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"Pen! Pen! Flowers!"
The moment Gabriel runs at me with some daisies in his chubby hand. I would not doubt what family he belongs to if I didn't already know.
"He's definitely your brother," I mention to Nick as I bend down and take the offering. "Thank you, Gabriel!"
"What can I say? It's a good way to catch the ladies," Nick jokes. "I'm teaching him invaluable life lessons, Aspen."
I snort, and Gabriel toddles off. His feet stomp with every movement down the garden to Hannah.
"It worked with his mother, I have to admit," Neil cuts in. "The Knight family have a reputation of being lady's men."
I chuckle. "I see... so it's a thing. Did you use nature lines on Hannah as well?"
"She's my sunflower," Neil says by way of answer.
"See, now I know this piece of information, I'm less flattered by you, Nicholas," I tease.
He grins, showing me his dimple. "Too bad because you're stuck with me. It's a tried and tested method! One that will keep passing down the family!"
I snort as Hannah and Gabriel appear. "You're impossible."
"You both deny being flattered by us, yet we've been married for twenty-two years, and you're engaged to our Nicholas. The lines work, Aspen. You just need to admit it," Neil points out.
"Well... I have nothing to say to that," I retort.
"Speaking of engagements," Nick cuts in, and I sigh. He'd planned to do this over dinner.
"You said over dinner, Nick," I whisper.
"Yeah, well, screw that," he replies.
"There's news?" Hannah claps her hands.
"Now I see where you get your impatience from," I note, thinking of pretty much everything he's done since I met him. The only thing he wants to wait with is trying for a baby. I don't know why I'm surprised.
Gabriel wheels over his little toy wheelbarrow while we sit on the outdoor sofas. I watch him with his chestnut hair, blue eyes, and his little grey dinosaur dungarees as he stomps around with his red wheelbarrow. He beams at Nick before sitting himself in the wheelbarrow and clapping to himself.
I chuckle at him.
"So, what is this news?" Hannah questions.
Nick laughs. "We've booked our wedding!"
I remember when I went to a concert once, and the moment the band came out for the first time, everyone dived out of their seats and a roar so deafening rolled through the venue. It was like a pack of lions at dinner time, and I was in the middle, unsure whether I was the lion or the prey.
The way Hannah dives toward her son and grabs me into a hug at the same time reminds me of that. Neil starts chuckling in his seat, and even Gabriel starts clapping his little hands from inside the wheelbarrow.
Hannah squeals and I can hear the thick cry of happiness as she does. Her hug is one of pure, unadulterated joy.
"When? When? Where? Why? I'm so excited!" she exclaims and lets us both go. Nick chuckles and grabs my hand as we sit back down. Gabriel stops clapping and starts giggling.
"It's in three months, December the twelfth. Christmas wedding, sort of. We... we discussed it after Sarah turned up like I told you and well... we decided we just wanted to do it," Nick explains. I give him the widest smile I can physically give when his eyes fall on mine.
"A Christmas wedding! I can't believe it!" Hannah exclaims. I don't think I've ever seen someone full of pure joy like this before.
"Why so quick?" Neil asks. I chuckle – I told Nick he would question it. "I remember you both saying you were going to take this slowly because of... well, you know. Not that I'm not happy... because I'm fucking ecstatic for you both."
Nick grins at me, that dimple coming back out. I can see the happiness glowing from him like the sunshine my angel has always represented.
"Well, there is a method to our madness. We both... don't believe in religion, and well, we just... we want to be married. We don't care about the church, obviously. We don't care about the pomp and circumstance of a white wedding. Marriage doesn't faze either of us after what happened with Joel, so... why wait?" Nick says.
"When we went to book it, we saw that was the closest date to Christmas they had left, so we decided it'd be nice. Georgina's favourite time of year, I love Christmas, and well... end what's been an... eventful year on a high note," I finish.
It falls silent for a beat. I watch the news settle on them like confetti, and the beam on Hannah's face surprises me by getting wider. Neil's laugh starts up again and we all leap out of our chairs and meet for a Knight family hug. Even Gabriel clambers out of his red wheelbarrow and grabs Hannah's leg. She scoops him up and he claps in the middle of us.
"This... you've no idea how happy you've made us," Hannah whispers to me.
"You don't think this will... impact...him?" I ask and gesture to Gabriel in her arms.
"Don't be silly. He'll adapt, we'll explain as he gets older. All that matters is that you and Nicholas are happy, everything else will slot in," she assures me.
"After the year I've had, I think... I saw the date and it felt like it was meant to be," I admit. "I'm just a little... I think now it's real, I'm a little worried about Gabriel."
Her free hand smooths down my hair. "Stop worrying, sweetheart. This is amazing; you and Nicholas belong together. Anyone with eyes can see it. You deserve this happiness, as does he. I couldn't be more excited to have you legally in our family! I'm so excited, Aspen!"
She grabs me in for a hug before I can think and I can just feel the love radiating from her, even as Gabriel grabs my hair and starts eating it.
Dinner in the Knight household is definitely an event. Neil's got the table laid out in the lounge, cutlery all aligned, wine glasses out. They even have yellow napkins out on the table.
