I grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. "You were only eighteen, so young. I didn’t want to trap you into a relationship if you weren’t ready. I wanted it to be you who came to me. I wanted you to realize that I was the man of your dreams. The man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. I waited so patiently, Katie. Every day, I sat by the phone, waiting. I didn’t want to be the man who stole your youth if you weren’t ready. When Will told me you were pregnant, I thought, ‘This was it. This is when she’s going to come back to me. She loves me and she’s having my baby. There’s no way she’s not going to come.’ But you never did. When I heard you were giving away the baby—our baby—I hated you. I couldn't believe that you would give away a part of us. But eventually, I understood why. And I went and got him. And we've just been waiting for you to grow up and come back to us."
“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to tell you, Brandon. I really did. I was just too young. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
"I know that now.” I took a deep breath. “You were too young and naïve and I was too old and set in my ways. I knew from the moment I met you that you were my forever love. But I didn’t know if I was yours. I needed to know I was your forever love and not just your first love. So I decided to wait. I decided to let you grow up and do your own thing. If you loved me, really loved me, I knew you would come back to me.”
“I’ve always loved you, Brandon.” She looked at me with passionate eyes. “That’s why I got a job at a company I knew you were buying.”
“The day you applied to Marathon Corporation was the day that my life turned back to color. I was so excited. I knew that this was the moment I had been waiting for. But I knew that I had to be more careful this time. I couldn’t just welcome you into my open and waiting arms. I had to test you, Katie. I didn't want to hurt you, but I couldn't let you back into our son's life without knowing that you weren't going to run again. I needed to know that you were strong enough to go through hell and still come back to me. This isn't a game, Katie. This is for real. This is for love. This is for our life. I needed to know that you were mature enough to deal with a family. A real family. You've already broken my heart once and it killed me. I can't have you breaking our son's heart as well."
“I would never do anything to break his heart.” She whispered softly.
“If you come into our lives and leave again, it would break me and it would break him. He’s already forming a bond with you.” I took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to push you so hard. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I had to know that you would stay, no matter how much I pushed you.”
“Oh, Brandon. I’m not going anywhere.” She leaned toward me and kissed me. “Please don’t test me anymore. I’m sorry I lied about being eighteen.”
“Katie, I want you to remember one thing.” I took her hand and held it to my heart. “It wasn’t that you lied about being eighteen. I can live with a lie. You were young and it happens. It was that you had so many opportunities to tell me the truth and you didn’t. Even to that last day, you told me you were going to a business lunch. I knew there was no business, Katie. I just wanted you to tell me the truth. I wanted you to prove to me that, despite your age, you were an adult.”
“You knew?” Her eyes widened and I nodded slowly.
“I always knew,” I whispered in her ear. “Remember when I talked about being eighteen and first loves? Remember when I told you I was going to be a guest lecturer? Remember when I told you we could get through everything if we were just honest with each other? I gave you so many opportunities to tell me the truth. I so badly wanted you to tell me so that we could live our lives. But it wasn’t to be at that time. You had to grow up.”
“I can’t believe you knew.” She shook her head and I pressed my lips against hers softly. Her fingers ran through my hair and she kissed me back passionately. We fell back onto the bed, our hands exploring each other hungrily. I ran my hands down her back and under her top so that I could feel her skin. My fingers burned as they touched her and I felt a heat rising through me as she bit down on my shoulder.
“Wait just a second.” I jumped off of the bed, ignoring the groans of my body as I walked to my closet and pulled out a small box. I walked back to the bed slowly, and Katie stared up at me with wide eyes.
“Katie.” I got down on my knees and pulled her up so that she was sitting up and not lying down.
“Oh my God.” Her hand flew to her mouth and I smiled.
“This isn’t exactly how I had this planned,” I laughed gently. “I thought we would be on a picnic somewhere and Harry would bring me the ring and stand behind me. I never wanted to do this in the bedroom or in the throes of passion. But I can’t hold back. I don’t want to hold back. I’ve never felt that a moment has been as right as this one is right now.”
“Brandon.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears and I shook my head and smiled.
“I’m doing the talking now.” I grinned as she rolled her eyes at me. “I knew I loved you from the first moment I saw you outside of Doug’s, a place, by the way, we will never let our underage daughters go.”
“We would never have met if I hadn’t gone.” She grinned at me and I gave her a quick kiss before pulling back.
“The day you came into my life with your gorgeous smile and your trusting eyes was the best day of my life. And our relationship was perfect. You were perfect for me. I was perfect for you. We were perfect for each other. I knew that in my heart. I always knew that. But I didn’t want to capture a caterpillar in a jar and keep a butterfly hostage. I needed you to metamorphosize and come back to me. I needed to know that the beautiful butterfly had seen the world and knew that I was the one. And you came back to me, my sweet, Katie. You came back to me, and all I want to do is hold you tight and never let go. I can’t lose you again. I told you once that we were forever, that you were mine. I didn’t mean that I owned you, Katie. I meant that you owned my heart. You were mine and I was forever yours. I love you. I’ve always loved you. Being without you for seven years has aged me more that you’ll ever know. Marry me, my darling. Marry me and make me the happiest man in the world.” I opened the box and slowly took out the ring I had bought for her all those years ago. “Will you marry me, Katie?”