It Started with a Snap by Piper James

Epilogue

Ethan

Two months later…

“Merry Christmas, baby. Merry Christmas, baby.”

I said the words first to Ember, giving her a quick kiss before bending over to speak them to her slightly-rounded abdomen and pressing my lips against it, as well. Ember gave me a sleepy smile as I handed her a steaming mug.

“Thank you,” she said, humming as she took a sip of the coffee.

Her doctor told her she had to cut back to one cup per day because it was safer for the baby, and God forbid anyone try to take it away from her or tell her she shouldn’t have it. I smiled as I recalled Noah trying to say something to Ember about quitting caffeine entirely at a group breakfast a few weeks ago—like he was some kind of fucking pregnancy expert—and Belle shouting “duck and cover!” before tucking her head between her knees and covering it with her arms.

But my girl didn’t explode like everyone expected her to. She just smiled, took another sip of her coffee while flipping a middle finger at my brother. He’d narrowed his eyes like he was going to clap back with some smart-assed comment, but when I’d put my arm around Ember’s shoulder and stared at him, he’d backed off with a smirk.

I knew what that smirk was about, and I returned it shamelessly. Noah liked to claim he knew I was in love with Ember before I did. That he’d known since the day I told him about that awful drunken scene between her and me at Chase’s. And he loved rubbing it in about how right he was. He may have grown up a lot in the last year or so, but he was still Noah.

“Okay, present time,” I said, rubbing my palms together. “You sit down, and I’ll play Santa.”

The space under our Christmas tree was packed with wrapped gifts of all shapes and sizes. We were meeting up with everyone else at Belle and Ryder’s later, and we’d take most of the presents with us. But there were several I wanted her to open now, when it was just the two of us.

Handing Ember a wrapped box, I said, “This one first.”

She grinned and tore into it, throwing shreds of paper everywhere before pulling the lid from the box. Smiling, she pulled the tiny black bodysuit from the tissue paper and held it up.

“Stud muffin,” she read, chuckling before looking back up at me. “What if the baby is a girl?”

“Present number two,” I said, giving her a box that was identical in shape and size to the first.

She ripped it open, laughing as she pulled out a second bodysuit, this one pink with the word “Princess” scrawled across the front under a glittery crown. Her eyes glistened with some emotion I couldn’t define before she looked back up at me with a smirk.

“What if it’s a boy, but he wants to wear the princess one?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I look amazing in pink, so I’m sure my kid will, too.”

That must’ve been the right answer, because her smile widened. I bent at the waist to kiss her mouth, and she tugged at my t-shirt, trying to pull me down on top of her.

“No. No,” I said, pulling away before I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. “Those gifts were for the baby. I haven’t given you your present yet.”

“Oh, did you put a bow on it for me?” she asked, her hand darting toward the waistband of my flannel pajama pants.

“Easy, tiger,” I said, dodging away from her. “We’ll get to that soon enough. But first… Wait here.”

I darted from the room, running down the hall to my home office, where I’d stashed her present in the oversized closet. I’d already put a dolly in there with it, knowing it would make moving the large curio cabinet into the living room easier.

I walked backward down the hall, pulling it along with me, stopping just out of sight in the hallway.

“Close your eyes,” I called out.

“Okay. They’re closed,” she responded, and I peeked around the corner to see her squinting in my direction.

“Nope,” I said. “Close your eyes for real, or no present.”

She sighed loudly, but when I peeked around the corner again, she was facing forward with her eyes firmly closed. I quickly rolled the cabinet into the middle of the living room and used an extension cord to plug it in. Each of the small cubbies lit up, and I opened the top drawer, pulling out the new addition to her collection I’d secured inside a soft towel. Placing it in the middle, I turned back to Ember.

“Okay, you can look now,” I said.

Her eyes popped open, then widened almost comically as she took in the piece of furniture. She stood, shuffling over to run her fingers over the smooth, glossy wood. When she saw the dolphin statue I placed in the middle cubby, she started to cry. Two adult dolphins flanking a baby carved from delicate crystal, sitting on a small wooden base that had my last name and the year etched into it.

