Begin Again

| Chapter Forty-Nine |

"Raffo Nashoba Leflore," Ruth began, the tips of her lips curling. "Believe it or not, I had an entire speech planned for this moment. One that would have sent you into a fit of tears, but unfortunately, you stole my idea."

"Seems like your speech's off to a rocky start," Raffo teased, smirking down at her. "But lucky for you, I'm not keeping points, basketball star. So just do your best."

"Damn cocky too?" she shook her head. "You better control yourself, Leflore, or you're not getting proposed to."

Raffo ran his fingers over her cheek, igniting a warm blush under her skin. "Sorry, baby."

She swatted his hand away with her free, newly engaged hand. "Then stop distracting me!"

"Okay, okay. I'll behave."

Ruth fixed her posture, took a deep breath, and followed the flutter of butterflies in her chest. So far, they hadn't steered her wrong yet, so they must know what they're doing. "Raffo Nashoba Leflore, the man my grandfather sent to love me for all that I am, I want you to know how much I'm desperately in love with you. And how-how empowered I feel at getting to have someone like you love me back. Someone who pushed me to be all that I could be, and someone who selflessly pushed aside their wants just so I could have a shot at the life we thought I wanted. You've grown with me, laughed with me, cried with me, and have been everything I've ever wanted in a partner."

"Raffo," she breathed. "There's a choice I've already made that you don't have to uphold if you don't want to. But I'm here asking you anyway, because we're in this together now."

Raffo moved closer to her, his mouth opening to already agreeing to her proposal.

But Ruth pulled the lid off of the box and his words stuck to his throat, his eyes bulging wide.

"Will you raise our baby with me?" she pleaded. The doctor's signed, positive pregnancy test result lay in the direct center, proof of her recent discovery. 

Raffo's shaky fingers reached for the box, his eyes flooding with the tears she was hoping for. The whimper in the back of his throat made Ruth's heart squeeze, especially when the tears he was trying to hold back before overflowed.

"You're pregnant?" he whispered, voice full of awe.

Her grin was watery as she nodded her head fervently. "You're gonna be a daddy," she whispered.

Raffo grabbed Ruth by her waist and swung her up into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck and squeezed him as tight as she could, her fingers diving into his hair. He pressed sweet kisses anywhere that he could reach and thanked her repeatedly. She sagged in relief and pulled back to run her thumb over his cheekbone. The sun beaming across his lit features was beautiful and heartwarming. She couldn't have asked for a better father to the baby resting in her womb, and words couldn't describe how excited she was to give Jana's little girl a new cousin to grow up with.

"I'll take that as a yes? And that my proposal was better than yours?" Ruth said, her voice playful. 

Raffo's eyes glowed. "A thousand times yes. For both of your questions," he admitted, moving the two of them with her still in his arms.

Raffo walked them over to his bed in the following room and carefully placed her in the center. He undid her overalls, and rolled up her shirt just enough to see her tummy, that would soon be swollen with the growing weight of their future child. Leaning down, he peppered loving kisses along her skin.

Ruth sighed softly at her fiancé's love for the baby who was yet to make their entrance. He was so in love with them already, and she couldn't wait to see them in their father's arms. 

It wasn't until he pulled himself up to kiss her lips again that he spoke. 

"I can't believe we're having a baby," he murmured, brushing a curl from Ruth's cheek.

"Well believe it," she chirped, patting her bely. "We're gonna be parents."

He closed his eyes. "Fuck, I could hear that forever. You know, we should probably get married before they get here," he added, thoughtfully. He cracked an eye open to see her reaction to his prompt comment, but she didn't have it in her to deny it. She wanted to get married to the man as soon as humanly possible, and she wasn't ashamed of it.

"We probably should," she agreed. 

Raffo's eyes sparkled. "I love you, you know."

"I know," she admitted, leaning over to snatch a kiss from his perfect lips. "And before you can voice any of your worries, just know that I know you're going to be the greatest husband and father this world has ever seen."

Raffo's lips quirked up. "Thank you, baby. Creator knows how perfect of a wife and mother you're going to be, aiukli. Hell, I don't think perfect covers it. Who knew you'd make this the second best day of my life."

"Second? What's the first?"

He moved his face closer to hers, the tip of his nose brushing hers. "When you broke that bottle in the store and came out to meet me. That hot ass first kiss you gave me is a close third, though."

"Of course," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "At least I make your top three."

Raffo ran a hand over her hip. "Baby, you make the top hundred."

Ruth wrapped a leg around his waist and drew him closer. She pulled his hair-tie off the end of his braid and dove her fingers into the silky strands. It was crazy to imagine being a wife and a mother in less than a year, but she was more than ready for it. 

"Then let's get today up to that number one slot, shall we?" she murmured.

His grin was wicked as he wrapped a hand around her leg and pulled her tight against him. A swarm of heat pulsed below her, especially when he leaned closer to her with his eyelids partially closed. "Anything for my fiancé," he whispered. 

Something about that word did something to her, and she had no choice but to kiss the hell out of her future husband. 

*****