Lucy climbed back into bed and snuggled up as close as she could to Piper.
“How much do I love you guys?” I followed Brody to the door.
“More than all the stars in the sky and the waves in the sea,” they sang together.
“And how much do I love you?” Brody asked them before leaning in close to me and whispering, “Listen to this.”
“More than all the zeros in your new contract.” Piper giggled.
I smacked him on the arm. “You’re terrible.”
“I taught it to them at dinner when you were talking to your mom. Pretty awesome, huh?”
“Go.” I pushed him down the hall. “Good night, girls.”
“Night, Twinkies!” he called over me.
“Night, Mom! Night, Brody!”
“I’m exhausted,” I whined, collapsing onto the couch in the family room.
“No, no. You’re not gonna lay there and fall asleep.” Brody grabbed my hands and tried to pull me back up. “I still have to give you your present. Come on. Up.”
“Where are we going?”
“Outside.”
“Outside? Can’t you bring it here? I’m tired.” I laughed.
“Who’s the pain in the ass now?” he teased, leading me toward the front door. “Let’s go.”
We walked out the front door and he grabbed my hand, pulling me down the stairs and to the right, around the side of the house.
“Uh, last time you led me this way, I lost a tank top.” I giggled, again trying not to step on anything.
He turned back to me. “Keep walking, birthday girl.”
We got to the back of the house and started our way down the hill when a light up ahead caught my eye. I squinted through the darkness and realized it wasn’t a light, but a row of lanterns on the pier.
Our pier.
“What did you do?” I squeezed his hand and grinned at him as we got to the edge of the sand.
“You’ll see.”
We stepped onto the creaky wood and I stopped walking for a minute, taking in how amazing it was. Little silver lanterns lined both sides of the pier, lighting the whole thing up just beautifully.
“Come on.” He gently pulled on my hand again.
As we got closer to the end of the pier, I finally noticed the white box with a perfectly tied red bow sitting at the end.
“What’s that?” I cooed.
He bent over and picked it up, handing it to me. “Happy birthday, Kacie.”
I tugged on one end of the bow and it unraveled smoothly. Wrapping my hand around it so it didn’t drop in the water, I lifted the lid of the box and moved the tissue paper to the side.
Confused, I frowned up at Brody. “My View-Master?”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Look at it.”
I handed him the box to hold as I raised the View-Master to my eyes, aiming toward the lanterns for backlight. Blinking for a second so my eyes could adjust, the first picture I saw was of Lucy, Piper, and I in our matching Wild jerseys from his first home game.
“Oh my God!” I peeked over the top at him. “How did you do this?”
“Keep going.” He laughed.
I pulled the orange tab down. The next picture was of Brody and me walking the red carpet on our way into the Wild Kids charity event last year.
“Holy shit! This is so awesome,” I said, pulling the tab down again.
Picture number three was taken last fall, right in the exact spot we were standing in. It was one of my favorite pictures ever. The sky was painted pink and purple and the sun was setting perfectly right behind my mom and Fred as they exchanged wedding vows.
I anxiously blinked a couple times to clear the tears from my eyes so I could go to the next picture.
This one was taken at Brody’s parents’ house. It was of Brody, me, his mom and dad, Shae, and her new fiancé, Ricky. The picture was a little crooked because we had Lucy take it, but you could clearly see Shae showing off her new engagement ring. Brody’s fear had come true—his sister was going to be Shae May.
“This is just the coolest thing ever, Brody. I want to do this with all my pictures.” I sniffed, pulling the tab again.
Picture five was of Viper, Brody, and the girls from the first time they taught them how to ice skate. Not many kids could say that the first time they ice skated was on a professional hockey rink with two professional hockey players as teachers. The smiles on their faces were priceless, just like this gift.
The next one was from my graduation ceremony several months back. I was grinning at the camera and holding up my certificate while Brody kissed the side of my head. One of my proudest achievements.
I pulled the tab for the next picture and my breath caught. I remembered taking it on Christmas morning. The girls woke us up super early to open their presents. After we were done, I was making monkey bread in the kitchen while Lucy, Piper, and Brody sat on the couch watching Charlie Brown’s Christmas. I’d noticed it had grown pretty quiet in that room and tiptoed over to see what they were doing. Brody and the girls were lying down, sound asleep. Lucy and Piper were each tucked up under his arms with their little heads on his chest.
Picture eight was another favorite of mine, taken the weekend we spent at his house after his first game. The girls were grinning ear to ear, playing blissfully in the fort Brody had made them in his living room the night before. Diesel liked the fort too.
The next picture was of me, Brody, the girls, and Zach. It was taken last Halloween when we all went trick-or-treating together. It was the first time we all hung out together for the girls’ sake. There had been many of those occasions since then, but that one would always be special.
I pulled the tab again.
“What picture are you at?” Brody asked.
I moved the View-Master down just enough to look at him as I answered. “The one of you and Andy from the night you were awarded the William M. Jennings trophy. You looked so hot in your suit.”
Picture number eleven was from just a couple weeks ago when we got another big rainstorm and Brody ran out and bought hot pink rain boots for the girls so they could jump in puddles with him. This picture was the most breathtaking shot of Lucy’s and Piper’s ecstatic faces just as they hit the ground and the water sprayed up around them.
The next one was another recent picture. It was a big group shot of me, Brody, the girls, Derek, Alexa, Tommy, Lauren, and their new son, Max. Tommy had his arm proudly around Brody’s shoulders and the way Alexa was standing, you could really see her pregnant belly starting to pop. I had a five by seven of this one in my bedroom. I would never get sick of looking at it.
Picture thirteen was of a Ferris wheel. I sighed. Our first kiss.
I pulled the tab again and immediately recognized the barn from Brody’s parents’ property. I squinted my eyes to look closer and gasped when I realized that Brody was standing next to it, pointing up at red letters painted on the side that read:
My knees suddenly felt like Jell-o and my hands started shaking.
“What is this last pict—” I lowered the View-Master and froze.
Brody was down on one knee, staring up at me as he held a black ring box open. He hadn’t even said a word yet, but tears started streaming down my cheeks faster than they ever had.
“Kacie, I’ve thought about what I wanted to say for a long time now, and I know I’m probably gonna mess it up, but here goes.” He took a deep breath. “I love you. I love you so damn much it scares me. But what scares me more is the thought of ever losing you. I have no idea what the future holds, or where my career will take me, but I do know that none of it is worth looking forward to if you’re not by my side. Please, let me love you forever. You and the girls. Will you marry me?”