Zayn
The boys got back before Riley woke and Liam handed me a small black box. I flipped open the lid and saw a ring bordered all around by diamonds and right in the center, a round blue diamond surrounded by smaller ones. It looked absolutely perfect for Riley.
"It's amazing. How'd you find it?" I asked.
"We kept seeing a bunch of traditional rings and we didn't think it'd be her style. So they started to show us some alternative ones and we all agreed on this one," Harry explained, a grin on his face. He was clearly proud of their decision.
I nodded, still looking down at the ring. "Well, it's perfect. She's going to love it. Thank you guys. I owe you."
"Yeah. Fifteen thousand," Niall added.
I walked back into the room with Riley and sat by her. She must have heard me because her eyes slowly opened. I could tell that she was still exhausted, but at least she'd gotten some sleep. She'd slept at least six hours, most of which were interrupted by the nurses that came and went.
She turned her head over to look at me and smiled.
"How do you feel?" I asked her, running my fingers over hers.
"Sore. But a lot better," she answered. "Did you see him again?"
I smiled down at her. "I went to the nursery for a while. He was sleeping."
"I realize I hardly got to see him. I was so tired. I mean, I can hardly remember what even happened. It took so much out of me," she explained, her expression a little sad.
I leaned over the side of the bed and rested my elbows on the mattress. I then kissed the top of her hand and held it to my cheek. She was so cold. "It's alright. It was hard, you know, so of course you were going to be tired. I still can't believe it. I'm a father and it's all thanks to you. You were so brave and so strong."
She scoffed. "Hardly."
"No, Riley."
"Do you think I could see him?" she asked so innocently. I could hardly believe that such a small, sweet girl could have become a mother so quickly. I knew it had been my fault. And I would never forget it.
"Yeah. I'll go ask them to bring him," I told her.
So I walked out and asked the nurse to bring him in. I sat with Riley and waited and we talked until he was brought over. The nurse placed him in Riley's arms and I watched how fascinated she was with him. They looked so perfect together. And I realized that it didn't matter how young or innocent she was. She was meant to be a mother. I could tell because of the way she looked at him and the way she held him. She spoke to him like she'd known him her whole life.
I snuck a photo of Riley holding my son on my phone and then set it aside, realizing that this was the perfect moment for me to propose to her. I knew it was untraditional and the nurse was standing right there, but I wanted it to be now.
"Hey, Riley. I wanted to talk to you about something."
"She looked up at me and smiled. "Okay. Go ahead."
I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. "I know that we talked about this once and it really didn't go too well, but seeing you and seeing how you carried and gave birth to my son... Riley, it was a spur of the moment thing the way we met and the way you got pregnant. And it was weird at first when I asked you to move in. But I really got to know you and I fell so deeply in love with you. You're the sweetest, funniest, most thoughtful, most beautiful, sexiest woman I've ever met. And the fact that you went through all this with me and for our son just shows me that I need you in my life. I want you in my life forever."
I saw how her eyes started to tear up and I felt mine do the same.
"So I thought that I need to make you mine. And I'm going to ask you from the bottom of my heart this question and I'm praying to God that you don't turn me down again. Riley," I paused, getting down on one knee and pulling out the ring, "would you marry me?"
She began to cry freely and nodded fervently. "Yes. Yes," she cried. "Yes."
I quickly slid the ring onto her finger and stood so that I could kiss her. I felt a giant weight fall off my shoulders as I kissed her, knowing she was finally, truly mine. She was all I ever wanted and she'd finally agreed to be mine. She loved me and I could tell so perfectly that she did.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that in less than a year I'd become a father and get engaged. But never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream up Riley. And she drove me insane in the best way.
"I. Love. You," I told her between kisses.
We then heard our son yawn and we looked down at him. His brown eyes were wide open, staring at the both of us, watching, telling us that he was there. We laughed, seeing how innocent he was and how sweet. He didn't cry. He didn't whine. He just watched.
"What're we going to name him?" Riley asked.
"I don't know. We never talked about names..."
She looked down at him and smiled. "How about Nathan?" he asked. "It's the first name I thought of when I saw him."
I smiled down at her. "I like it," I told her, leaning down to kiss her again.
They kept Riley and the baby for two more days and then told us they were free to go home. The doctor talked to us about how to take care of the baby beforehand and he also told us about how to keep Riley healthy while she recovered.
Once we'd gotten home, the guys couldn't get enough of Nathan. They absolutely loved him and liked to keep him company. They'd watch him and make sure he was alright, paying attention to even the most specific things such as if Nathan was breathing correctly.
The first thing we did when we got back to the house was make sure we had everything Nathan needed, like diapers and baby formula, seeing as the doctor told us it was better than Riley did not breastfeed too often.
Nathan was in a deep sleep so we put him to sleep. The guys insisted on keeping an eye on him while he slept, so they moved the crib to the living room.
"You should sleep," I told Riley, noticing how tired she was. I knew that she hardly slept at the hospital. She didn't seem too comfortable being there and I didn't blame her.
She looked up at me as she unpacked the bag we'd taken to the hospital. She had the sweetest smile on her face. "I'm alright. I just want to get this stuff back to where they belong and wash some clothes."
I took the bag from her hands slowly and kissed her shoulder from behind. "I can do that. Besides, you're not supposed to be exerting your body."
"Okay... I'll take a shower and then I'll take a nap," she said, turning so that she could hug me.
I kissed the top of her head softly. "Take a bath so you don't have to stand too long," I told her.
I was genuinely concerned about her health, to be honest. She'd had so many difficullties while she was pregnant and I knew that she still wasn't out of the clear. I remembered her telling me one night that she'd always had health scares since she was a little girl, and I didn't want to have her in the hospital any more.
She nodded and picked out her clothes and a towel, walking over to the bathroom and disappearing behind the door.
I put away the things that were in the bag and added a load into the washing machine. As I walked back to the room, I heard Riley come out of the bathroom. I smiled at her as she sat on the bed, looking up at me. She looked so tired and vulnerable.
I walked up to her and kissed her. "Turn around so I can dry your hair."
She did as asked as I plugged in the hair dryer and picked up her hairbrush. I did the best job that I could untangling her long hair while drying it, but she had slumped back onto my stomach as I did this.
I heard Louis walk into the room and sit on the other side of the bed. "She's asleep," he pointed out quietly.
I turned off the hair dryer and felt through her hair to make sure it was all dry. "Yeah. She was exhausted," I returned, taking her gently in my arms and laying her on the bed.
I motioned for Louis to follow me as I turned the light off and walked out of the room. I closed the door behind him and smiled. "At least now she'll get to sleep comfortably."
He nodded once and then smiled. "I still can't believe you're a father. And she's a mother. And you're engaged."
I couldn't keep the stupid grin off my face once he'd said that. "I don't think I could have gotten any luckier, to be honest. I'm on top of the world."