Hannah lays out the plates, each stuffed with roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, crispy roast potatoes, and a whole host of vegetables. The gravy boat in the middle of the table makes me smile – it reminds me of Sundays gone by after church, Dad would drive us to his mum's house for Sunday dinner. She had the same gravy boat – white with a little black line on it. It always ended up dripping and making a puddle of black gravy in the holder by the end of the meal.
But this time it symbolises new, happier times. This is a family I fit into, with the banter and the happiness rising with the steam from the plates. I watch Hannah give Gabriel his little plate, and he digs in before anyone else has even started.
I stare at the tablecloth: white with tiny little daisies embroidered in. Georgina.
"Mum had it made for her fifteenth birthday," Nick explains when he catches me staring at it. "She wanted afternoon tea as if we were the royal family or something. She had her friends and family around for the afternoon. We all had to dress up smart and Mum made sandwiches with cakes and pots of tea. The tablecloth was made especially plus the napkins."
"I made Nick wear a full suit with a tie," Hannah adds, a smile on her face.
I chortle. "Too right. You can't have posh afternoon tea without the suit."
"It was a very uncomfortable day," Nick adds.
"It was for your sister, and you ended up loving it! He even made Georgina a little corsage for the day as well," Neil says.
"It was just a daisy chain bracelet," Nick defends.
I smile at him as he eats. Every single time I find out more about him, it makes him seem like an enigma to me. Nick is like a constellation that hasn't been discovered yet – each part of him is the star on the map, waiting to be discovered and named.
But the thing about him is that as soon as I find out about that constellation and start getting nearer to naming him, I find a new star on his map and it's just as bright as the rest, sometimes brighter. He's the constellation I just can't find out enough about. No matter how long I study and memorise him, there will always be a new star waiting to be discovered.
"I love you," I whisper.
"I love you too, my daisy," he returns in between bites. Apparently, I'm not as important as his dinner, though.
"As soon as he puts the ring on your finger, Aspen, he won't even respond to declarations of love," Hannah jokes. "He'll just grunt at you between bites of food. Enjoy this bit while it lasts."
"Hey, woman," Neil jokes. She giggles back. "I tell you I love you at least once a month. Relish it."
"See? Spoilt!" Hannah jokes. "Behind all the nature lines and the cheese are two very...interesting men."
"I can be interesting!" Nick defends. He puts his cutlery down; he means business and I can't stop laughing at them. "I'll have you know that I am very interesting! Tell her, Aspen!"
I giggle and look between Nick and his mum before deciding where my loyalty lies here.
Always with the matriarch.
"Nick, the day I moved in, you moved your Xbox into the bedroom," I point out.
"You didn't even wait to do that? Nicholas! You should've waited at least a week! Let them think you're this philosophical man and once they're comfortable, the cooling-off period goes and then you move in the console. Come on! I taught you better than this!" Neil scolds.
"You sure you want to marry into this, Aspen? You have a chance here to say no. I wouldn't even blame you," Hannah asks. We both laugh.
"I think Mrs Knight will be just perfect," I answer.
"She's whipped, well done my lad," Neil announces.
Nick glances at me and shakes his head. "Welcome to the madhouse."
"No, no, my family is the madhouse. This is the perfect house," I answer.
"Finished!" Gabriel announces. He waits until all eyes are on him before clapping his gravy-riddled hands together. A splash of the stuff goes everywhere and when I think I'm going to hear Hannah yell at him, she surprises me by bursting out into laughter, and soon enough the table is giggling.
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"Mrs Knight, huh? You're not going back to Wilkins or staying as Watkins?" Nick questions. I can hear the pride coming through his words as I settle beside him on the sofa. He opens his laptop and starts typing away.
"Why did you not want me to take your name, Nicholas?" I tease.
He snorts. "No, I thought I might change my name. I thought we could maybe be Mr and Mrs Daisy."
"Okay, let's do it," I challenge.
His eyes harden, and I watch him silently accept my challenge. "I might even change my first name. I'm going to be Mr Hyacinth Daisy. Two flowers, done."
"Only if I can be Mrs... uh... I lost it; my name is already a tree," I say with a hint of disappointment.
"I could always change my name to Mr Knight in Blue Scrubs, and you can be Mrs Princess in Distress, how about that?"
I roll my eyes. "Now you're being ridiculous."
"I feel offended, my dear Aspen!"
I chortle. "You're weird!"
He chuckles. "I'm joking. Of course, I want you to take my name, I'd be honoured. But it's your name, Aspen. Do what you want."
"I like the idea of Mrs Aspen Knight."
He grins like the cat that got the cream. He puts the laptop down and gently pulls me onto his lap. "It sounds like everything I've ever dreamed of."
"Please promise me one thing," I ask, teasing his shirt buttons open one by one. The low groan that escapes his mouth is enough for me to carry on. "Never, ever stop being smooth."
"It would be hard not to be smooth around you, my daisy," he whispers. He tucks my hair behind my ears as I drop the fabric of his shirt and bite my lip.
"I can't wait to be Mrs Knight," I say and start tracing the outline of a flower on his chest.
He groans again and lifts me off the sofa, towards the bedroom. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you."
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