I pull the ring out of my pocket that I’ve been carrying around, waiting for the perfect moment. It’s not in a box because it would be too bulky and obvious.
Georgia’s eyes home in on it and widen. “Chase,” she breathes.
“It’s impossible to freeze time, but I don’t think it’s actually about freezing time but wanting those special moments to last.”
She nods but doesn’t say anything. Hazel, oblivious to what’s happening, looks around at the butterflies, giggling and pointing.
“We can’t freeze the moments, but we can spend the rest of our lives creating them, so many of them it’ll feel like they’re frozen in time.” I drop to one knee and Georgia gasps, tears filling her eyes. “Marry me and spend the rest of our lives creating memories that are worth freezing. But not just with me as my wife,” I add, “but as Hazel’s mom.”
Her becoming Hazel’s stepmom isn’t enough. She loves her as much as I do, and I want us to be a family. I want her to adopt Hazel and raise her as her own.
I extend my hand so she can see the ring. It’s a simple platinum band with a circle diamond in the center with butterflies made out of tiny diamonds hugging both sides. When I saw it, I knew it was the ring for Georgia.
“Yes,” she says, tears trickling down her cheeks. “Yes, I will marry you.”
I slip the ring onto her finger and then stand. Cradling her face in my palms, I tip her head up slightly and kiss her soft and sweet.
Hazel screeches, wanting our attention, and Georgia and I both chuckle into each other’s mouth. “I love you,” I murmur against her lips.
“And I love you.”
“I don’t want to wait,” I tell her later that night, after Hazel is in bed and we’ve finished making love.
We’re both sweating and still catching our breaths, so it throws her off. “Wait for what?”
“To get married.” I roll over onto my side and grip the curve of her hip. “For you to adopt Hazel. For us to add to our little family.” We haven’t talked about having our own children, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about it.
Georgia’s eyes widen. “So let’s not.” She kisses the corner of my mouth. “Let’s elope. Go to Vegas and get married.”
“Your parents and sister would kill us.”
She shrugs. “So, we’ll invite them.”
“You don’t want a big wedding?”
She shakes her head. “I just want to marry you.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s elope.”
Georgia
One Month Later
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Lexi says for the millionth time. “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
I laugh softly, trying not to jostle my arm.
“It’s just like her tattoo,” Chase says. “She’s been transformed from a caterpillar into a butterfly.” He winks my way and grins. I glance down at the work in progress on the inside of my wrist. A single butterfly. When the tattoo artist asked if I wanted it to be colored in, I told him no. The shades of gray represent the me before Chase and the butterfly is who I’ve metamorphosed into because of him.
My thoughts go back to earlier when we said our vows in a little chapel on the Vegas Strip in front of our family.
“I, Chase Matthews, promise to love and cherish you, to protect you for the rest of our lives. I promise to stand by your side, to always support you, to be the person who cheers you on when you spread your wings, and like the beautiful butterfly you are, fly…”
After we said our I dos, Chase surprised me with the papers for me to legally adopt Hazel. I knew I’d be signing them, but I didn’t know he had them rushed to be ready in time for me to sign the day of our wedding. Afterward, we went to a nice restaurant with everyone and celebrated. The babies were all getting tired, and we were about to call it a night, when my mom and dad offered to watch my cousin Micaela’s little ones and Abigail, and Chase’s mom offered to keep Hazel for the night, so we could continue the celebration.
We were walking past a tattoo shop and I told Chase I wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate the occasion. I told him he didn’t need to get one as well. I knew his stance on tattoos—that he didn’t want to permanently mark his body until he found the right one. But he shocked me when he said he would like nothing more than to get one with me.
Chase, not giving a shit how girly some might think it is, insisted on getting a butterfly as well, only his is a bit darker, and with Hazel’s and my name etched in the wings, and it’s on his left pectoral muscle over his heart.