on Marie?"

She began crying as she picked up Addie and held her. I looked to Jayden as he walked over to me and I was confused when he grabbed my hands in his.

"Surprise," he whispered as I saw he was breathing harder than usual. I could even feel his pulse in his hands.

"What..."

I stopped as Jayden shook his head and smiled. "I know you don't like the attention of strangers, but I also wanted to surprise you." One hand left mine and ċȧrėssed my cheek, "have I told you how thankful I am for you?"

I fought myself not to blush, "do we really have to talk about this right now?" I asked as I glanced to Marie before looking back to him. Jayden removed his hands from my cheek, making me even more confused.

"Momma!" The twins hollered and I looked to them in shock. They never made that much noise unless something was really wrong. They both had giant smiles on their faces that I had never seen before.

"Will," Jayden said in a hesitant way and I looked to him with confusion.

My heart stopped as I saw him and my body became hot. Not like when his or my pheromones took over, but in a way I hadn't felt before. His eyes were wet and his confident hands shook. One knee was bent as the other knee was on the ground. In his hand that didn't hold mine was a small black box with a thin silver band.

Jayden cleared his throat, "I know our relationship started off the wrong way but, especially over this past year, I have come to love you more than I ever knew was possible. Now I can't imagine a life without you at my side and don't know how I lived so long without you."

I looked away slightly as I felt my heart racing but my eyes came back to him as I heard him choke up. His face showed desperation and nervousness.

"I know I am not perfect and still mess up, but I promise to continue to work on it for the rest of my life. I know I already asked you, but I want to do it right." His hand squeezed mine as he shook more. "I love you Will. Will you marry me?"

I looked over to the twins to see their hopeful faces as they nodded to me. I chuckled lightly as I looked back to him, "I already said it, moron." Jayden paused as I realized he wanted a proper response, "yes."

I expected Jayden to take my hand and place the band on it, but was startled when he sprang to his feet. He wrapped one arm around my hɨps and the other around my ċhėst and pulled me into him. He kissed me with such strength that my back arched and he had to hold me up. His tongue circled and suċkėd on mine in excitement and ŀust. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't think of anything other than pulling us closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I let out a mȯȧn and bit his lip while shivering.

I finally gained some of my mind and pushed my hands against his ċhėst, "the kids," I whispered. Jayden took a deep breath before lessening his grip so that we both stood. He released the arm around my ċhėst and smiled to the twins.

"Come on, my secret agents."

The twins came running over and hugged my waist as they began cheering. Jayden wrapped his arm around all of us in a group embrace. After a bit, Jayden finally released us and the twins finally let go of me.

Marie rushed over, "can I see?"

I laughed as I looked to Jayden, "I think you forgot something."

He chuckled before taking my hand, placing the ring on my finger, and kissing my hand. I rolled my eyes and looked to Marie as she grabbed my hand. She looked to the ring with excitement as the kids began running around.

"Secret agents," Jayden called again and they rushed over to him. He positioned himself the same way as before, with one knee bent and the other on the ground.

They looked to me with confusion before looking back to Jayden as something in his hand made a noise. He pulled out three thin, silver chains that each held a miniature version of the ring I was given.

"Ashley, Archer," he smiled to them in a lovesick way. "Will you let me be part of your family?"

They looked to him with shock as they seemed to not know this would happen. "We are already family, Dad." Ashley whispered.

Jayden nodded, "but can we make it official and let me marry Momma?"

The twins looked to me before looking back with confidence, "yes."

He hugged them tightly before placing a necklace on each of them. "I love you both so, so much. I'm so happy to be your Dad." They hugged him back and each kissed his cheek before releasing him. He placed the third necklace in his coat pocket, "this will be for Addie when she gets big enough."

I smiled to Marie, "so you were in on this?"

She giggled, "sorry! Ean and Jayden were classmates in college, so they knew how close we were becoming." Willow bounced over to me.

"Daddy had me help too!"

I chuckled, "well you all did a great job keeping this a secret. I had no idea." I lightly slugged Jayden's shoulder, "since I already answered."

Marie tugged on my hand slightly, "you should've heard his original ideas. I kept having to remind him to keep it realistic."

"Thank you for that." I looked to the twins, "so do you still want to go to the playground?"

"Yeah!" They cheered along with Willow. I took Addie and placed her in the stroller as Marie followed the kids back out to the playground.

Jayden came over to me as I stood up from buckling in Addie and wrapped his arms around me lightly.

"So that is why you were talking with the kids for so long every night?" He nodded but paused as he saw me frown slightly, "so why'd you keep hanging up on me?"

He sighed, "sorry, I didn't mean to. I was worried I might let something slip." He ċȧrėssed my cheek with his finger tips, "did you miss me?"

I scoffed, "don't get ahead of yourself."

Jayden slid his fingers down my neck and across my collar bone. "That's too bad," he said with a smirk. "I missed you like crazy."

I sighed before standing on the tips of my toes and kissed him quickly.. I slipped out of his grasp, "come on, the kids are waiting."