[UNEDITED][JASON]

        Saturday came far quicker than I thought that it would. This was the day where I was going to ask Erin to be my wife.

        I know it might seem too soon for some people, but those who know the both of us know what we’ve had to deal with and the things we have faced together. Nothing would make me happier than her agreeing to be my wife.

        Well, that would be the second best thing to happen to me this week, the first being finding out that I was going to be a father and that Erin was the mother of that child. I know I thought it was too soon, but when she told me that she was pregnant, I had never felt a feeling like it before.

        There was a need to protect both Erin and our child. I could already feel the love building and it wasn’t even anything more than a seed right now since she was only a month gone, but I could feel the love for the child already and I couldn’t wait to meet it, knowing the day it was born would be the most magical day of my life.

        “Is everything in place?” I panicked to Chloe. Without her help, I don’t think I would be able to pull this off because I’ve spent the entire week worrying about all the things which could go wrong.

        I even thought that she would refuse the proposal and make me feel like a total fool, but Chloe managed to convince me that wasn’t going to happen because even a blind person could see that Erin loved me.

        “Stop panicking Jase. Everything is perfect,” Chloe reassured me as she put her hand on my shoulder.

        “This is really happening. Isn’t it?” I asked. I put my hand in my pocket and pulled the box out, opening it to look at the ring for the millionth time that week.

        I had taken Matthew with me when I bought it. I knew what I was looking for, but I needed his opinion to make sure it was the right one. It wasn’t anything fancy or expensive, it was a simple silver band with a stone of some description in the middle – I didn’t ask about it when I bought it because Matthew and I were too busy saying how beautiful it was and how it was the perfect ring for someone like Erin.

        “In five minutes time you are going to be engaged for all the right reasons. It’s not going to be because you feel like you have no other option or because you were jealous of my relationship with Matthew, it’s going to be because you love this woman and you really do want to spent the rest of your life with her,” Chloe grinned.

        “How do you think I’ll do on the father front?” I chuckled.

        “I think—“

        “—You’ve got nothing to worry about. You are going to be an incredible father and that baby is lucky to have a man like you as its father,” Matthew finished her sentence for her as he appeared besides her, wrapping his arm around her waist and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

        “We’ve seen the way you are with Amanda when you think we’re not looking. You treat that girl like she’s the most important thing in the world and you will do anything to see her happy, even if that means sitting through Frozen fifty times and spending your money on the latest merchandise. You spoil her and we know how much you love her,” Chloe added and I couldn’t help the smile which now covered my face, my eyes moving over to the door which Erin was going to be walking through in the next couple of minutes as she finished up at her office for the day.

        I had tried to tell her that she should be at home and she shouldn’t be putting too much stress on herself, this being her first baby and everything, but she was stubborn and she didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say to her. All I could do was tell her to be careful and make sure she put herself before she worried about anyone else.

        “And don’t think I haven’t seen the way you dote on Damien either. I know he’s trouble and that he gives you a hard time, but you’ve never given up on him or pushed him away, you’ve just used all your patience with him and done nothing but the best for my son. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Damien either,” Anita joined the conversation from the other side of the room, her eyes on mine as a huge grin covered her face.

        “What do you mean?”

        “Damien told me that if he could pick anyone to be his daddy then he would pick you. Of all the men in the world he’s ever met, you’re the one he would pick to be his father if he had the choice,” Anita told me and I could have cried for a moment at the sweetness of the whole thing.

        “If I have a son, I guess I would kind of imagine him to be like Damien. Not as energetic mind but other than that, I wouldn’t mind a son like Damien,” I replied after a second of thinking.

        Damien could be a nightmare and he could push every single one of my buttons, but he was a strangely sweet kid and, even when you wanted to kill him, he could still make you love him. There had been times when I wanted to strangle him but I had still grown to love him and he, apparently, had also grown to love me too.

        He had been over the house every single day after school for the last week. I had picked him up, Erin had cooked him dinner while we made a new Lego model and then Anita picked him up when she was done at work. I had even managed to enlist his help in asking Erin to marry me and Amanda was helping too, mostly because she insisted and she has already labelled herself as a bridesmaid for the big day.

        “Where is he anyway?” Anita asked, looking around the room.

        “Probably with Amanda. Those two seem to be inseparable,” Matthew pointed out while Chloe smiled. Even at five, Matthew wasn’t happy that his little girl was hanging around with a boy and he wanted to keep her away from Damien, which was never going to happen.

        “Look. She’s home,” Anita giggled like she was a teenager again, pointing out of the window where Erin had just parked her car and was now walking towards the house.

        “Damien. Amanda. She’s here,” I called and I have never seen two children run so quickly, the both of them stood in front of me, Damien had paint all over his clothes while Amanda was covered in glitter and coloured pens. Their parents could kill me later and I wouldn’t even object.

        “What a—“

        “They wanted to help. I wasn’t going to tell them no,” I shrugged, stopping Matthew before he could even say another word.

        “What are you up to Parker?” Matthew replied quickly.

        “Showing you how to propose to the woman you love, Jenkinson,” I laughed coolly. Matthew grinned and then disappeared into the kitchen with Chloe and Anita where Braydon, Charlotte, Marcus and Oliver were all waiting to see what Erin’s answer would be. We had all had our differenced with each other but they were also in my life.

        Charlotte and Oliver had been the two people I was most worried about when I told them I was going to ask Erin to marry me. Charlotte was surprisingly happy for me and told me that I was making the right decision, she told me that she saw how happy Erin made me and she wanted for me to feel like that every single day.

