“Okay Harper, as you can see, the baby has already turned head down and dropped. That usually doesn't happen for a couple more weeks, so unfortunately I am going to have to put you on bedrest. He'll probably still come early, but honestly with how things are going it could happen at any time now. We need to make sure he stays in there at least a few more weeks so everything can be fully developed. If it comes down to it there are medicines we can use to help with that, but I'd prefer to not do that. So the less active you are now, the better.” Dr. Lowdry turned to Brandon, “Now I'm counting on you to make sure she takes it easy, okay?”

He grinned at me, “I promise she'll be taken care of.”

I rolled my eyes, he knew I could only handle being babied for so long before I started going crazy. I usually didn't make it past two days.

The next day was ridiculous, I wanted to be putting everything away in our new home, but once the furniture had been moved in, everyone made me lie on the couch and tell them where I wanted boxes to go. I continued to whine and complain until Brandon came back with another load of boxes and frozen yogurt from Golden Spoon for me. That shut me up and I decided to play nice the rest of the day. I ordered pizza for everyone that helped four hours later when they'd finished, and we had the house to ourselves by eight. Brandon and I walked from room to room so I could see how the furniture looked in the rooms, and I couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. We had just left the new nursery when Brandon stopped me in the hall.

“Close your eyes sweetheart.”

“Why?” I dragged out the word a bit.

Brandon stepped close and placed his lips to my ear, his fingers gently rubbing my swollen stomach. “I have a surprise for you, will you please close them?”

I obeyed and he took my hands to lead me to another room, my jaw dropped when I finally opened them. “When did you do this?” I glanced around at our bedroom that was dim, the only light coming from candles, and the huge bouquets of orange lilies. At least another two dozen lilies had the stems cut off and were lying on the bed.

He kissed me gently and walked me to the bed, “I made sure you were kept busy for a while. You really thought Bree wouldn't know where to put the nursery and kitchen items?” He sat me down and bent over, kissing me again.

“Thank you Brandon, for everything.”

“Harper, I will love you forever, and I promise to take care of you and our kids for the rest of my life.” He leaned over and pulled something out of a nightstand drawer, then dropped to one knee, my mouth popped open and my eyes widened. “Will you please marry me?”

Of course tears started streaming down my face as I nodded my head and managed to squeak out, “Yes!” I pulled Brandon's face to mine and kissed him until I couldn't think straight anymore.

I gasped when he opened the black box and there lay a thick white gold band with three large round diamonds on top. He pulled it out and gently placed it on the ring finger of my left hand. I laughed when the ring instantly fell to one side from the weight of it and pressed my lips to Brandon's, pulling him onto the bed with me. His large frame curled around my body as he kissed me passionately and slowly made his way to my stomach, which he kissed tenderly and told Gummy Bear that Mommy and Daddy were getting married. There was fire in his eyes when he brought his face back to mine and began unbuttoning my top. To be honest, with how big my stomach is, I thought he wouldn't even want me like that right now, but the way his lips moved over my throat and chest, and his fingers caressed my body, it didn't seem he thought the same. I was craving to be with him, but after a while he groaned and fell to his side on the bed, both of us breathing hard.

“Why did you stop?”

He'd been running a hand over his face and it stopped halfway down, “Wait, you're ready?” I nodded and blushed, he let out a frustrated laugh and pulled me close to his chest, “So once again you decide you're ready, and something stops us.”

“No you're stopping us.”

“Sweetheart, trust me when I say I don't want to stop, especially after you telling me this. But Dr. Lowdry told me we couldn't.”

“What? When?!” I pulled myself up on my elbow and looked into his hazel eyes.

“When you went to the bathroom yesterday she told me two things. One, make sure you stay on the couch or bed. Two, do not have sex with you. She said normally, she encourages couples to have sex, but with how worried she is that you're going to go into labor too early, she said we had to refrain.” Brandon smiled and kissed my cheek, “So naturally, you're ready.”

“I'm sorry Brandon.”

He cupped my face and looked at me with bright eyes, “Don't be. When we finally do, it's going to be amazing.” He kissed my lips, then grabbed my hand to kiss the ring he'd just placed there. “It's been a long day, let's get some sleep baby.”

***

I woke up confused at first, but smiled and curled up even more into Brandon's arms when I realized we were in our place, in our room, in our bed. He had one arm under my head, the other wrapped lovingly around my stomach. I glanced at my ring and turned it every which way so the light streaming in through the blinds would catch perfectly on the diamonds. Brandon's hand started on slow circles when Gummy Bear's elbow skimmed across my side as he shifted.

“It has been way too long since I've woken up with you in my arms,” he kissed the top of my head, “and I'm glad you like your ring.”