“This is beautiful,” she said, sniffling. “Sorry. God, pregnancy has made me so weepy.”

“I love how weepy you are,” I said, kissing her temple. “Do you like the cabinet?”

“I love it,” she said. “It’s beautiful. Where did you find something like this for all my dolphins?”

“I built it,” I said, shrugging when her mouth fell open. “I noticed the dolphins all over your apartment and decided this would make a good Christmas present.”

“You’ve been working on this for two months?” she asked, and I nodded.

She started crying again, kissing me through her tears and telling me how amazing and thoughtful I was. I laughed, then laughed even harder when she threatened to castrate me if I told anyone about how sappy she was being this morning.

I hugged her tightly against me, promised I wouldn’t tell a soul, and kissed her forehead before pulling back. I pressed my palm to her cheek, and she leaned into it for a second before turning her head to press her mouth against it.

“I love you so much,” I said, my voice cracking with emotion. “And now it’s time for my Christmas gift.”

“Oh, it’s under the tree,” she said, attempting to pull out of my arms.

When I refused to release her, she looked back up at me with a confused expression. I shook my head and, clasping both if her hands in mine, pulled her over to stand beneath a sprig of mistletoe I’d hung from the ceiling in the entryway.

Grinning, she lifted up and kissed me. I reached a hand in my pocket, gripping the small box and pulling it out and hiding it behind my back.

Locking gazes with Ember after our kiss ended, I said, “Ember Moore, all I want for Christmas is you.”

I sang the words to the popular tune, bringing it down an octave from the original. Ember shivered—just as she always did when I sang—and her eyes lit with that familiar fire I’d never, ever tire of. Giving her a small, nervous smile, I took a big step back and dropped to one knee.

Ember gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as I pulled the box from behind my back and flipped it open. Nestled inside was the engagement ring I’d commissioned from a jeweler in Los Angeles I’d done some work for. A round center stone, weighing in at just over one and a half carats was set in a wide, white-gold band with filigree dolphins on each side.

“Ember, I know we’ve only been together for a few months, and we kind of did this whole thing backwards,” I said, pausing when she snorted a teary laugh, “but of three things I am absolutely certain.”

I plucked the ring from its satin nest and tossed the box aside before grasping her left hand in mine.

“Number one—I never knew what love was until I fell in love with you. I thought I did, but you proved me wrong when you brought all that fire and sass into my life. You taught me how to enjoy the world around me, how to let loose and be free, and how to love with my whole heart, unconditionally.

“Number two—our baby lucked out, having you as his or her mom. I can’t wait to start this journey together, and while I’d love to do it as a married couple, I never want you to think that little bean in there is the reason I’m proposing to you right now. Just as I asked you to move in here before I knew about the baby, I would be asking you to marry me right now even if he or she didn’t exist. Because my life is not complete without you in it, and I really, really want to lock you down.

“Number three—I need you to tell me what you want.”

She grinned, wiggling her fingers. “I want you to ask the question.”

My smile grew so wide, my cheeks hurt as I slid the ring up her finger and asked, “Ember, my love, my life, mother of my child, will you make me the luckiest man alive and become my wife?”

“Yes,” she shouted, laughing as I leapt to my feet with a whoop and spun her around.

We kissed, and my hands slipped under her shirt, but she swatted them away and took a step back. She looked somehow…nervous, swallowing thickly before shuffling over to the tree. Bending over, she grabbed a small, rectangular gift and brought it back to me.

I stared at her for a moment, trying to read her mood, but she shook her head before nodding at the present in my hand. I tugged at the paper, ripping it open to reveal the back of a picture frame.

“You were wrong,” Ember said, her voice cracking as I flipped it over to look at the picture inside. “I’m not the mother of your child.”

My eyes flew up from the fuzzy black and white ultrasound picture to meet hers, confusion coursing through me. I knew she’d gone for a checkup last week, but she didn’t tell me she had an ultrasound scheduled. I would’ve insisted on going with her, despite her protests, had I known. At my confused expression, the corners of her mouth lifted in a nervous smile.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m not the mother of your child,” she repeated. “I’m the mother of your children.”