        Oliver was, understandably, a little upset when I told him. But once the two of us had cleared the air and had a proper conversation with each other, in which we established that I never slept with Erin while they were together and that he now loved her brother, he said marrying her was the right thing to do. He told me he had never seen her happier than when she was with me and he hoped I could do everything for her he had never been able to do.

        Marcus was just Marcus, claiming that marriage was for cowards who were prepared to sign their life away to one person while Braydon didn’t really care either way. I am pretty sure he was only here to see Chloe because he was never really going to be over her, even if the both of them are now married, the feelings were always going to be there.

        You never forget your first love. They are the one who shaped and gave you the outlook you have on love, whether you remain with them or end up with another, it’s their love which defines how you see other people in terms of love. I was just lucky that my first love was someone who showed me love was something special and, when you had the right person, you would do anything to make sure you never let them go.

        “I didn’t expect you two to be here,” Erin chuckled as she walked in the door and closed it behind her, quickly bending down to give Amanda and Damien a kiss on the head.

        “Uncle Jason has something to ask you,” Amanda grinned.

        “And we’re here to help him do it,” Damien added proudly. I could see her eyes flickering between the two children, probably taking in their dirty appearance from whatever it was they had done.

        “And what does Uncle Jason need to ask me?” Erin asked amused.

        “Well—“

        “Erin, when I first met you in that bar nine months ago I never thought I would fall in love with you. I was there to drown my sorrows and meeting you was by chance but since that night, you have been the only woman I think about. I know our story isn’t a conventional one nor what people expect, but what I do know is that I am ready to write a new chapter of our story, a chapter where we spend the rest of our lives together,” I paused as I got down on my knee and pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it to show her the ring. “You are the only woman I want to be with, Erin. You have changed me in so many ways and you have made me a better person, a stronger person. You are my world and I don’t want to run the risk of ever losing you. So, will you, Erin Brooke—“

        “Marry Uncle Jason?” Amanda finished for me, but I didn’t even care, I just smiled and continued to look at Erin. The shock covering her face and the tears in her eyes as she took in the words I had just said.

        “I, Jason—“

        “It’s one word. That’s all you need to say,” Damien said with one of the most serious expressions I have ever seen on a child’s face.

        “Yes. Of course I will marry you,” Erin grinned as she came down to the floor and threw her arms around my neck, the tears rolling down her cheeks and I felt her lips quickly meet mine before she pulled back.

        “That was more than one word. Silly Erin,” Damien pointed out and I couldn’t help but laugh. Though I pushed that to the side as I took hold of Erin’s finger and slid the ring on, kissing it as I did so to show her that this was now forever; she was going to be stuck with me and there was nothing she could do to ever escape me.

        “I love you Jason,” Erin grinned, I finally stood up so that I was towering over her and I looked down at her.

        “I love you too Erin,” I smiled back. My lips were so close to hers and I was about to kiss her when I heard both Amanda and Damien giggling, pointing at the two of us.

        “Don’t mind us,” Damien laughed.

        “Keep it PG. That’s what mummy tells daddy,” Amanda added and then I remembered the piece of paper the two of them had been holding, I wanted to know what they had been up to so I settled for wrapping my arm around Erin’s waist and putting a kiss on the top of her head for now.

        “I bet mummy has been telling daddy that,” I heard Erin mutter next to me and I didn’t need to ask what that meant. In fact, I didn’t even want to think about what the hell it meant because I didn’t want to know what Matthew and Chloe had been up to with each other while Amanda was in the house.

        “What’s that banner for then?” I asked.

        “This. Oh it’s just something,” Damien smiled as he and Amanda walked away from each other and pulled the banner open revealing what they had done. Both their handprints were on the paper, both of them had attempted to write their name under their handprint so we would know which was which, there were pictures of Erin and I stuck across the banner and in the middle of it read the words Well Done Jason and Erin. We love you.

        I knew that someone must have helped them with this because there was no way they would have been able to write that on their own but it was their words and that’s what counted to me. I loved it and it was certainly sweet of the both of them.

        There was suddenly a rounding chorus of congratulations as everyone appeared from the kitchen, each of them releasing a party popper over Erin and I as they walked over to where we stood, offering us words of happiness on our engagement. They also managed to slip in that they wanted an invite to the wedding now and that they had better be considered important enough to be somewhere near the front, not just shoved at the back with everyone else.

        “Since everyone is in a celebrative mood. Matthew and I also have some news we wanted to share with you,” Chloe spoke when the noise and excitement had finally died down.

        “You’re not pregnant. Are you?” Erin suggested immediately as a joke but the grins covering both Chloe and Matthew’s face told us that was what they had wanted to tell us. This was certainly turning into a day of surprises but I couldn’t have been happier than I was right now.

        “We found out this morning. We have an appointment on Monday. But we’re having another baby,” Matthew had the biggest smile ever covering his face.

        “I am so happy for you two,” I said as they finally joined Erin and I on the other side of the room, Matthew had a glass of champagne in one hand and Chloe had lemonade on her glass. The other four people around us were talking to each other, enjoying their champagne with smiles on their faces.

        “Here’s to the three new people joining our slightly weird and somewhat dysfunctional family,” Chloe toasted, her head against Matthew’s chest and his arm around her shoulder while Erin had her hand sitting on my stomach and I had my hand sitting on her hip.

        This was my family. This was the life I had fought for. This was everything I had ever wanted and now I had finally gotten it, there was no way in hell I was letting it go.