“Will you dance with me?” he asks.
“Of course.” I follow him, to the floor, wondering as we start to dance, why no one joins us. He pulls me close and sways to the music, with everyone watching. I lean my head on his shoulder and let the music wash over me. The music, and my happiness.
As the last words fade away, Landon pulls away from me, and that’s when I get it. For a second, my heart actually stops beating. I watch him drop slowly to one knee. On one level, I can hear the music, getting lower, mellower. I hear a sigh, maybe from my mom, a gasp too. Yet, I’m hardly conscious of anything, but Landon, in front of me, pulling a box out of his pocket, and opening it, offering me the dazzling ring inside.
“You know,” he says softly. “You know everything.”
I nod slowly.
“Will you marry me?”
I close my eyes, somewhere between ecstasy and hysteria and tears. “Yes,” I whisper, as he gets up and catches me in his arms. “Yes, I will.”
“I don’t want to go to Windbreakers, I want to stay and see Uncle Aidan’s new play.”
“It’ll probably still be showing in ten years when you’re sixteen, maybe they’ll let you in then.”
Preston frowns. He’s the spitting image of Landon, especially when he puts on his serious face. He peers into the stroller where his baby sister Penelope is sucking silently on her pacifier, blue eyes wide. “Then Penelope would be ten,” he observes.
“An I’ll be fhirtheen,” Damien says with a sweet grin. He’s the sweetest of my children, with the temperament of an angel and a smile to match.
I spy the car through the glass doors of the hotel. “Okay, let’s go. Uncle Joe is waiting in the car.”
“Uncle Joe!” Preston and Damien set off running. I think of telling them to slow down, but I decide not to bother. Outside, Joe is opening the door of the SUV, ready to make sure they don’t go running off down the street, which I wouldn’t put past them.
My phone rings.
“Hey, Laurie.”
“Hey,” I hear the smile in her voice. “Big party tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah,” I laugh. It’s my birthday, and there’s going to be a party at our home upstate. “I’ve never felt so old.”
“You’ve never been this old,” she replies laughing.
“It has rewards,” I say with a shrug, watching my boys through the glass, as they look up at Joe, probably peppering him with questions, or in Preston’s case, asking about Joe’s daughter Lindsay. She moved to New York to be closer to her father, and Preston has a big crush on her.”
“Yes, it does.” Laurie lowers her voice. “Sometimes, I don’t believe that I’m a partner. I keep seeing myself as that junior associate cramming for the bar exam.”
“I know what you mean.” I’m a senior editor at Gilt Review now, and I still can’t get used to the idea that I’m a boss of many.
Laurie sighs. “Call me when you get to the house. Brett and I will probably come in tonight and sic these mischievous kids on Mrs. Hayes. I plan to enjoy my weekend.”
“Me too,” I reply, laughing. Mrs. Hayes loves being surrounded by the kids, however, and she’ll gladly take Laurie’s kids and mine off our hands, giving me a break I really need, especially for my birthday. Between my work, the social events due to my position at Gilt, as Landon’s wife, as well as my own life, the chance to kick back and just relax is invaluable.
I step through the glass doors in time to see Preston dodging Joe’s arms and running down the sidewalk.
“I’ll call you back,” I tell Laurie, wondering how to run after my son while pushing a baby stroller.
“Daddy!” This time it’s Damien, “Daddy,” he cries louder, running in the same direction as his brother, as fast as his three-year-old legs can carry him.
Landon is stepping out of the car parked behind our SUV. He looks a bit travel weary, but aside from that little detail, in his tailored gray suit, and with his beautiful face, he’s still every bit as devastating as he was the first day I saw him.
He keeps the traveling to a minimum because he can’t stand to be separated from our children for any length of time, and also because we can’t stand to be away from each other.
This time, it’s a Swanson Court in Hong Kong, and it’s almost ready for the grand opening. We all went with him, last weekend, and I came back a few days later with the children, leaving him to finalize plans for the opening while I went back to work. I missed him every second, but I knew without a doubt that his heart was always with me.
Landon lifts the boys in his arms, kisses both their foreheads and then smiles at me over their heads, starting to walk toward me.