"Miss Annie!" The children came pouring out of the house the second the wagon came to a stop. Levi jumped down from the wagon and then helped me to the ground just in time for the children to attack.
Joshua was the first to reach me. He threw his arms around my waist seconds before Cassie, Phoebe, and Oliver did the same. I attempted to hug them back, but it was impossible to get my arms around them all at once. After a moment, they released me for Hannah and Jack and then Lilah to take a turn. After which, little Susan held up her arms, demanding to be picked up and wearing a wide grin.
Feeling enormously touched by the rare open display of love from the little girl, I swept her into my arms and held her tightly. She rested her head on my shoulder, apparently content to stay right where she was for a while. I rubbed her back, smiling at Minnie and Abigail who had joined us a little more slowly than the children had.
"We were so worried!" Cassie said. "We didn't know a thing until Minnie and Miss Abigail came back. But that was ages ago. What took so long?"
I felt guilty for not taking their worry into consideration, but honestly, I doubt that I'd have been able to focus on another thing. Of course, once she knew exactly what we'd been doing, she wouldn't mind so much.
"Well," I said nervously before glancing at Levi who was attempting not to grin.
"Hey, why's he here?" Oliver said bluntly, watching Jasper dismount his horse. He hadn't meant to be rude, but everyone who'd come for the picnic had gone home a while ago, and Jasper didn't typically show up like this. Especially not when he basically just left. So Oliver's curiosity was understandable.
"Manners, Oliver," Minnie gently scolded.
Oliver glanced at her before looking at Jasper again. "Howdy Sheriff!" he tried again. "Wha'cha doin' here?"
The adults all laughed, but of course, the reason Jasper was here wasn't exactly his news to share so he just looked at Levi and me, clearly wondering what to say.
"Well Oli-" Levi started.
"Oh, Miss Annie!" Phoebe interrupted him, sounding dreamy and grabbing my hand. "What a beautiful ring! Where'd you get it?"
Levi and I exchanged a quick glance before I bit my lip and looked at everyone else.
Phoebe picked up on our excitement, but she still didn't quite know why and she waited for an answer.
It was easy to see that Minnie and Abigail understood right away. They looked overjoyed, but not terribly surprised.
But then I remembered Abigail winking at Levi before, and I couldn't help wondering if there was anything at all that these women didn't know.
After a second, Cassie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, looking excited.
I grinned and nodded at the three of them, confirming what they'd guessed.
Cassie squealed and threw her arms around me again before Minnie embraced me and then Abigail. Abigail paused before she moved away. She touched my cheek and looked on the verge of tears.
"I'm so happy for you," she said and then went to hug Levi.
"What's going on?" Oliver demanded, looking quite disgruntled. The rest of the children seemed equally confused.
"What's going on, Oli," Levi smiled down at him. "Is that Miss Annie and I are getting married."
Oliver looked stunned as did the rest of the children. Other than Cassie, of course.
"Really?" Oliver grinned. "No foolin'?"
"No foolin'," Levi assured him. "That's why Jasper is here."
"Right now?" Oliver asked, excitedly.
"Yep." Levi nodded.
"Oh boy!" Oliver threw his arms around Levi's legs. "And yer gonna adopt me?" He grinned up at him.
Levi hesitated and glanced at me, not wanting to promise that without my consent.
"Of course." I smiled. It wasn't even a question. I already thought of Oliver as my little boy. I thought of all of the children that way. If I could, I'd adopt each one of them.
But at least I could claim two of them for my own, I thought, snuggling Susan.
"Oh boy!" Oliver said again before running over to hug me again.
Laughing, I touched his back.
"Where are we all gonna live?" he asked, making me think. Levi and I hadn't even discussed that.
It didn't seem right to barge in on his mother, even though Levi already lived there. But if we stayed here, we'd get absolutely no privacy.
I looked at him, and he seemed just as uncertain as I felt.
"You know," Abigail said. "I was just telling Minnie how much I miss hearing the children all the time and all the activity. And we don't get to talk nearly as much as we'd like. Before you got back, we'd just decided that I was gonna come stay here for a while as a little vacation. You can stay at the house until you figure things out. "
Abigail offering us the home she was so proud of, was a tremendous gift. I beamed and vowed to try to get settled in our own home as soon as we could.
