Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Eddie

I look around the room, and realise everyone is here, including a medic. "I'm fine. Can everyone get out?" Everyone moves to leave, even Callie. "Not you, Callie." She looks at me and sits back down in the chair beside me. "You're pregnant?" I have so many questions, and I figure I may as well start there.

"I am," she says, not offering me any more information.

"Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"I only found out just before I came here. I've never had regular periods, so I didn't think anything of it until the doctor asked to run some tests. To be honest, I didn't know if I was going to keep it."

"Why not?"

"Because we're messed up. I failed the first time around, and your reaction confirms how you feel."

"Callie, I was expecting a different reaction from you is all, and wasn't expecting that news, but this changes nothing. I want to marry you and I want a life with you. And while kids weren't something I was expecting, or thinking of straight away, we can do this. We may be screwed up and have both made lots of mistakes in our past, but together we can figure it out."

"I don't know, it all seems so fast," she says.

"If you asked me two days ago, I would have said the same thing, but you need to watch this. If you still think it's all crazy, then I'll drop the marriage idea, but I'm not leaving you again. No matter what you decide to do." I get up from the day lounge I was lying on and go in search of my laptop.

Callie watches me in silence, but I know it's here. Though, in retrospect, getting up probably wasn't a smart idea. I find it in a closet with the rest of the crap I brought in earlier, then sit it down next to her and wait for it to load. The few minutes that go by feel like hours.

"What's so important that I need to watch?" she asks.

"Your son, he's brilliant."

She smiles, watching as the screen lights up, and I skip forward to where I paused it earlier. Beau's face pops up on the screen, and while I see her sadness, I see pure love light up her face. Call me sappy, but the thought of her looking at our child like that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"Hey, Mum, me again. I bet when I died you expected that to be it, but you can't get rid of me that easily."

Callie has tears in her eyes and laughs at his joke.

"So, I take it Eddie asked you to marry him. And you said no, didn't you? Don't overthink it or use your past as an excuse. I'll ask you what I asked him. Do you love him?"

She looks over at me. "Well?" I ask.

"Yes, I love you," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Now, close your eyes and imagine it's ten years from now. The door swings open at the end of the day, and you've cooked a nice meal. Who's coming home to you? And last, imagine Eddie dies, does it hurt your heart? Does panic set in? You know life is short, and you can't ignore how you feel because you're scared. I love you, and you have my blessing. Now, go back to the start of the video and see how much effort we put into this proposal."

I start the video over for her and she watches and laughs in places.

"So, this was all him?" she says.

"Pretty much. But when he said it, well, it didn't sound crazy, it just makes sense," I say, getting down on one knee. "So, I'm going to ask you again, will you marry me? We have so much to talk about and a lifetime to figure it out. We are far from perfect, but you know what? I want to be flawed with you. I want to get old with you by my side, holding my hand when times get hard. And I know things will get hard because that's what life is all about, but with you by my side, the hard things never seem as bad. You're the missing piece I have been looking for all my life. When I'm with you, everything else fades away, and I feel like everything is right in the world."

"Yes," she blurts out.

I slide the ring on her finger. It's nothing flashy or oversized—Delilah told me Callie is elegant and something simple, yet beautiful, is what she'd like.

"It's perfect," she gushes.

"So, we're having a baby," I say.

"I'm scared," she admits.

"It's okay to be scared. Hell, I'm scared, too, but together we can figure it out. He'll be loved, something I never had growing up." I don't talk about my past very often, but one thing I never felt from my parents was love.

"He?" she says, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Or she, but I think these powerful swimmers have made a boy."

She playfully slaps me as I pull her to my chest.

Last night, after I spent what felt like seconds with Callie, I was whisked away to wrap up our tour. And that meant meeting fans and talking to reporters and vloggers, or whatever they call themselves, and setting the record straight because a pregnancy bombshell and the speculation of her saying no to my marriage proposal would be everywhere by tomorrow. Mickki did say he wanted to go out with a bang.

But all I want to do is hurry back to Callie and talk to her before she can worry herself out of marrying me and having my baby. When I, or Beau, came up with this idea, I'd planned on her being in my room, so I made sure her sister had her own room.

When we finally get to the hotel as the sun is coming up, I crawl into bed next to her and pull her in against me. I need to hold her in my arms to believe this is really happening, to make her feel safe before we head out into the real world—my world. We've never talked about her being in the spotlight, and though we may not be Black Diamond anymore, with the record company about to launch its first artists, I doubt the spotlight is going anywhere.

Now that we've fulfilled our contracts with Fontaine Records, and all the drama with Alex is over, our solicitors made sure a contract of our own was signed to cover our arses. Oliver wished us well, but I have a feeling Alex has something on him or his father—he didn't seem overly happy with her last night. One of the roadies told Mickki he overheard them arguing about losing some of their best talent, and that he'd never work with Avery again. Once I told Mickki, and he said Alex and Avery were together now, so much made sense. The two of them deserve each other. I'm glad the whole thing is over with, and for the first time in my life, I'm content knowing where my life is headed. I have a beautiful woman, a baby on the way, and an exciting new adventure, work-wise.