"Oh boy!" Oliver said again. "I'll be ready in no time!" he told Levi. "Just wait and see!"
It was comical how quickly Levi's good arm shot out and grabbed hold of Oliver as he attempted to do as he said and show us exactly how fast he could be. I wondered how Levi even had time to process his words.
"Hold on a minute," Levi said when Oliver looked up at him curiously. "You're gonna have to stay here for now."
"But why?" Oliver looked crushed.
I was torn between laughing and telling him that Levi didn't really mean it.
"Because Miss Annie and me are gonna want some time alone for a little while," he said. "Just us."
"What for?" Oliver asked.
"Well..." Levi struggled to think of something for a moment and my face felt warm.
"Because we need to get to know each other," he finally said.
Oliver looked baffled. "Don't you already know each other well enough?" he said. "And I won't get in the way none. We can play all sorts of games! And those are more fun with more people. What could you do with just the two of you? Most games aren't much fun with just two people."
Jasper turned away to hide his grin and Cassie giggled. Even Minnie and Abigail looked like they would laugh.
My face felt like it was on fire.
"Well..." Levi cast a panicked glance at me. "We just..."
"You alright, Miss Annie?" Joshua said, nothing but honest concern in his voice. "Your face is awful red. You're not sick or somethin'?"
Oh Lord! I wanted a hole to open up in the ground under my feet!
"I'm fine," I assured him, attempting to hide behind Susan as much as possible.
Minnie and Abigail lost the battle with their laughter and Jasper's shoulders shook a bit.
"What?" Oliver wondered why everyone seemed to be laughing at him.
"It's nothing, Oliver," Minnie attempted to hide her smile. "You heard Levi. You're gonna stay here for a little bit."
Oliver's shoulders sagged.
"You'll get to go soon enough," she added, not seeming to make Oliver any happier.
"Miss Annie?" As usual, Hannah's voice was barely louder than a whisper.
"Yes?" I asked her eagerly, grasping for absolutely any other topic to discuss.
She took my left hand and admired the ring for a second before she looked up at me. "Could I be a flower girl?" she asked excitedly.
"Of course." I smiled, and then seeing the disappointment cross Phoebe's face, I said. "I expect to have four lovely flower girls." I touched Phoebe's cheek and then Lilah's. "And one very grown-up bride's maid." I looked at Cassie who squealed in excitement again.
"Yes, it's going to be quite the social event," Levi teased, making the children giggle. "But if we intend to have this wedding before the day is over, we best get started."
I wanted to laugh at his thinly veiled impatience. Levi wanted to have Jasper marry us before we even left town, but I knew that the children would be heartbroken if we'd neglected to include them.
"While the ladies attempt to make themselves even lovelier -impossible as that task may be - the boys can gather some flowers," Levi said and then looked at Jack, Joshua, and Oliver. "I'm sure we'll need lots."
Jack hadn't started paying attention to girls yet and Joshua was even younger. They mostly thought that anything romantic was fairly nauseating, so other than being happy that we were happy, they hadn't shown much excitement up until this point. But at Levi's suggestion, they gladly ran off, thrilled by the prospect of helping without having to dress up or hear about the sentimental details.
Oliver still wasn't overjoyed to be left behind, but he ran after them anyway, wanting to help.
"Wonderful idea," Minnie said, taking Susan from my arms. "Let's get cleaned up, ladies." She led them in the house and Jasper discretely found something else to do, giving Levi and I a moment of privacy.
"Ready to get married?" Levi grinned, taking my hand.
I nodded and smiled. "Thank you for waiting. The girls are so excited."
"You were right, of course," he said. "But I'll be expecting a reward later." The look he gave me made my pulse jump and my face warm again.
Levi laughed. "You're not sick or somethin'?" he teased.
I covered my face with my free hand. "I've never been so embarrassed. In front of Jasper and Minnie. And your mother! Cassie understood too!"
Levi just laughed again.
"Weren't you embarrassed at all?" I wondered, dropping my hand.
"A little," he said. "But I love you and I get to marry you today. I can't seem to care about anything else right now."
I smiled, realizing that was the first time he said those words.
"I love you," I answered, causing him to grin bigger before leaning in for a kiss.
After a moment, he pulled away and said, "let's go get married."